Your conservatory is designed to let in light. This makes decorating a conservatory quite easy to do. You never have to worry about what goes on the walls or doors.

A conservatory is a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s also an ideal place to host a late-night gathering for friends and family. At this point, the windows will be closed with blinds.

Too many homes fail to take into account what the conservatory will look like with blinds. The key to proper interior design is to think about what a room will feel and look like throughout the day and night.

We give you five useful tips for choosing the right blinds for your conservatory.

1. The Practical Side

 Blinds that set of this part of your home are only useful if they’re practical. They aren’t there just to look good. They’re there to have a real practical use.

You need to decide what your conservatory is for. Is it for the children to play in, or a place for you to work in peace?

Additionally, you need to decide how your conservatory faces the rest of the house. Do you want to be able to see everyone in the living room from the conservatory?

Believe it or not, different blind types have different uses. Here are the four main ones:

• Roller blinds. These offer protection from strong sunlight.
• Vertical blinds give you better control over the amount of light let in.
• Pleated blinds are safe for very young children to play with. They don’t have any potential choking hazards.
• Venetian blinds are at the height of style.

2. Coloring In

The color can make or break a room. You have to decide how much you trust your own interior decorating skills.

One choice is to stick with neutral colors. Whites, beiges, and browns will work with practically any style and any home. They’re quite boring, though. They don’t do much to catch the eyes.

Light pastel colors generally make a room seem bigger than it actually is. They rely mainly on natural light from outside to flourish. If you’re looking for calmness and coolness, opt for pastel blues or greens.

Darker colors work to create a more private and intimate space. It’s why old-fashioned studies opt for dark wooden paneling and heavy red drapes. They make a room cozier and more enclosed.

Some ideas for darker colors include navy blue, dark browns, and rich reds.

Stay away from niche colors like purple. If you ever come to sell your home, you’ll need to have a more neutral color scheme to appear to every eye.

Get some inspiration from the Internet. Social networks like Pinterest have plenty of people showing off their own interior design creations.

3.  The Rest of the Home

 A conservatory’s style should match the style throughout your home. Your conservatory isn’t a separate outbuilding. It’s an extension to your existing home.

It’s all well and good having a modern pair of Venetian blinds. What’s the point of having ultra-modern blinds when your home is decked in original period decorations?

All that will happen is your conservatory will stick out badly. You’ll make your home a confusing and disjointed place to be.

What about if your conservatory is an outbuilding?

Some bigger homes do have a conservatory separated from the home. You can get away with a different style here. It’s easy to pass off this room as some sort of private retreat. Either way, we would still recommend having matching styles.

4. What about the Maintenance?

 In the long-term, your wonderful style could take hours to maintain. A lot of people simply don’t have this amount of time. They need something that’s quick and easy to clean.

Just because you spend long hours out of your home doesn’t mean you can’t have stylish blinds. There are lots of options for people who only spend a limited amount of time in their conservatories.

Vertical blinds, for example, are ideal. They don’t retain as much dust because there are no platforms for it to settle on. A light dusting every so often is the extent of any maintenance.

5. Try and Test

 Fashion changes all the time. What’s at the height of fashion now might be a faux pas in less than a year. Avoid keeping up with the fashions, unless you’re particularly interested in them.

In the meantime, don’t be afraid to try and test different blinds. Pick up a cheap alternative to a desired pair of blinds and see how they work. It’s difficult to imagine what something will look like until you put it up.

Interior decorating doesn’t always have to result in getting the right blinds straight away. Be willing to mix and match your blind choices and see what happens!

Featured Image Creative Commons – Attribution by Ed Bierman