One of our projects that we have been working on is our new conservatory. Well maybe this is a little pretentious, closed in porch may be more accurate. But its good to fantasise. We have created this little room out of an existing pergola and deck that we built many years ago. While shopping for some recycled windows for another project I came across these two large colonial panels. I could envisage them making a conservatory off our dining room. I came home and measured up and they would fit with a little adjustment to our existing structure. They are made of hardwood and came from a house being demolished in a salubrious suburb. The reason why the salvage yard had not sold them was they were very heavy and difficult to move. So we had four students deliver them to our home and after watching them struggle we let them deposit them under our carport before they dropped them and planned our next move. We had to make some repairs and modifications to our pergola and deck to accommodate the windows so once that was done, with the help of our long suffering neighbour, Michael, we then planned the next move. Carrying these huge panels from one side of the house to the other over gravel paths and without trashing our garden was going to be no mean feat. Michael suggested a piano removalist, I tried one but he was too busy but he suggested a billiard table removalist, bingo! An old established firm had just relocated down the road from us, and they very helpfully sent four men around to do the deed. The windows were positioned and the conservatory started to take shape. Timber quarter round and flat moulding was used to hold the panels in place. A few additional pieces of timber hid the gaps. Three coats of paint unified all the timber work and 'Amberlite' panels created a roof. While for Max and I it was an engineering feat as carpentry is not our forte, with patience and persistence it came together. It is furnished from pieces that we have had hanging around waiting for a purpose. We painted the deck and stencilled a border, even the stencil had been waiting for a place for twenty years.
A long shot of our new 'conservatory'. All the furniture is recycled. The walls are painted Dulux 'Ibis'. The windows and timber work's colour is Dulux 'Bandicoot'. The floor is painted in Porter Paints 'Chai'.
Blue and white porcelain was the staring point for our colour scheme. Our old blue durrie has found a new home. A little bit of spray paint has been used to revive the faded colours.
Our antique japanese pot looks well here too. You can see the stencilled border. It is a design by Lyn Le Grice. We used to import and sell these, twenty years ago. I always love the fret pattern from her willow pattern set but never had a place to use it.
The table is a hard rubbish find. Many years ago we painted it Dulux 'Cold Steel' and the colour works in this scheme too. The little card showing a kitten in a blue and white bowl is coincidental. Max found this while we were hunting for the window scraper. The kitten is the spitting image of our early Christmas present, our new kitten "Tunja".
The plant stand was originally in our shop and used to hold cushions. Being triangular we had never found them to be very useful for anything else, but it makes a great pot plant holder. I gave it a bamboo paint finish.
Our table set for dinner new years day. We plan to use this space for quiet meals and reading the papers in the morning.
This is the table late new years night. Our friend Penelope gave us these dear little candle lights, one has a butterfly, the other a dragonfly. They look perfect on the marble topped table. The only items I bought for this space was the large hurricane lamps with the orchids. The small one was a present a few months ago when my mother died. It is still flowering. I only bought the large maiden hair fern and its pot, otherwise everything is recycled.
Now the view through our French doors has a focal point. The 'conservatory' adds depth to our compact dining room.
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