Conservatories are rooms attached to one wall of the ‘outside’ of a home (that is, they are not a room within the four walls). Inspired by greenhouses, the remaining three walls are made almost completely of glass or at least very large windows. The amount of light and heat or cold air that comes in through this room is staggering; in comparison with the rest of the home, the conservatory is a demanding environment. So as well as looking good and fitting in with the rest of your home décor, blinds in a conservatory have a real, practical use and must perform.
Bearing all this in mind, here’s what you need to consider when seeking out the best blinds for your conservatory.
Fabric or hard materials?
With so much glass this room will experience higher levels of condensation. With that in mind, perhaps fabric is not the ideal choice as prolonged exposure to moisture may cause mould to grow. Fabric is also prone to fading.
Sun exposure
Following on from the last point, prolonged exposure to the sun can turn certain hard materials brittle so be sure to invest in quality hardware to go with your conservatory blinds.
Seasonality
Whatever you choose needs to be a good option at any time of year.
Insulation
In the peak of summer the conservatory may be exceptionally warm and while that may mean you can’t be in there during certain hours of the day, you still need to be able to try and cool the room down or that heat could transfer into the rest of the home. The same goes for winter, only in reverse.
Ease of operation
Conservatories are almost all glass so there will be a lot of blinds to open and close. For this reason you must consider how easy they are to operate.
Doors
Conservatories don’t just have glass windows, they also have glass doors; these could be French doors, a regular swing hinged doors, or a ranchslider. We’ve looking into the best options for sliding doors before, you can read about it here.
So which is the best choice?
With all that in mind, let’s run through the pros and cons of four main types of blind to work out which is the best option.
Roller blinds – acceptable choice
PROS
- Easy to operate
- Easy to clean
- Lightweight
- Can isolate individual windows to somewhat control light
- Lots of colours and fabrics to match decor
CONS
- Roller blinds work best down to a sill so if you have floor to ceiling glass they’re not a good choice.
- Prone to uneven sun fade
- Because a conservatory is a link to the outdoor, insects get trapped and squashed in conservatory blinds making them dirty
Roman blinds – better choices available
PROS
- Good insulation all year round
- Lots of choice in colour and pattern
- Offers some level of light control
CONS
- Attracts dust and insects (as with roller blinds)
- Covers a large portion of the window when retracted/stacked
- A bit more tricky to clean than other options
Aluminium Venetian blinds – good choice
Firstly, wooden and PVC Venetians cannot tolerate the heat of a conservatory so they’re off the list. Aluminium blinds however, offer:
PROS
- Excellent light control
- Good privacy
- Easy to clean
- Won’t discolour/fade
- Lightweight
CONS
- Insulating qualities aren’t high
- Not good for floor to ceiling glass, only good if you have windows
Vertical blinds – best choice
PROS
- Excellent light control
- Good privacy
- Easy to clean
- Lightweight
- Easy to operate
- Good over sliding doors
- Easy to replace slats that are damaged
- Great hanging to the floor so a good option regardless of having floor to ceiling glass or just windows.
CONS
- May fade with time in the sun BUT the fade will be even
We hope you’ve found this information helpful. If you need more info about choosing the right blinds for any room of your home, you’ll find everything you need to know in our helpful guide. Download your free copy now.
