Conservatory Refurbishment
Having had a nice new ceiling fitted to the conservatory, which has made it more habitable, it was time for an interior design makeover. The fact that it was usually far too hot in the summer and far too cold in the winter meant that we hadn’t been sitting out there so it had become an unused space and something of a dumping ground. A morning spent tidying and cleaning fixed the latter of these problems and soon it was looking spick-and-span (whatever that means!)
I couldn’t resist looking it up. Apparently:
The term spick and span means brand new. This term has a nautical origin. Spick is believed to come from a number of old words that all mean nail—words also thought to be related to spike. There’s the Middle Swedish spijk, the Dutch spijker, and the Old Norse spik to name a few. Span derives from the Old Norse term spán-nýr, with nýr meaning new, and spán meaning chip (as in wood chip).
So, Spick meant nails (or spike) and span meant wooden shavings. On a brand new sailing ship, the nails would still be shiny and the wooden shavings from manufacture would still be present. Therefore, a new ship would be all spick and span.
We’d also ordered some new furnishing in the form of a low cupboard for storing shoes and a couple of ottomans. The cat had a brand new cat tower too. Once these flat-packs were built we were able to rearrange the room. We actually split it into two areas using the shoe rack and a desk. I moved a set of shelves out there too, and had to install a few new hangers for my various race medals. The race trophies are now out there as well.
The desk, shelves and an office chair create a small workstation area that Morgan has been working at to revise for his ‘A’ levels. The small area by the door (which now locks again) houses the shoes, the cat food and Burgess our robotic vacuum cleaner. There’s also a new set of coat hooks that are miles better than just dumping them on some shelves! The rest of the conservatory is now a lovely seating area. It has a comfy sofa looking out over the garden, two ottomans with storage space and seating, a coffee table/storage box and the cat tower.
I’ve spent a few evenings sat out there watching the birds in the garden and chilling as the world goes by. In some ways, it’s a better view than out the front and it’s much more private too.
There’s no TV, but I did buy a new Amazon Echo so that we can listen to music and podcasts out there and of course control our smart devices from the comfort of the new conservatory. I think that’s 5 Amazon Echo’s we have throughout the house now!
We also sorted out the ‘Beach Room’ a little in the process. Several things that were in here are now in the conservatory instead which has freed up some room. It’s still used a as gym / storage space for watersports kit but with the addition of a clothes rail for wetsuits, it too should be more functional and a little tidier.
Overall, it’s a success. It looks much nicer, there’s much more room and it’s much more functional. Just what we wanted. The new ceiling is a success for the summer as well. It’s definitely cooler out there despite the crazy weather that we’ve been having. Time will tell how it fares in the depths of winter.
The cat of course disapproves of all the changes and has completely ignored her brand new luxurious cat tower. Instead sleeps either on the ottomans or the cushion on top of the shoe shelves!
