Are you looking at your conservatory and thinking it needs a freshen up? The exterior may have seen better days, or perhaps the interior decor of your conservatory needs a revamp, but you’re not sure where to start.

Either way, modernising your conservatory can have huge benefits to your overall property value, energy efficiency of your home and general aesthetic of the space.

This guide will cover the 10 best ways to make your conservatory look and feel more modern. We’ll explore the more expensive options, such as upgrading the roof or conservatory frames, or the more quick-and-easy solutions, such as replacing old furniture or giving it a spruce with some paint. Let’s get straight into it!

How to Make a Conservatory Look Modern

Here are the 10 best ways to upgrade your conservatory, making it a standout modernised space in your home. 

1. Upgrade The Roof

While this is the most expensive option of the 10, it’s also the most effective, as it will provide long-term benefits, cost-effective solutions (such as energy efficiency) and significantly increase the value of your property.

A more modern roofing solution could be to swap your existing glass roof for a solid tiled conservatory roof, which can add heat retention to your home while providing an architecturally appealing aesthetic to your property. 

You may also consider converting your conservatory into an orangery – orangeries use solid walls and roofing, which gives the space for a more substantial, extension-like feel.

Learn more about which type of conservatory roof is best from our dedicated guide.

2. Efficient Glazing

Another of the most effective ways of modernising your conservatory is replacing your windows. 

If you’ve had your conservatory installed a fair few years ago now, not only might it have degraded from natural wear and tear, but the glazing may be in need of some TLC, too. 

Plus, the quality of glazing available on the market has evolved over recent years, meaning there are more long-lasting, durable options that still offer that modern appeal.

Try replacing your windows with energy-efficient double or triple glazing – this will reduce heat loss, minimise glare and improve the overall comfort of the room year-round, while providing a clean, more contemporary look.

3. Update Flooring

Updating your existing flooring in your conservatory is a great way to modernise the room. Dated flooring may consist of terracotta or beige ceramic tiles, thin vinyl sheet flooring, faded or stained carpets or dark wood floors.

Consider upgrading them to thick cushioned vinyl flooring, porcelain tiles, light oak engineered wood flooring or LVT planks. 

For a more luxurious experience, you could even consider installing underfloor heating, which could be a game-changer in the chillier months, making use of your conservatory all year round .

4. Modern Colour Schemes

You should consider what’s trending recently in the world of interior design if you’d like to modernise the interior decor of your conservatory. 

Natural wood panelling has seen a resurgence over the last few years, and while the “millennial grey” still shows a modern, sleek style, more vibrant colours are trending this year, such as deep greens or purples. 

Think about incorporating some of these modern trends into your conservatory decor – it’s amazing what a splash of paint can do to turn a room from ‘dated’ to ‘rated’!

5. Replace Old Furniture

Following a similar thread, you can also update any existing furniture that is more 2010s than 2020s. 

For example, if your conservatory is still sporting chunky honey-coloured wicker or rounded rattan sofas with floral cushions, you could upgrade this look to a more modern aesthetic, including:

• Light wood
• Metal frames
• Soft, neutral upholstery 
• Minimal silhouettes
• Scandinavian-style furnishing 

This type of modern furnishing helps your conservatory feel airy, timeless and blends with bright conservatories perfectly. 

6. Enhanced Climate Control

Do you find your conservatory can be a little unusable during the colder or warmer seasons? Invest in smart climate control to bring your conservatory to the modern era while adding a level of comfort you didn’t know you needed. 

Whether you choose smart blinds to control the heat and glare, electric or infrared panel heaters to bring in a blast of warmth when it’s chilly outside or split-unit air conditioning, having a well-controlled climate that’s easily adjustable is a game-changer for how often your conservatory is used.

7. Modern Lighting

It’s amazing what a flash of light can do to modernise a conservatory. 

Replace any old, dated lamps with LED downlights and floor uplights for a modern, fresh look, or install smart lighting systems so lighting can be easily adjusted as the day or the event changes.

A sleek, modern pendant light in the middle of the room – especially if your conservatory acts as your dining room – can be a contemporary centrepiece, pulling the whole room together. 

Modern lighting can instantly transform the ambience of your room, so it’s a great way to make a conservatory look more modern.

8. Up Your Blinds Game

Are your current blinds pleated or Venetian? While great for doing their job initially, blinds have evolved hugely over the last few years, offering some truly contemporary solutions which can instantly modernise a conservatory.

• Roof lantern blinds: If you have a lantern roof conservatory, roof lantern blinds are a must. Keep the sun’s rays at bay when travelling across the conservatory, making the room usable at any time of day.
• Minimalist shutters: Offering a clean, elegant aesthetic, minimalist shutters offer both excellent light and privacy control, but also improve energy efficiency, too.
• Motorised roller blinds: Who said you needed to move up from the sofa to shut the blinds? With motorised rollers, a handy remote can do all the work for you, allowing you to adjust as you need, and as the sun sets around the room.

The more modern your blinds are, the more contemporary your conservatory will look – and, you may even improve the functionality and usability of the room, too. 

9. Create an Open-Plan Living Space

Can you fully integrate your conservatory with the main house? 

By knocking down a wall (with the appropriate structural support in place), you can create an open-plan living space, effortlessly blending the conservatory into the main house.

For seamless modernisation, match the flooring to the adjacent rooms (e.g. laminate wood panelled flooring from kitchen to conservatory), use consistent colour palettes in both areas and furnish similarly. 

That way, your home becomes an open-plan walk-through, rather than having a bolt-on conservatory extension.

10. Change to Contemporary Frames

Lastly, you can change the exterior frames of your conservatory to replace chunky, white uPVC frames with slim, aluminium frames, adding a more modern, sleek style. 

While uPVC frames still have their benefits, they are regarded as a more dated type of frame, especially when the world of aluminium frames has increased significantly over recent years. 

Aluminium lets in more light, creates a cleaner, more minimalistic style and adds to the architectural wonder of the property, increasing your overall property value.

Benefits of Modernising Your Conservatory

So, while creating a more modern, contemporary aesthetic for your conservatory is the overall goal, there are countless other reasons why updating your conservatory can be beneficial, too, including:

Property value

Keeping on top of maintenance and improvements of your conservatory can significantly enhance your property’s overall value. 

When it’s time to sell, a tired, old conservatory may be a deterrent to prospective buyers – so keeping it updated as a functional, modern, attractive space for new homeowners is a major plus-point for your housing specification. 

Consistency

If you’ve spent money on the rest of your home, for example, kitting out for a new kitchen, upgrading the bathrooms or having a flooring revamp, your conservatory may no longer match the existing house interior. 

Remember to view your conservatory as an extension of your home, so keeping it just as fresh and modern will enhance the overall aesthetic of your house.

Usability

Nobody wants a conservatory that becomes too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, rendering it unusable for half of the year. 

Modernising your conservatory will improve functionality, making it a more attractive space for relaxation all year round.

Energy efficiency

Who wouldn’t want lower heating bills and better temperature regulation? 

Over time, conservatory materials may wear and tear, meaning energy efficiency decreases, so upgrading to more heat-retaining materials, such as efficient glazing, can make all the difference.

Lower maintenance

Ironically, the more work you put into your conservatory, the less work you’ll have to do. 

Investing in new gutters or a brand new conservatory roof, for example, will mean there is less general upkeep, and the conservatory will have more longevity.  

Building a Modern Conservatory From Scratch

Keen to build a modern conservatory and looking for tips and ideas? Our dedicated guide on modern conservatory ideas can steer you in the right direction. From bi-folds and swing doors to how to use the conservatory itself (e.g. a contemporary kitchen or a sleek living room), West Midlands Double Glazing have all the tips and experience to help.

Put Your Trust in a Reputable Home Improvement Company

Whether you’re looking to build a new conservatory or are interested in a conservatory revamp project, our professional conservatory team is here to answer any of your queries. Simply give us a call and one of our experts will be able to talk you through your options, and advise you on what’s best for your property and budget requirements. 

With over 150 positive Google reviews, we’ve built a reputation as one of the most reliable and customer-focused companies in the region. We also offer a variety of finance options, including buy-now-pay-later plans, and at the time of writing, we’re the only provider in the West Midlands to offer finance terms of up to 20 years on conservatory projects.

Ready to start planning your new conservatory? Get in touch with a member of our amazing team today to book in for your FREE quote and consultation.