Thomas Sanderson and Laura Ashley have announced the launch of a fabulous, new and unique collection of conservatory blinds.

As one of the UK’s leading producers of window blinds, Thomas Sanderson are always looking for new concepts, so a design collaboration with the very popular Laura Ashley brand is a great opportunity.

The outcome is an eye-catching and refined choice that will add a stimulating new look to any home:

• The new range of conservatory blinds, is the first to offer customers the prospect of bringing pattern to the conservatory, by harmonizing interior furnishings with the soft warming colours from the Laura Ashley design ranges.

• The new blinds combine luxurious patterns with practical design and purpose, to create an elegant living space suitable for use throughout the seasons.

• 21 new fabrics are offered, consisting of three patterned and one plain design, enabling customers to combine different fabrics to create their desired effect.

• Each blind in the Laura Ashley range is individually handcrafted and designed to be as practical as it is stylish – fitting neatly into every window, roof panel or door of your conservatory.

• Thomas Sanderson’s advanced fabric technology, ensures that each blind will react to the demanding climate of a conservatory, helping to reflect heat and glare on hot sunny days, whilst providing essential insulation during the colder winter months.

The new collection is available from April 2011. Prices start from £750.

The Thomas Sanderson designers will liase with each customer, to ensure they find the perfect mixture for their conservatory.

To view Thomas Sanderson’s new Laura Ashley conservatory blind collection, please visit the website.

Whether as an avid gardener, you are looking for a grand glasshouse, or a smaller greenhouse for a cottage garden, to help you to ‘grow your own’, Griffin can design an entirely bespoke structure to suit your requirements, and sympathetic to the original features of your home.

This includes their smart glazing system, which creates the look of wood minus the continuous maintenance headaches, which usually accompany it.

A Griffin Glasshouse is designed to last and be an attractive feature of your property for many years. Every element is planned to provide both aesthetic and durable finishes, ensuring you have an attractive, top quality glasshouse with virtually no maintenance.

Griffin Glasshouses design, build and install beautiful aluminium glasshouses to the highest standard, to suit their clients’ exact specification and individual requirements.

As specialists in their field, they can also assist you with the best solutions for benching, cold frames, heating, irrigation, internal water storage, shading and ventilation.

For more information about the complete range of Griffin Glasshouses, please visit the website.

Tel: (01962) 772512

Large Glass areas in the home are a passion these days, making intelligent shading solutions for conservatories, skylights and atriums, as well as other glazed areas an absolute necessity.

Silent Gliss Wintergarden systems are guided roman blinds - soft and elegant, with superior hardware and a vast range of fabrics, they guarantee a shading solution fine tuned to your individual needs.

Silent Gliss have a complete range of Skylight shading solutions, with a vast range of technical fabrics catering for all shapes and sizes of glazing and shading requirements.

The Silent Gliss Skylight system featured here, is a unique solution to shading large areas:

• The parallel fabric panels can be moved to provide an innovative and extremely elegant way of shading.

• Maximum light and glare management is guaranteed through gradual tilting of the fabric panels.

• And the systems maximise daylight on a dull day and reduced heat and glare on sunny days.

About Silent Gliss
Expecting the best includes excellent service - The Silent Gliss Customer Service Team and Dealer Network, provide an extensive range of services, including technical advice, fitting and maintenance.

To see the Silent Gliss Winter Solutions, please visit the website.

Stockist Tel:   (01843) 863571

TimberWindows.com is pleased to announce the launch of The English Glasshouse.

The company, which produces bespoke timber orangeries and conservatories, as well as roof lanterns and pool houses, is already setting new standards for the industry.

With each building constructed individually to suit not only the style of house, but also to take into account the preferences and style of the Owner - the fact that there is nothing mass-produced is obvious.

The honest charm and character that shines through is unmistakable.
Whether you’re looking for something contemporary or traditional and whatever size your home, The English Glasshouse can create a garden room for you that will not only add value to your property, but will also change the way you live at home.

Giles Henman, Conservatory Director of TimberWindows.com, says: “Our mission, with The English Glasshouse, has been to bring 21st century standards of insulation and security, while not compromising on design and ensuring each English Glasshouse requires little maintenance and is built to last.

“We have taken the very best American, Scandinavian and European technology and married it with peerless British design, to create glass buildings that are both beautiful and a joy to live with.”

Conservatories and orangeries by The English Glasshouse are the only ones in the UK to be manufactured exclusively from engineered hardwood (multi-layered timber sections laid out at opposing grains) and oak, ensuring many problems usually associated with wood, such as warping and twisting, have been eliminated.

The English Glasshouse offers a unique guarantee of up to 30 years and prides itself on building strong relationships and offering the very best customer service.

To view the stunning range of bespoke glasshouses and orangeries, please visit the English Glasshouse website.

Tel: (0845) 652 7365.

Apropos’ latest lead figures have shown an increase in the number of enquiries for a conservatory kitchen.

Customers are looking to brighten up their kitchen areas, by moving them into an aluminium and glass conservatory.

They can also have the option to add folding sliding doors, which will enable them to open out the kitchen and let in the fresh air.

According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), adding a new kitchen to your property can be more appealing to buyers and can add as much as 4% to its value; adding a conservatory to a property can be very simple and cost effective.

Apropos structures are designed especially for the clients to suit their needs and can be designed to fit any space for any size kitchen. Apropos’ aluminium and glass structures come with a large choice of different colour frames to suit any house from the ultra modern town house to a traditional farm house.

Peter Holland, Regional Sales Manager at Apropos comments “We have seen a significant increase in the number of kitchen conservatories that we are designing for our clients. More people these days are looking to make their homes brighter and more airy, so are looking to us to help them achieve their dream home.”

Apropos glass and aluminium structures start from £12,000.

For further information or to order a brochure visit the Apropos website.

Tel: (0800) 328 0033.

With the trend for people improving not moving, more properties are undertaking full makeovers including extensions.

A stylish way to extend, and one that is fast replacing the garden room or conservatory, is to add an orangery to a property to create a light filled room with an interesting story.

Garden room specialist Westbury Conservatories has seen a dramatic increase of requests over the last year from clients looking for a romantic, nostalgic solution to their expanding family needs.

Typically classical in style, these rooms usually combine masonry, timber and glass and though traditionally used for storing delicate citrus plants, their use is now far more fluid. Family rooms, dining areas, kitchens and offices all work well in this space.

It seems orangeries are gaining in popularity, as they are not only beautiful but practical too:

• With limited glazing to the roof an orangery is less prone to temperature fluctuations typical of a conservatory.

• Westbury’s orangeries are also roofed with a single-ply polymeric membrane, which creates a lifelong leak-proof seamless finish and also works to insulate the room.

• Recent changes to planning laws also mean that an original rear wall can be extended up to 4 metres deep before planning permission is required, making an orangery an ideal next step to adding space to a property.

Westbury’s design team works with the client to create an extension that is sympathetic to the existing property. This is then handcrafted by Westbury’s in-house joinery department based in Essex.

Clients then either choose to use their own builder to create the foundations and basework, or Westbury’s building team can undertake this as part of the overall orangery installation.

Westbury’s orangeries are great value too, starting at £40,000 for all design, building works and finishing.

Visit the Westbury website to view the stunning choice of orangery designs.

Tel: 01371 876576

Conservatory specialist, Westbury Conservatories, established in January 1990, have been building top quality bespoke conservatories, pool houses, orangeries and garden rooms for twenty years.

The privately owned company has built an impressive reputation for design, quality, durability and ease of maintenance.

The Westbury service employs a full team of experts ensuring complete control of every aspect of every job, from initial design to the final coat of paint.

The Westbury commitment is testament to their impeccable service. Managing Director Jonathan Hey personally inspects every completed conservatory, to ensure they meet the toughest quality standards.

The design team are first and foremost architecturally driven, ensuring you get the right conservatory or garden room to suit both your property and your lifestyle.

They are also environmentally conscious; every aspect of the business has been checked against strict green credentials, from a wood re-burner, which recycles the waste wood to heat the factory, to ensuring all building materials are sustainable.

Featured here is a Traditional Timber Conservatory In Surrey.

• This fabulous rectory needed its own touch of modern living.

• A bespoke solution, creating a large glass room and a permanent opening from the kitchen, meant that the beautiful grounds could be enjoyed to the full.

• Modern living now seems to require one very large room and this is a perfect example of how classical design can be married with contemporary living.

Jonathan Hey, Managing Director of Westbury Conservatories comments, “Our aim is to make building a conservatory, orangery, garden room or pool-house as painless as possible.

Over the last 20 years we’ve developed a process that not only ensures you get the right design to suit your home and lifestyle, but that the job is completed with the minimum of fuss.

Our expert team of reliable tradesmen provide a professional service, complete every job to the exact specifications and always finish on time.”

Visit the Westbury Conservatories website to view their impressive ranges of garden buildings.

Tel: (01371) 876576

Recent studies have shown that installing a self-cleaning glass, such as Pilkington ActivTM, in windows and conservatories is ten times more environmentally friendly than using regular glass.

Independent research compiled by BRE (Building Research Establishment) demonstrates that the self-cleaning properties of Pilkington ActivTM, offer a number of environmental benefits by reducing quantity of resources, including water, energy and cleaning agents, required for cleaning through the year and throughout the life of the windows.

The study looked at two vital issues:
1. Water Savings By installing Pilkington ActivTM self-cleaning glass, the average detached property can expect to save approximately 260 litres of water per year, because of its reduced need for regular window cleaning; once a year to remove dirt associated with Pilkington ActivTM , compared to traditional window cleaning frequency of once a month.

2. The Environmental Impact study looked at four key factors for an average semi-detached house - water usage, energy required for heating water, detergents and transport of window cleaners and expressed as Ecopoints, Pilkington ActivTM  (0.005 Ecopoints) was proven to have one tenth of the overall environmental impact compared to traditional windows (0.06 Ecopoints).

For further information on Pilkington ActivTM self-cleaning glass, see our previous article: The Amazing Pilkington Activ™ Self-Cleaning Glass.

Web: http://www.pilkington.com/selfcleaningglass

Tel:  (01744) 692 000

Jayne and Graham Wren moved to their 19th century crofter’s cottage in Yorkshire eight years ago, as it seemed to them an ideal environment to bring up a family. It was originally a semi-detached building, which had been previously converted into a single cottage.

Although the cottage was roomy enough for the couple to begin with, they went on to have three children and in 2003 decided more space was needed and embarked on an extension for the cottage.

This resulted in the loss of a playroom, so to address this and bring more light into the cottage, a conservatory was agreed as the ideal solution. The Wrens’ conservatory was designed using powder-coated aluminium on the outside and ash hardwood on the inside, giving it all the benefits of aluminium and the beauty of wood.
 
The Roof: It was important for the Wrens to select a glass that needed minimal maintenance, so they chose to install Pilkington Activ™ Blue combined with Pilkington K Glass™ in the roof.

Activ™ Blue designed specifically for conservatories, is a blue-tinted glass that combines dual-action self-cleaning properties with solar and thermal control technology; when combined with Pilkington K Glass™ it also has an aesthetic benefit, by reducing reflection and glare from the sun, providing ultra clear exterior views and improving the outlook on even the greyest of days.

The Windows: The vertical windows were glazed with Pilkington Optifloat™ which, when combined with Pilkington K Glass™ improves energy efficiency, as the heat from the radiators and stove is reflected back into the conservatory, resulting in reduced fuel bills!

The Result: An entirely new light and spacious living area for the whole family to enjoy all year round. The Wrens were careful to ensure the new conservatory was in keeping with the rustic charm of the property, by opting for a cream colour scheme and tumbled limestone flooring; Jayne installed a wood-burning stove to complete the look.

Cost of project: approx. £40,000

Web: http://www.pilkington.com/selfcleaningglass
Tel:  (01744) 692 000

All too often conservatories lie empty in winter, as people believe they can only be used during the summer months.

Pilkington glass has teamed up with leading interiors stylist Alison Davidson, to help you maximise its use throughout the year:

With some careful planning and styling know-how, you can ensure your conservatory is not only warm enough to use all year round, but trendy too.

Using premium products specifically designed for conservatories, such as Pilkington Activ™ Blue Glass* for solar control, combined with Pilkington K Glass™ *, which reflects heat from fires and radiators back into the home, your conservatory will be kept warm throughout winter and reduce fuel bills.

In summer, Activ™ Blue glass allows less heat into the conservatory compared to standard glass, thus reducing heat transference by approximately 43 per cent!
 
That dark brick wall and roaring fire form a great focal point for winter, but can look quite heavy in the bright summer months. To change the feel, hang a large picture of something summery over it, or a mirror to reflect the light.
 
Change the furniture; In our picture dark brown leather was swapped for cream cotton covered sofas; alternatively have a spare set of loose covers made to turn your winter look into summer, or cover them with light coloured throws.
 
Adding different coloured accessories and cushions can instantly change the look.
 
A large dark wool rug looks cosy in winter but swapping it for a white cotton version for summer will give the room an instant summer feel.
 
Add lots of fresh flowers in summer in bright, vibrant colours to bring the outside in.

Web: http://www.pilkington.com/selfcleaningglass
Tel:   (01744) 692000