Building a Conservatory

I am without a Conservatory for a year, after 'the move'.  Built not long before the move, how could I possible have known how deeply woven into my life, and DNA, it had become?
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Missed as a friend, beacon, nurturer, metaphor.
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Not a woman of means, my conservatory was made from old windows, parts, & furnishings, I had been hunting/gathering for a decade, and storing in the garage.  Finally, enough parts rescued, and money saved for labor & materials to build it.  Just because I was without great means did not include doing without a fireplace, chandelier, lamps, electricity and sockets everywhere.  Poverty of spirit has never been an issue, a real woman has priorities with scarce funds.  Talking a good game is lame, living it is life.
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A shed at our farm has already been moved and renovated.  Alas, it is storing tools, and my boxed up library, until the barn is built.  Two roofs, front & back, were built onto the shed, the old Kubota tractor, and golf cart, sometimes Tess, my beloved little ugly van, are parked under the shade of the shed roofs, and a, now, motley collection of chairs from my previous 30 year garden.  Those chairs, in the shade, and overlooking woodland, chicken coop, pasture, lake, meadow, are my only spot in the garden to 'be', simply be.  Scope for the imagination, as Anne would say.
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Creating my new Conservatory, from a shed, has more constraints at our ca. 1900 farmhouse.  It must be of its era.  Constraints for design, I adore, they push creativity.
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It's interesting looking at Conservatory pics, again, but for a different type of Conservatory.  Pulling new elements forward, dropping others entirely.  Life is rich, a 2nd Conservatory to create.



Pic, above, here.

Clusters of cloches & terra cotta pots, above, are awaiting their farm debut.  At present they are under the house stored on shelves.

 

Pic, above, here.

A black iron table base similar to, above, is stored in our materials yard.  Saw this and knew immediately, paint it white, put a small round top on it.  Chandeliers are stored under the house, awaiting.

 

Pic, above, here.

Tools, I have tools, and baskets.  Only the very best old tools/baskets will go into my new Conservatory.  Not for show, to use.  Literally.  Beloved has his own tools, somehow my tools are taken/used/not put back.  Harry Potter must have a horrid incantation against the not-put-back.

 

Pic, above, here.

What is a Conservatory without a drop leaf table?  Drop leaf table from my previous Conservatory is in my office now.  Enjoying the anticipation, Which drop leaf table will be chosen for this new Conservatory?

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Pic, above, here.

Have adored Belgian Pearls, above, Conservatory, small, functional, aesthetic.  Harvest table I've bought, hasn't been delivered yet, will be tucked under the shed roof, just like, above.  Sensing the problem?  I will need another harvest table to put under the great open sky.  Stars are too amazing, living rural.  

 

Pic, above, mine, conservatory at my 30 year garden.

Lamp in my previous Conservatory, above, is now in the front parlor on an antique chest.  Cannot wait for the Lamp Layer to arrive, furnishing my new Conservatory.



Pic, above, mine, conservatory in my 30 year garden.

Pair of blue chairs, above, are flanking the door to my new Conservatory.  Now green.



Pic, above, here.

A client's Conservatory, above.  A conservatory must be minimum 12' x 18', and have doors on 2 walls.  They did well, yes?  More, their conservatory made it to the cover of This Old House magazine.  Posted somewhere on my blog.

 

Pic, above, I shot in Susanne Hudson's garden.
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Once the old Kubota tractor & golf cart, now at the shed, leave for their new home, a long desk with lamps, above, is their replacement.  For expedience Beloved used large gravel at the shed during renovation, it will have to be scraped away, used elsewhere, and replaced with #89 granite gravel.



Pic, above, I shot in my 30 year garden.

Lamps, and the chandelier on a dimmer, were left on, 24/7 in my previous Conservatory, above.  Oddly, it's one of the things I miss most, now, living without a Conservatory.  



Pic, above, here.

There is great metaphor in my Conservatory lit at nite, all nite, every nite.  Hope you've watched, Oscar & Lucinda, above.  Jenny, my mother-in-law introduced me to bleak chic, and Oscar/Lucinda delivers.  Not a movie for a soft soul.

 

Pic, above, I shot in a client's garden.
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My client, above, moved away from his Conservatory also.  And is slowly building a new one too.



Pic, above, I shot of my conservatory with Susanne Hudson for the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival.

A few salvaged Conservatory parts, above/below.  Great example of how little can you have, and still have great decadence.  Susanne Hudson & I built this conservatory.  Thought you would like to see a comparison of styling.  Our styling, above, with my photography.  Better Homes & Gardens magazine styling & photography, below, of the same conservatory.



Pic, above, same conservatory as 2nd pic, above, shot by & in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, here.
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Sink & water trough, above, are under my house, awaiting their new debut.
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Noticed how loosely I use the word Conservatory !

Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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No, you're not seeing the mostly renovated shed.  I don't like doing before without after.  I have shots of the shed in its original location before renovation, moving it, acting as a work shed now, awaiting that last layer !  Life is good.