The dust has finally settled on our orangery extension, and now that the garden is really taking shape we feel ready to share it properly with the world through the medium of time lapse video!
My husband worked very hard on putting the video together, not just the final editing but the constant positioning and checking of cameras as the work was carried out, downloading hundreds of video clips, and planning the best angles to fully showcase what was going on. We even used a drone for the final shots.
The building work started in August 2024 and took just under four months, finishing just before Christmas 2024. Then the garden landscaping began at the end of March 2025 and took just over a month. The garden is still a work in progress - we've been making regular visits to the garden centre and slowly filling out the borders. I'll be sharing a few pictures once it gets going!
So if you enjoy a good time lapse, click below to watch as our house is pulled apart and then put back together to create something amazing that we are so pleased with.
I know that I keep going on about it, but our extension has made such a huge difference to our home and our lives. When we were in the very early stages the company that we used told us that it would change how we used our home, and they were quite right. I do still spend time in the rest of the house of course, but the vast majority of my time at home is spend in the orangery.
We have a beautiful big kitchen island which is where we eat all our meals. It's the perfect size for food preparation and eating, and I keep it as clean and as clear as I can. After a few meals we had all chosen on our favourite spot and this is mine, with a view out over the kitchen and towards the hallway. Then I can enjoy the garden view while I'm cooking dinner.
Our go to for furniture is always Ikea but when we were looking for a sideboard we just couldn't find one that matched what we were after. So we splashed out a little on this one from The Cotswold Company, along with a matching coffee table. I really love it, the wood is such a lovely shade. There are some electrical items that seem to have to live there, but it looks best with a plant and some fresh flowers.
Our new lemon tree is thriving, and we have plenty of new flowers appearing. Every time I see it it makes me feel happy, I just love the colours and over the last few days it has started to smell wonderful.
Finally our gorgeous Ikea sofa is a great place to sit and look out into the garden. The view is improving every day as our hardworking landscapers are busy working away! It's going to be amazing when it's finished and when it's warm enough to have the bifold doors open.
I was always a bit hesitant about taking on such a large project, but I'm so glad that we went ahead with it!
If you want to see how the project progressed, you can watch a time lapse video of the orangery extension build and subsequent garden landscaping below:
We are really pleased with our new orangery, and we've slowly been adding the finishing touches. The one thing missing is some greenery, and my husband was very keen on the idea of an orange or lemon tree. I wasn't sure at first because we aren't the most green-fingered people, and because we go away a lot I was a bit worried about how we would look after it. But a friend recommended a local citrus nursery, The Citrus Centre in Pulborough, and so we decided to go along and take a look.
We were really impressed! They had a huge selection of trees in all shapes and sizes, and the lady was really helpful. She could see that we were beginners and so she recommended that we start with a lemon tree. It's a four season tree, so there will fruit and buds all year round, and they are the easiest type of citrus tree to start with. We agonised over a few that were a similar size and shape before settling on an Amalfi lemon tree.
We transported our tree home like a newborn baby, going slowly around the bends, gently over the bumps, and with me sat in the back to look after it.
The tree will live inside over the winter and then move outside over the summer when the orangery will be too hot. It's almost time to move it outside, but we are having work done on the garden over the next few weeks so it will live inside until that is finished. I was surprised to learn that they only need to be watered every couple of months or so, and then when you do water them you give them lots all at once along with some feed.
We've bought her a pot and have named her Lily. We will be leaving most of the fruit on the tree for decoration, but as it had six lemons when we bought it we did harvest one which I used to make a delicious lemon drizzle cake.
I really hope that Lily is with us for a long time to come!
Update June 2025 - The orangery extension project is finally complete! You can watch a time lapse of the full build and garden below.
We are very close to the end of our orangery extension project, and we are really pleased with it. The building work is finished, we have a beautiful tiled floor, the walls are nearly all painted, and all that is left is the installation of the kitchen which is progressing really well.
I'm so grateful that we've been able to have this work done, and I'm really looking forward to enjoying it properly once all the work is done. The other night it was pouring with rain, and it felt so cosy to stand under the lantern roof and listen to it, even if we were surrounded by cardboard boxes and dust!
I must admit that I've not found the works easy. It will have taken nearly four months by the time it's finished, and that is with someone working every single day. We used a company to design and build the orangery, and worked mainly with their contacts for the different trades. So our project manager made sure that as soon as one part was finished the next person could start which has been brilliant, and people have also been popping in and out constantly to work on different things as the need arose.
We left them to work on the house while we were on holiday over half term which did work very well as they were able to get the floor laid without us bothering them. I think we would have had to move out otherwise, as we wouldn't have been able to use most of the ground floor.
Otherwise I've had to make sure that someone is around during the day in case they need anything, and as my husband works away quite a lot that's usually me. It has been a bit of a disruption to my usual routine - I've hardly been going out running which I miss, so that's something to get back into in the New Year!
I also feel on edge all the time when there are people in the house and I struggle to relax. It's not so much the noise or the dust, it's just knowing that there is always someone there. Should I be offering a drink? Do they need me for anything?
I'm also completely worn out with decision fatigue - from big decisions like which kitchen cabinets or floor tiles to choose down to the tiny ones like which saucepans to buy for the new induction hob. We've had lists to work through of things which need to be decided and chosen, and although it's exciting I find it all really tiring to think about!
I never like to give Christmas as a deadline for anything. But fingers crossed, this Christmas I will have a lovely clean and shiny space, and I can cook some delicious Christmas treats in an oven that isn't on its last legs!
Update June 2025 - The orangery extension project is finally complete! You can watch a time lapse of the full build and garden below.
I may have been a little quiet on the blog recently, but it hasn't been at all quiet in our house!
We are currently carrying out a project which we have been planning for a long time - we are adding an orangery extension. We've been half thinking about it since we moved in, and so we never did any other work to the house in case it would turn out to be a waste of time and money.
Finally at the beginning of the year we started to plan more seriously and began to put some ideas together. We had to wait for it to go through planning permission because we are joining to the garage, but fortunately it was accepted with no problems.
It's the first time that we've been involved in a project like this and we haven't really known what to expect. We've been watching time lapse videos of similar projects on YouTube to get a feel for the order in which things will happen. This also inspired my husband to buy his own time lapse camera to record the progress which is fantastic to watch back and I'll definitely be sharing it when it's all done!
It seemed to take a while to really get going - we had problems with unexpected pipes in the wrong places and then the weather was atrocious. For a long time all we had to look at was a muddy back garden full of holes. But then the beautiful red brick walls went up, and this week the wooden structure is being built, and that has really given us a feel for how it's going to look.
Currently most of the back of the house is missing, with wooden boards and tarpaulin the only protection from the elements. It was fine at first, but as the weather has got colder and windier it has felt a little bit as though I'm preparing food outdoors! Luckily the front of the house has escaped unscathed so we have the living room to retreat to, and we've not suffered at all with any dust or mess.
We are a couple of weeks away from having a sealed structure, and then the work will move indoors with plastering, tiling and a new kitchen. It should all be complete well before the end of the year, and I'm really looking forward to a Christmas at home with a new kitchen to cook in and stars to gaze at through the ceiling!
