Finding The Perfect Spot for the “Conservatory”

Does this ever happen to you? You desperately want to use something for a Holiday display, and it just won’t fit in the house?

My Dad made the conservatory pictured below. He used old windows to make it.  I had asked him to make it when I still had my flower shop, Petals & Porch Posts. I wanted to use it as a prop at an Herb show. 

After he finished it, it was so wide, I couldn’t get it out of the building by myself, so it never made it to an Herb show!  He actually made two, but I only kept one.  I knew I wouldn’t have room for both of them in the Florida house.

 

 

He would always tell me he wasn’t a carpenter when I asked him to build me something, but I think he did a great job!

 

The Conservatory In Florida

When we first brought it down to Florida, I had it out on the lanai.  I used four chairs to hold it up off the ground.  It sat like that for just over a year.  Fortunately, the lanai had a roof over it and was screened in, so rain didn’t damage the conservatory.

 

One Fall day, a miracle happened, and Dave (Mr. Farmhouse) actually brought home something someone was giving away!  He always thinks I have too much stuff, so I was sure I needed to take his temperature!  He was helping someone move and they didn’t have room for this table!

 

It was the perfect size to hold the conservatory my Dad made!

 

When we got ready to start working on the outdoor addition, I wanted to bring the conservatory inside.  But I ran into a couple of problems.  The door to my office was too narrow to fit the conservatory thru and the areas where I could get it into, I didn’t have any places large enough for it to fit!  So, it got relegated to the garage until I could solve my problem!

Thyme to Get Serious

One day, I finally decided that I would just move all the furniture around in the living room in order to make room for it, at least for the Holidays!  Knowing I would face some resistance to my idea, I waited until I was the only one home.  I found the furniture sliders and got to work.  I had to move the couch from in front of the windows to where the buffet normally is and put the buffet where the couch had been.  Room needed to be left for the table that the conservatory was going to it on.

 

 

Normally the couch has a drop cloth slipcover on it.  The instructions for making a no sew drop cloth slipcover are here: Easy Summer Refresh for a Sofa Using a Drop Cloth

 

 

Here you can see the couch with the off white slipcover in the background of this photo

 

The next night, I wrestled the conservatory into the house and managed to get it up on top of the table by myself.  It involved placing it on top of totes so that I could move it in stages and a lot of praying!

 

 

Ready to Decorate!

The picture above is my Christmas Village display from a prior Christmas.  I guess it isn’t surprising that my village has two flower shops, a garden center, a pottery store and a McDonald’s!  I am still trying to find a pizzeria to add to the village!  I decided that the conservatory was the perfect spot to set up my Christmas Village.

The first step was to find some pieces to add height.  I had a pedestal, a piece of architectural salvage and a display piece from the flower shop that I made into a shelf.  I also used the primitive bench that I had rescued from the farm practically the last minute.  All the details about how I gave it a make over can be found here: How to Refresh a Primitive Bench

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this piece of needle work looked like icicles.  I am still waiting for the first snow to fall and cover the bare areas!

 

About 1/2 of the buildings are battery operated and the other half need to be plugged in.  I also had some little fairy lights that I added along the side and back of the conservatory.

 

 

 

Close ups of the Display

The little cottage on the right side actually has matches in it!  I found it in my Mom’s things when I was going thru the downsizing/moving process.  If you are just starting to follow me, it took quite a while to complete the process.  My journey started here: Thyme to Let Go ; How I Downsized the Family Homestead Part 1

and ended here: Thyme to Let Go : How I Downsized My Family Homestead Part 7

with many steps in between and lots of thyme, energy and a few tears.

Using Vintage Books

I honestly have been decorating with stacks of different colors of old books for many years.  I usually kept the stacks to one color scheme.  I used a stack of small red books underneath my Pfaltzgraff pottery building.  It took me years to figure out how to pronounce and spell the word, Pfaltzgraff!

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updated June 19, 2022