Our fully-lined Roman blinds, such as this called York Damson, will make your room much cosier

So, the temperature is dropping and the nights are drawing in. Autumn has definitely arrived. Are you mourning the end of summer and already missing the sunshine, holidays, days out and leisurely weekends spent in the garden? Or are you secretly looking forward to cosy evenings indoors, snuggled up with the blinds closed and the heating turned up?

This is certainly the time of year to get your home ready for the cold months that lie ahead of us. And if recent weather reports are anything to go by, we’re all set for another chilly winter.

A great place to start is with your windows. Not only will updated blinds breathe new life into an entire room (add a few new accessories, cushions and a rug and it’s as though you’ve given the room a complete makeover) but choose wisely and you’ll help keep the cold air out too. Great!

Fully-lined Roman blinds are a lovely choice. The soft fabrics in our range have a real luxurious feel, great for escaping the outdoors. The lining provides additional insulation at your windows too. 

Alternatively take a look at our Pleated blinds. Perfectly suited to a conservatory as they can be tailored to fit the different shaped roof windows, Pleated blinds are available with a special lining that stops heat escaping during the winter as well as keeping things cooler in the summer. Pleated blinds aren’t exclusively for conservatories though – consider them at the windows of your home – team them with one of our PerfectFit frames that fit into uPVC windows without the need for drilling and screwing for brilliant draught exclusion results.

And while we’re on the subject of conservatories, remember, ignoring your conservatory over the winter is a huge waste of space. It’s definitely worth investing in Pleated blinds for the roof and your favourite style of blinds for the sides to keep things warmer and ensure you get year-round use out of this expensive addition to your home.

Another September, another school year.  After six weeks of fun, the children (and their teachers) are back at school and for the rest of us the traffic is back to being terrible!

This year, aim to start the new school year with a new attitude. We know that homework can at times be stressful. Try to create a more calming environment to help things go more smoothly.

If you have an underused conservatory, this could be the perfect starting point. As the temperature starts to drop, conservatories often get neglected so it’s important to give them a proper purpose if you want year-round use.

A home office, perfect for getting the homework done, could be for you. Start with the blinds. Pleated blinds are the perfect choice for the roof. They can be shaped to fit awkward windows and come in a range of performance fabrics that keep things cooler when the sun is shining and stop warmth escaping through the windows in the autumn and winter.  Around the sides you can choose from our full range which gives you more than 850 options.  Even the most discerning teenager will find something to suit their taste.

Add a table and some chairs, space for school books and a PC or laptop and there you have it.  A light and airy environment that anyone would be happy working in. Plus your conservatory is lived in at last!

Indeed, LV= recently predicted that mums and dads are likely to spend more than £600 on each child throughout the holiday season.

As a result, it can be worth sprucing up your home and turning it into a place where youngsters really want to spend some of their time off.

There are many ways in which this can be done, from making extensive home improvements to simply revamping the soft furnishings.

But one of the easiest methods is fitting new panel blinds in the conservatory.

This room of the house can come into its own throughout the summer months and be used in many different ways.

What can be better than wining and dining your friends in a spacious conservatory while the sun is shining?

But it can be just as good for hosting the kids when they are not in school.

After all, brightly coloured roller blinds or shutters can really light up this room and make it feel like the perfect playing area for kids.

Acacia Buttercup and Acacia Bazaar roller blinds for instance, both of which are available here at Hillarys Blinds, can turn an otherwise standard conservatory into a vivid and stimulating environment for little ones.

Of course, a few bright colours and toys won't necessarily do the trick when your kids hit the dreaded teens.

But a well-chosen set of blinds could turn a conservatory into a stylish retreat for teenagers and a place where they'd be happy to spend time with their friends throughout the summer.

Experiment with hues such as turquoise to give the room a breezy and airy feel at those times when the sun is shining.

If the kids have a place where they're happy to spend much of the six-week break, you'll find it goes a whole lot quicker.
 

If you currently work from home, the benefits of having your own private space to carry out tasks, make calls and use a computer will be obvious.

One spot in the home that is particularly popular among employees is the conservatory, with its light and airy feel conducive to high-quality work.

However, in order to block out bright sunshine and other weather conditions, a set of beautiful blinds is usually required.

And it is not only on a practical level that blinds work, as they also add style and colour to one of the most desirable parts of any building.

With more than 40 years' experience in the business and with three million customers to our name, Hillarys is the perfect choice for conservatory blinds.

We have a vast bank of knowledge when it comes to filtering light at the right angle and strength, so your conservatory will never be too bright or dark.

This is sure to be a major consideration for home workers, who could find their extension is out of bounds during the working day unless their chosen blinds do the job required of them – something Hillarys can guarantee.

You will also have a choice of more than 850 materials and styles when it comes to choosing blinds for your conservatory, so there is something for everybody within our range.

Experts from Hillarys travel the world to ensure only the very best themes and looks make it as far as our extensive catalogue.

Why not order a new set of blinds for the conservatory today as part of a complete overhaul of the space, including a new design, decoration and range of accessories?

We've only gone and come up with another exciting summer deal for our customers – those who opt for pleated blinds for their conservatory roofs will also be able to take advantage of our great offer of free side blinds, with more than 100 fabrics to choose from.

Can you think of anything better? All you have to do is spend over £800 on your roof blinds – a pittance when you think how great your conservatory will look afterwards, you'll be the envy of all your neighbours – and you'll receive some side blinds absolutely free.

But that's not all. So confident are we that our conservatory roof blinds will stand up well against the passing of the years, we're offering a Peace of Mind package that covers both the roof and sides of your extension.

If you have any problems whatsoever with your blinds within the first year of purchase, then we'll send out an adviser quick, smart and in a hurry to come and solve the problem. If this can't be done on site, we'll even arrange for replacement blinds to be installed.

So what conservatory roof blinds should you go for? Here at Hillarys, you'll certainly be spoiled for choice, as our pleated blinds selection now has more than 160 fabrics for you to browse through, in a range of designs and colours.

What you will find, regardless of the style of blind you choose, is that the biggest benefit of these pleated blinds is how they reflect the sun's heat to keep the conservatory cool in the summer and prevent it from escaping during the winter, so you can stay all warm and cosy when you need to.

However, one consideration that should certainly not be overlooked is the installation of conservatory blinds, particularly as the weather's heating up now and the summer months are drawing ever closer.

Some might think that having blinds set up in time for June, July and August isn't really necessary – after all, if the room becomes too hot, a window can just be popped open – but it is actually possible to regulate the temperature of a conservatory using the blinds themselves. This means the room will stay ambient throughout the day – perfect if you've been out at work all day and want to relax in your new conservatory without having to wait for it to cool down first.

Of course, there are other benefits to having conservatory blinds in place. The very nature of these rooms means they are much more open to the outside world and installing conservatory blinds in these living spaces means that homeowners won't have to put up with nosy neighbours trying to sneak a peek at their belongings all day and every day.

With conservatory blinds erected, people can kick back and relax in their pyjamas after a long day at the office with a nice cup of tea and not have to worry that all and sundry passing by can see them unwinding with their family.

What's more, conservatory blinds come in so many different styles and fashions these days, you're sure to find a set perfectly suited to your new extension, so you can live in comfort without compromising on your vision for the space.

However, there is more than one use for this part of the house than to sit in it admiring the garden when the sun shines down upon us – and homeowners may find it is incredibly easy to transform their conservatories depending on how the mood takes them.

Alan Stein, president of Tanglewood Conservatories in Denton in the US, for example, told the Washington Examiner that it could even be turned into an operational greenhouse, which may not have occurred to some.

"You can turn it into a tropical rainforest if you want," he remarked. "Some people have lizards and tropical birds flying around."

Anyone keen to go down this route could use some of the plants and flowers on display at this year's Chelsea Flower Show as inspiration. Garden broadcaster and author Matt Biggs said he was particularly taken with exotic fauna from Borneo, the tropical nepenthe, which displays "extraordinary form and colour".

Of course, the list of applications for conservatories is practically endless, limited only by people's imaginative powers – close your eyes and picture your conservatory as an art studio, a bedroom, a music room, a pool house. Then grab that interior design magazine, a paintbrush and get to work realising your dream.

Alternatively, you could come over all practical and turn your conservatory into a kitchen, as one client of Anthony Barnes of Barnes Vanze Architects requested. Although the designer noted that there were a few challenges to face first, he eventually erected a partial wall with clerestory windows above and around it, on which he placed a stove hood.

"There was a structural need for a wall on one side because of strong winds and close neighbours," Mr Barnes recalled.

How To…Go Green is due to be aired on June 7th at 19:30 BST, showing people how by installing double or triple glazing wooden windows they can save both money and the environment by reducing their energy consumption.

Sean Parnaby – campaign chairman with the Wood Window Alliance, which features on the programme – noted that its products are assessed to make sure they are leak-proof, wind-tight, low maintenance and energy efficient.

"[This] documentary shows how today's high performance wood windows don't just look good, they help save you money and improve the environmental sustainability of your home," he remarked.

However, homeowners should exercise caution when hiring fitters as, according to industry body Fensa – featured in an article for Real Homes Magazine – there are a number of rogue traders offering cheap work who may not have insurance.

Independent interior designer and industry commentator Jo Hamilton recently set out some of the key trends in this field.

She asserted her belief that conventional laminate flooring should be avoided as it looks "quite cheap".

However, the interior design expert suggested that high-end products of this type can be very different.

"There is some commercial laminate flooring that is great. I tend to go for veneers over laminate flooring, so you've got the stability of the engineered board with the veneer," Ms Hamilton said.

She went on to state that there is a growing trend towards balancing bright colours with neutral tones and suggested that achieving a balance should be the aim of homeowners.

Last week, Ms Hamilton explained that householders are increasingly opting to use stair rods in their properties.
 

According to Anna-Marie DeSouza, editor at Build It magazine, it may be wise to spend the money now in order to install features that are friendlier for elderly residents to be able to get around it.

Another way to future-proof a home is to invest in environmentally-friendly energy solutions, which can cut the costs of bills, one of the main concerns for older people when the winter sets in.

"In this time of austerity, people are thinking more about their future and thinking about how they will afford to live once retired," the expert explained.

Research by moneysupermarket.com recently showed that 16 per cent of Brits spent their bank holiday weekends investing in home improvements, with 19 per cent of those taking out a loan to make much-needed changes.