The Bridgerton Effect: 200% increase in searches for orangery extensions following series launch

It was the Netflix series set in Regency London where an estimated 82 million people worldwide tuned in to watch its (slightly racy) love story.

For Bridgerton, the eight-episode first season was met by praise from both fans and critics alike, but it wasn’t just the TV series that grew in popularity: it seems as though it sparked the next big garden trend, too.

Since Bridgerton was released on Christmas Day 2020, Google Trends data has shown a rise in orangery-related searches, including a 200% rise over the last 12 months for “orangery extension” and 170% rise in “do I need planning permission for an orangery”, with 33,100 searches for “orangery” in the UK alone.

Alongside this, #orangery currently has over 79,000 uses on Instagram with Pinterest also reporting a surge in searches since the series launch..

Toby Marlow, Building and Construction Director at Haddonstone, said: “Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen a gradual upturn in the amount of orangery enquiries we’ve received, along with our traditional stonework sales. With fewer people venturing abroad and with people spending more time at home, we’ve seen a significant increase in customers wanting to invest in their homes and gardens. Orangeries have proved very popular as they offer customers additional living space, without the need to move”.

Orangeries came into fashion between the 17th to the 19th centuries and offered a dedicated building where plants such as orange where fruit trees, such as oranges, could grow and be protected during the colder winter months.

Coming in both stone and brick versions, they’re similar in design to conservatories and help to add both light and value to homes.

Sara Galbiati , Senior SEO Consultant at Hallam, explained: “Whilst the data suggests that there was a spike for garden products at the start of last year’s lockdown, there was another clear spike at the end of December 2020. With not many people gardening in the winter months, there’s a strong suggestion that Bridgerton has played a role in encouraging more traditional gardening products such as orangeries and traditional stonework. Impressions (how many times a website has appeared in search results) has certainly increased – specifically over the last 6 months – showing further demand for orangery products.”

Other regency garden trends, such as stone planters and other stone garden products, have also seen a rise in searches, seen in the graph below, along with over 12,000 searches for “stone bird bath” within the UK.

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