Asimple way to add value to your home is to add space, the one thing we all crave. Unfortunately, this is something we tend to get wrong in this country, and the badly planned extension is often the first thing to be demolished whenever I look at reconfiguring or extending a house.
Families, stuck for space, call a builder and have an extension built. They get the space they needed, but are unhappy with it and never figure out why. Aside from fundamental problems – like losing any connection with the garden, or poor insulation – the single greatest issue I have found is that the room the extension adjoins becomes dark, becomes a walk-through or – in the worst scenarios – becomes redundant.
So how do you get it right? The key is to think it through and to plan it right.
When extending, you have to take a fresh look at your house – almost as if you were designing the whole house from scratch. When you are building, the whole house needs to be assessed. For example, you may need a new bigger kitchen and plan to put it into an extension, but it could be better situated in a different location.
Think about how you use your house throughout the day. Rooms used in morning – like bedrooms and bathrooms, or even a study for the early riser – should face east.
Day rooms, such as kitchens and living spaces, should face south, but south may be to the front of your house, which is where linking the front to the back comes in. You get that connection to the garden but also the light. Livingrooms or dining areas should face west to get the last of the evening sun.
Try to place all utility rooms, bathrooms, storage and service rooms on the northern side of the house. You need to think of your lifestyle and your routine to get the most from your extension in terms of comfort and functionality, as well as monetary value.
Work out what rooms need to be together or apart. If you have the extended family over a lot or love to entertain your friends, make sure your living spaces connect in some shape or form; perhaps you can connect to the garden to use it as an outside room for entertaining.
If you work from home and want to be part of what’s going on in the house, have your office space close to the living areas; or if your work requires solitude, you may need a more separated space . Playrooms located beside a kitchen when children are y small lets you keep an eye on them, but as they grow older they may need their own space. Consider your family at different life stages and allow the flexibility to adapt your house to change.
When designing any extension, you need to be careful about how it plugs it onto your house. Ensure that you don’t have to walk through a room to get to another room. Make sure the new room works as an entire space, firstly with light and then with function. Allow enough in your budget to reconfigure the orginal space if necessary.
Some people see courtyards as a waste of space, but in areas where you need to keep as much of the existing layout as possible but still need to extend, or in places that are long and narrow, they are a great way to add light. They also provide a garden in the middle of the house, which gives a connection to an outside space, as well as ventilation.
The big trend at the moment is to extend and create large open-plan spaces. Considering the alternative – a clatter of small segregated rooms – it is one trend that won’t go out of fashion any time soon.
Open-plan spaces are great for family life and entertaining, but they also give smaller houses a greater feeling of space, and so can work well, too, if you live by yourself. Use furniture, book cases or a stove to create zones, making the space functional but cosy at the same time.
An extension should fit with and complement, firstly, the street and then the existing house. But being respectful of the original structure doesn’t mean you have to copy its style. In a period house, for example, the extension should be contemporary and simple, so that you can read what’s old and what’s new, showing respect to the old structure. In newer houses, make sure that the palette of materials in the extension work with the existing building – you may not like all the existing materials, but something as simple as changing the window colour can work in a new space and refresh the rest of the house.
Introduce light
It’s the most important element you can bring to a house or extension, both to the new space and the rest of the house.
Use your views
Every house should be connected to its surroundings, to a garden or a yard. Use what you have, however insignificant you may think it is.
Choose natural materials
Wood, stone, brick, concrete – anything with its natural grain and colour. Scratches and marks only make them look better with time.
Think about things you touch and feel
You don't need to spend a fortune on kitchens, bathrooms or doors, but handles and taps are your physical link to the building.
Use colour
Keep your background palette neutral, but don't be afraid to introduce splashes of colour with art, children's drawings or furniture you love.
Use clever storage
Especially with the trend for open-plan living, a good utility room is the workhorse of a house.
Keep the good room
With space at a premium in most houses, it’s time we said goodbye to the good room. Our homes need to be flexible and free flowing. Reclaim the good rooms for everyday life.
Create dark corridors
If you can get any break-out somewhere to get light or windows in there, then do so. With light, corridors can be great for kids to play or for a window seat.
Have low ceilings
There is nothing worse than a great big open-plan room but with a standard 8ft ceiling. If you want to create a feeling of space the ceilings must go up – it will dramatically change how the room feels.
Put all your kitchen units up against the external walls
We have dishwashers now so the sink doesn't need to take pride of place – open up external walls to the garden and use islands to create a social space.
Use fake materials . . .
that are meant to look like timber, stone or anything but what it is.
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