The best homes are ones that you can make your own, not only enhancing your lifestyle but also adding value to your property. Here are the best house extension ideas to inspire your home’s transformation, from a bespoke design and build company in London.
Table of Contents
- Side House Extensions
- Side Return House Extensions
- Side and Rear House Extensions
- Wraparound House Extensions
- Flat Roof House Extensions
- Rear House Extensions
- Loft House Extensions
- Dining Room Extension Ideas
- Semi-detached House Extensions
- Double Storey House Extensions
- Single Storey House Extension Design Ideas
- Single Storey Extension Roof Ideas
- Hipped Roof House Extension Ideas
- Pitched Roof House Extension Ideas
- Flat Roof House Extension Ideas
- Flat Roof vs. Pitched Roof for House Extensions
- Indoor-Outdoor Living Design Ideas
Side House Extensions
A side extension is an extension of your house along the existing building on the right or left side. It helps to widen your ground floor, giving you a lot of extra room while using space that usually goes unused on your property and delivering a lot of natural light into your rooms. It’s usually the most affordable and popular house extension idea and often requires no planning permission – and the results blow clients away every time. Just look at how this side house extension with skylights changes this house in Fellbrigg Road to create a light and spacious kitchen/living/dining room.
Read more about house side extensions here.
Side Return House Extensions
A side return extension is a lot like a side extension – but while a side extension can be done on almost any property, side return extensions are common on terraced homes. Side returns are largely unused narrow spaces for bins and outdoor storage, but with narrow terrace homes, moving this into your living space makes a world of difference to home life. Here’s how a side return extension makes this modest terrace home in Laver’s Road into the perfect entertaining and family home.
Read more about side return house extensions here.
Side and Rear House Extensions
This combines a side extension with a rear extension that pushes the footprint of the home outward both into a side return and the rear garden. This is a more expensive project, but it really delivers in terms of making a more spacious and generous living area and kitchen! In this Fawnbrake Avenue house, it allowed the owners to redesign their ground floor to add an ensuite bed and bathroom, new utility space, and rear reception all filled with natural light.
Read more about side and rear house extensions here.
Wraparound House Extensions
Due to their size, wraparound extensions are one of the more expensive but more impressive ways to expand your home. In this Dancer Road house, a full side and large rear extension created an 8.8m deep and 1.5-metre-wide addition, with a full 5.1 metre rear wall fully fitted with large panel sliding doors. As a result, the owners have achieved a stunning living, dining, and entertainment space ideal for accommodating family and a busy home life.
Read more about wraparound house extensions here.
Flat Roof House Extensions
Most types of extensions can be done with a flat roof, which is not only more cost-effective and easier for planning purposes, but also means you don’t block views from upstairs windows. Today’s flat roof extensions, and the kind our design and build company specialise in, are very high quality and drain very well, making them safe and durable. They can be fitted with large skylights to allow in plenty of natural light and deliver a sleek, modern look to your home, as they do in this stylish Forest Hill home.
Read more about flat roof house extensions here.
Rear House Extensions
Rear house extensions push your living space out towards your garden and are a good alternative to rear side extensions if you don’t have room at the side of your property. They are more affordable for this reason and give you a great opportunity to create indoor-outdoor living and entertainment spaces, as well as giving you a beautiful view onto your garden. You can see how this Pollards Hill South house achieved the ideal living, dining, and kitchen space with a rear extension that gives the room volume, light, and even new rooms.
Read more about rear house extensions here.
Loft House Extensions
If you can’t go outward, go upwards. Loft extensions have become increasingly popular over the years, adding new bedrooms onto your home that have the most incredible views. This stunning loft extension in Ealing W13 puts you up on the rooftops – and even with the large-scale glazing that brings in all the views, it’s a very private space too. It’s a great way to add a real wow-factor to your home.
Read more about loft house extensions here.
Dining Room Extension Ideas
Dining rooms are so much more than a space to eat. They’re for entertaining, spending time with friends and family, sharing the events of your day, and even doubling up as a workspace. As with so many multifunction spaces in modern homes, great dining room extensions should support all these important aspects of your lifestyle – whether your home is large or small. Dining room extensions can make a strong statement through bold design and made to feel more spacious through the use of large skylights. Rich colours and thoughtful decor can be utilised to ensure that the space is warm, visually interesting, and has plenty of storage.
See more dining room extension ideas here.
Semi-detached House Extensions
For homeowners looking to entertain guests, relax and enjoy time with the family, or take full advantage of their outdoor views, quality house extensions remain highly sought after. Opting for a luxury extension on your semi-detached house should be an investment, and a chance to create a bespoke living area that maximises space and acts as a stunning focal point for your home. Building an extension on your semi-detached house requires a variety of experts, from designers to builders and project managers. You can carry out certain types of work to your semi-detached house without needing to apply for Planning Permission. Instead, you can be granted ‘permitted development rights’. In the United Kingdom, all houses (excluding flats) have permitted development rights.
See more semi-detached house extension ideas here.
Double Storey House Extensions
One of the most remarkable and effective ways to transform your house into your dream home is to extend upwards and outwards at the same time. Double storey extensions are expensive but compared to the cost of buying a sizeable property in the area you’re settled in, they’re a cost-effective choice. And that’s not to mention the benefits of being able to maximise the value of your investment and design your home to your unique specs. The cost of a double storey house extension depends on the specialists your project requires, negotiations for providing these services, and the organisations you partner with. Often, it’s a good idea to keep as many of these services with one party as possible, which streamlines the process and helps to keep costs down.
Read more about double storey house extensions here.
Single Storey House Extension Design Ideas
Extending the ground floor of your home is one of the most popular and affordable ways to add practical living space to a property. It’s also a great way to get creative with your home – to add character alongside functionality to make it truly yours. Depending on the design of your house and planning permissions, you can typically use a rear extension, side extension or wraparound extension to extend your single storey house.
See more single storey house extension ideas here.
Single Storey Extension Roof Ideas
Whether you want to upgrade an outdated extension or are planning on knocking your cramped ground floor into an open and airy dream kitchen and living space, don’t forget to consider the type of roof your single storey extension will have. While we spend a lot of time focusing on the square footage of your floor, remember that your roof will have a significant impact on the space. From the internal and external aesthetics to the cost of your build, the roof you choose is an important decision. Single storey extension roof options include gabled roofs, flat roofs, hip roofs, and crown roofs.
See more single storey roof extension ideas here.
Hipped Roof House Extension Ideas
In construction, the sloping roof of a house without vertical slides or gables is called a hipped roof. Because of the unused space under these roofs, many homeowners choose to extend their living space upwards by creating spacious loft rooms. That’s why these extensions are called hipped roof extensions. These conversions are a very attractive and popular option despite them taking a lot of labour and being more expensive than less complex projects. This is because of how they transform the use of your property and expand your space without impinging on the garden. By creating new rooms, these extensions add considerable value to homes, especially in areas where space is at a premium. A hipped roof extension is commonly used for creating new bedrooms and bathrooms, but it can also be used to create a guest room or home office space.
See more hipped roof house extension ideas here.
Pitched Roof House Extension Ideas
If you want to add height, character, and volume to your home, then a pitched roof extension is exactly what you need. These extensions should be custom-built to your property and specs, and when they’re built correctly, they will add considerable value to your house as well as support the family lifestyle you love. Many people prefer pitched roof extensions because they add light and volume to the property without looking boxy or imposing. These extensions also complement a wide range of architectural styles, blending comfortably with historic, Victorian and contemporary buildings with ease or even carrying off a sharply industrial or modern design. The slope of the pitched roof makes it easy to bring light into the space through the open volume this vaulted ceiling creates, complemented by features like skylights, glazing, and sliding doors. It’s also one of the easiest ways to create space to the side of your house, with the low profile pitched roof extending off an existing flat roof or extension without interfering with neighbouring properties or your roofline.
See more pitched roof house extension ideas here.
Flat Roof House Extension Ideas
A bespoke flat roof house extension is easier to construct than a pitched one, which means more of your budget can go towards important features such as custom sliding or panel doors, skylights, and interior design. This also means that they are faster to build, so you can be enjoying your new living space in less time. These roof lines are much less obtrusive, which is a great design advantage if you are looking for an extension that delivers space without being bulky. This also means that they can be waterproofed and finished off easily without the need for tiling or other types of roofing. Drainage can be built into the structure, so that you don’t have unsightly gutters and downpipes spoiling those elegant, clean lines. Depending on their design and construction, a flat roof can be exceptionally strong and durable, allowing you to finish it off with bespoke touches like turf or wildflowers to create a beautiful and natural effect when viewed from above.
See more flat roof house extension ideas here.
Flat Roof vs. Pitched Roof for House Extensions
One of the first major design decisions you’ll have to make when extending your home is whether to use a flat roof or a pitched roof for your extension. While there’s no straightforward answer to which one is best, there are important benefits and drawbacks to each option. A pitched roof is the most traditional roof shape, making it settle easily into neighbourhoods with a similar aesthetic. Flat roofs have a lot to offer in a home extension and have come a long way in terms of their style and build quality, especially if installed by a specialist team.
Read more about using a flat roof vs. a pitched roof for your extension.
Indoor-Outdoor Living Design Ideas
When the weather is beautiful, it’s natural to want to take activities like dining, lounging, and even cooking outside into the garden. And that’s exactly why indoor-outdoor living spaces have become a huge home design trend in recent years. Indoor-outdoor living spaces can be as simple or creative as you want, making them a very versatile addition to your home. When designing your indoor-outdoor living area, every project should be bespoke, but some critical ground rules to follow include having your indoor and outdoor flooring at the same level, using floor-to-ceiling openings onto your outdoor space, and creating consistency with your interior and exterior design to help bring the spaces together.
See more indoor-outdoor living design ideas here.
Choose the Best Design and Build Company to Create Your Dream Home Extension in the UK
PlusRooms is an experienced, full-service design and construction business in the UK, handling every aspect of your construction projects and with an exceptional track record of completing over 1,400 projects in homes throughout London to world-class standards. In addition to handling small home extensions and kitchen extensions, we also specialise in single storey, double storey, and loft extensions. Contact us today to find out more about our house extensions or to get a quote on your project.
