House renovations in London are extremely popular at the moment. Where space is limited, it’s important you utilise every bit that is available to you. Home extensions are particularly valuable, and you would be surprised what you can do with some extra space. It’s not necessarily the SQM added that makes a difference, but it’s the change in the rooms shape. 

We have loads of examples here at Home Tales. Let me talk you through a project we recently worked on. Here is a ground floor floorplan of a typical Victorian terraced property in London. You will probably recognise the staple 3-room design. This includes the front room, the middle room, and the outrigger to the rear, which is typically the kitchen. The narrow kitchen is generally only 2m to 3m in width, which, when you take into consideration kitchen cabinets (600mm), and other appliances, it actually feels very cramped. Now, check out the proposed floorplan we came up with. Simply pushing out into the side return completely transforms the rooms capabilities. The width of that side return is only 1.5m to 2m. The key is that it’s in addition to that rooms existing area. The room suddenly becomes 5m wide and 6.5 in length. Add in the increased natural light due to the additional windows and glass doors to the rear, and you have a complete transformation. 

We thought we would talk you through some of the things to consider when extending your kitchen in London. Remember, no two properties are the same, so all of these might not be applicable to your project, but some certainly should be. 

Consider the entire ground floor 

You might be adding a side or rear extension, but it’s important to think about how the extension will affect your overall ground floor area, including the front room. For example, if you are extending your kitchen, it’s likely the room will end up large enough to house two functions. As a result, most of our clients end up putting their kitchen and dining area into the newly extended room. This might free up some space elsewhere, as your dining area moves towards to the rear.

We recently completed a ground floor side infill extension on a property in South London. In realising that they had space to house their kitchen and dining area to the rear of their property, the homeowners wanted to properly utilise the two front rooms. They dedicated some of the middle room to a spacious ground floor WC. The other part of the middle room was incorporated into the living area. We removed the wall and inserted steel to support the property. This gave them a large, spacious living area.

Full width glass doors 

Full width glass doors are hugely popular nowadays too. They look incredible and give you a seamless transition to the garden. Merging the boundaries between the inside and outside is fast becoming the new trend, and you can even get floor tiles that match to give you a visual unity both inside and outside. If you are having a dining or living area to the rear, the full width doors can work well. Although, if you want to have kitchen cabinets run the length of your kitchen, it’s worth considering an alternative. Here is a ground floor extension we completed in North London. The homeowner wanted his kitchen placed further into his ground floor, which allowed for full width glass doors to the rear.

As an alternative, this client wanted cabinets to run the length of their kitchen. This houses their boiler and washing machine and drier. It also gives them a huge amount of storage which is always useful. As the kitchen cabinets are 600mm as standard, this meant they couldn’t have full width glass doors. 

Windows and rooflights

There are a huge variety of window and rooflight options when it comes to home extensions. Velux windows are definetly one of the top runners, as they are very reliable, they look fantastic, they are practical to use, and they are reasonable in cost. In short – they tick a lot of boxes. Alternatively, you can go for a more bespoke option. All-glass roofs are popular, but they come with a hefty price tag. They also take longer to install as you need to build the shell before you can place the order. As a general rule of thumb, an all-glass roof will set you back £8k to £10k. That price will come with a thicker frame – if you want thinner frames, the price will go up substantially. It’s also worth noting that you cannot open glass roofs as the glass is too heavy. This makes them harder to maintain and clean. 

If you have any questions, or want to let us know more about your project, contact our friendly team by emailing hello@hometales.co.uk. We would love to learn more about your project.