Home extensions in London come in all shapes and sizes. Typically, a ground floor extension will increase the size of your kitchen. If you look at the layout of a typical period property, the kitchen is generally situated towards the rear of the building. When these properties were designed and built, cooking was not the social activity that is today. It was purely a practical solution to enable families or staff to prepare meals. For this reason, it’s often the smallest room on the ground floor and it’s separated from the living and dining area. 

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Ground floor extension companies in London know that the demands of modern living have drastically changed. The kitchen is often now referred to as the heart of the home. On top of this, modern trends have been introduced, such as the inclusion of bi-fold doors and skylights. Open plan living has become popular, which means we are seeing more and more internal walls removed in family homes, to merge the functional areas that you use day to day. 

Here at Home Tales, we appreciate that no two designs are the same. The design needs to revolve around you and your lifestyle. When we undertake a ground floor extension, we generally re-design the kitchen and introduce a new functional area into the design, such as a dining or living area. We discuss kitchen layout with you, and we outline your kitchen design on your floorplans so you can visualise how the space will work and interact. There is no one perfect kitchen design. It depends on the space you have available and how you intend to use the area. We thought we would talk you through some of the top kitchen designs, as well as the pros and cons to each option. 

If you want some advice on where to buy your kitchen, we have recently written a fantastic blog which discusses:  where should I buy my kitchen? You can read more here.

The Kitchen Island

Kitchen islands are hugely popular and feature in most of our designs. If you are extending your property, you will likely end up with a generous sized room. It’s important you only opt for a kitchen island if you have the space, as they do take up a good chunk of the room and you don’t want the space to look cramped. Islands comes in all shapes and sizes, and you can tailor it to the size of your room.  

We designed this stunning island in our SW18 project. The finished room size is 6m in length and 4.5 in width, which allowed for this large island to take centre stage in the room. The homeowner wanted to look out onto the garden while they cooked, so they opted for it to face towards the rear glass doors. The fridge sits behind the island, with the sink also close by to ensure optimal efficiency while cooking.  

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Here is another stunning example of a kitchen island we designed and installed in Merton. This kitchen is from Wickes and our recommended builder installed it as part of the extension works. Our client opted to have the island wholly dedicated to additional workspace, instead of including a functional utility within it (such as a hob or sink). The island acts as a breakfast bar, offering additional dining seating. We love the pedant lighting above – what a mood setter! 

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A ‘Middle’ Kitchen

Lots of our clients opt to have their kitchen towards the rear of their property, to maintain the traditional aesthetic that the Victorian and Edwardian era introduced. It’s also lovely to have your kitchen look out onto the garden. It’s also worth considering whether you place your kitchen further into the property, so you can keep the rear garden views for a living area or dining area. We recently completed a side return on this family home in SW17. The homeowner wanted the kitchen set back from the garden, so they could utilise the area for their living and dining area. We designed a spacious kitchen in the middle of the ground floor, complete with a large kitchen island and breakfast bar seating. 

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An L-shape Kitchen 

We completed a 3m rear extension on this property in Croydon, SE19. The homeowner wanted an open plan kitchen and dining area. We designed this beautiful l-shape kitchen from Howden’s, which saw kitchen cabinets wraparound two walls of the new room. This gives the homeowner loads of cabinet and countertop space. They also included a moveable kitchen island within their design. This island is on wheels, so it can be moved if required. This also leaves a less imposing finish on the room, as it’s not such a visual ‘block’ on the finished room aesthetic. 

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Chimney Stack Kitchen

We designed this stunning kitchen in SW4. The homeowner wanted to maintain the original chimney stack, but to recess kitchen cabinets within it. They chose to off-centre the cabinets against the stack, to leave this modern finish. We removed part of the chimney and supported it with steel above the cabinets. This allowed the fridge-freezer, oven and additional cabinets and shelving sit within the stack. This kitchen is from John Lewis, and we love the contrasting colours.

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If you are considering a kitchen extension or internal reconfiguration, contact our team today. We would love to chat through the different options with you. You can call us on 0207 043 2378 or email us at hello@hometales.co.uk. You can also book a consultation via our live diary here.