We feel that house extension companies in London should be in tune with the modern trends seen in residential properties. At Home Tales, we like to keep ourselves and our clients informed on the current design trends. However, we will always prioritise what we think is best for our client and the design they find most preferrable for their home.

As a ground floor extension company in London, we have created many beautiful home extensions of all shapes and sizes. We have found that in today’s market, open plan living seems to be the way to go. Having such a large space in one’s home allows for so much more design flexibility, so the sheer versatility of the room adds great overall value.

What is open plan design?

As you may have guessed by the name, open plan design involves a floorplan that is unobstructed and completely open, making the layout appear as one large room. A typical traditional London property would have all the different living spaces separated by internal walls, physically and visually keeping these areas apart. For example, the ground floor of a Victorian terrace would usually have the living room towards the front of the house and the kitchen towards the rear. This massively impacts the amount of lighting that can reach the middle of the floor.

The social aspect seen in a combined living and dining space is greatly reduced when the kitchen is isolated. However, this is good for keeping fumes and noises from reaching other parts of the home. In an open plan ground floor, the internal walls are knocked back to merge all the individual rooms into one large space. The result is a highly interactive, bright, and airy room. When designing such a space, zones are usually implemented to make sure each functional area has its own dedicated section.

It must be noted that open plans that require the demolition of load bearing walls can become costly for a large room. This is because steel beams will be required to replace load bearing walls to support the rest of the house above.

Kitchen, dining and living space in Northwest London

For this lovely property in Northwest London, our client wanted to extend the rear and side of the ground floor, moving the living space further into the garden. The extension offered the perfect opportunity to carry out internal refurbishments. By knocking back the load-bearing walls and replacing them with hidden steel beams, space was freed up for this traditional yet chic kitchen, dining, and living space. Bi-fold doors and skylights were installed to really capitalise on the indoor-outdoor look. As shown in the photograph above, natural light is now able to cover the whole (enlarged) footprint of the property.

Interior and architectural design play a huge role in successfully planning an open floor layout. In this property, the brickwork is used as a statement piece that clearly distinguishes the dining space from the kitchen, despite these spaces being directly adjacent. This social area encourages family bonding by allowing quick interactions throughout the day, which is pertinent nowadays as we are continuously glued to screens. Furthermore, the pendant lights make the kitchen island a more intimate space for informal chats and sharing breakfast.

Kitchen and dining space in Southwest London

This semi-detached property originally had an old conservatory to the rear. We removed this and replaced it with a 3-metre-deep ground floor extension that fits in seamlessly with the rest of the house. This increased the floor area to accommodate an open plan kitchen and dining space. Due to the large Crittall-style doors, full length window, and large rooflight, the new room feels more intimate and connected to nature.

There are great reasons to keep this informal space separate from the front of the house. You are able to keep the noise and smells of the kitchen isolated, so you won’t have to worry about fumes travelling over to the living room and the room can quickly be ventilated. The space between the rear and the front rooms is the perfect place for an additional WC in your home, which is not usually seen in a period property.

Kitchen, dining and living space in Merton

How lovely is our client’s property in Merton? It originally had the traditional London house layout, so we removed all of the internal walls on the ground floor and created a huge, stunning, open plan space accommodating a kitchen, dining, and living area. We also extended the ground floor further into the garden. Furthermore, the archway left over from an internal wall now acts as a subtle yet effective feature that helps define the living space from the dining. This is great for zoning as lighting is slightly altered to better suggest a separate zone.

The bay windows to the front of the property, paired with the roof lights and bi-fold doors, ensure there are no more physical obstacles to limit the amount of day light in. Therefore, natural light is able to flow through the entire floor area, leaving no corner untouched. Our clients can also fold open their new bi-fold doors to uplift and efficiently ventilate the entire room.

If you are looking to move forward with a home extension or any other renovations, our team would love to hear from you! Give us a call on 02070432378 or shoot us an email at hello@hometales.co.uk with any of your questions of project details. Alternatively, click here to book in a telephone consultation with a member of our team. We offer two types of consultation: a Standard telephone consultation which is free of charge, and a Consultation+ which includes additional services and a video call. We hope to hear from you soon.