5 ideas for your house extension

Having an extension built onto your home might seem like it’s going to involve a lot of trouble and expense. But if you and your family want or need more space – and you don’t want to have to move house to achieve that – you could find it’s actually a more sensible and cost-effective solution than you might think.

Here at Highline Design & Build, we’ve been building quality house extensions for customers in and around Egham, Twickenham and Weybridge for many years. Our creative team has the experience to craft a solution that meets the needs of you and your family while also making the best use of the space available. 

Here are a few of our favourite house extension ideas:

Rear house extensions

This is probably the most common of all extension solutions, if for no other reason than because that’s where most people have the space to put one! Rear house extensions are great for creating expansive open-plan living areas and for enabling the perfect transition from home to garden through the use of stylish glass doors.

Another great thing about a rear house extension is that you are far more likely to be able to get one completed under permitted development rights – so without the need for the expense and trouble of planning permission – than would be the case with most other options.

Side house extensions

The first place you might think of to locate your new extension might be at the rear of your house, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. For instance, you might be eating into part of your much-loved garden space. Spare land at the side of the house often goes comparatively unused and could therefore represent a far more sensible solution – and usually you’ll only need planning permission if your extension is likely to impact on a neighbour.

A side extension is a great place to add an extra bedroom with ensuite, a home office or gym, or even extend an existing kitchen to create a new kitchen diner that could have the added benefit of freeing up other space within the property.

Double storey extensions

If you’re after lots of extra space at your home, then you might find that a double storey extension offers better value than one large single storey building. For instance, it could allow you to create extra living space downstairs with one or more new bedrooms upstairs, all while using less of your garden than you would by creating the same amount of space on a single storey.

Double storey extensions can also be extremely cost-effective, because – by extending vertically rather than horizontally – you can achieve all that extra space with far less foundation work than would be necessary if you put it all on one level.

Double storey extensions also often offer aesthetic benefits in that they are usually easier to blend in with the rest of the building in a naturalistic way than is possible by adding only to the ground floor.

Wrap around extensions

We’ve already talked about how both rear and side extensions offer opportunities for improving the space in your home – but just think what you could achieve if you could extend in both directions at the same time! A wrap around extension does just that, by wrapping around the side and rear to create one large open-plan space that’s perfect for the demands of modern family living.

The build is likely to be longer and more complex than a more straightforward extension – and you’ll almost certainly need planning permission – but it gives you a great deal of freedom to create a space that works exactly for you and your needs. And the amount of extra floor space created is likely to add considerable value to your property, making it a good long-term investment as well.

Glass house extensions

At the other end of the scale to a wrap around extension, glass house extensions are comparatively quick, easy and inexpensive to build, almost never need planning permission and can represent a stylish transition from home to garden. 

Modern technology and design mean that today’s glass extensions aren’t the hotspots in summer or freezers in winter that old style conservatories tended to be. This means that they can be used all year, giving you the opportunity to appreciate an unobstructed view of your garden, whatever the weather is doing outside. 

 

The thing to remember is that you don’t have to have vast expanses of unused outside space to have an extension – even well thought out small house extension ideas can make a huge difference to the way you enjoy your home.

If you’re unsure if there’s room for an extension at your home or what would be the best solution for creating extra living space, our design and build experts can make a free visit to assess what could be done, discuss your hopes and provide a practical solution.

Want to know more? Then get in touch with us today to book your free home visit!