Top tips for planning a kitchen extension
Lifestyle

Top tips for planning a kitchen extension

Those of you who have been following me for a while now will know that we have recently completed a kitchen extension and house renovation of our current home. We did this to make our home a versatile space that the entire family could enjoy together, instead of half of us being in one room whilst the other prepared dinner, and vice versa. This time last year we were in the planning stage waiting to hear if our permitted development plans were to be approved, and now we are enjoying our brand new space.

Planning and deciding how the space will work and how it looks is never an easy decision, there are so many factors involved and so many different styles to choose from. So I’m writing this blog post to provide you with my top tips on how to plan your kitchen extension based on my own experiences, here goes…

Think about the size and the space

Whatever you want to do to your current home get an architect on board. It’s always worth having your own thoughts about what you want to achieve and how you want to space to look, but an architect will introduce their own ideas and think about the things and design ideas that you may not have already thought about, plus make sure you can actually do what you want to do.

There are also two forms of planning; either full planning or permitted development. Permitted development allows you to extend out to a maximum distance of 3 metres without the plans going out to consultation, whereas full planning is for larger extensions, or those that are in a different character to the existing building and/or if you are in a conservation area. Your architect and local planning department will be able to advise on the type of planning permission that you need.

Our house extension at the back of the house

Where is the kitchen going to go

This may seen like an obvious point but you do need to think about where your new kitchen is going to go inside your kitchen extension. Your architect and kitchen company will be able to help you decide on the best place, and you will probably already have a good idea in your mind. Consider that if your new kitchen is placed where your old kitchen was then some of the services may already be in place, whereas if you are completely moving your kitchen new services will have to be run to a different area of the house.

A kitchen extension is not just a kitchen

When creating a kitchen extension it’s not just about the kitchen, you will need to think about the living areas of the room. Our kitchen extension is divided into three areas – the kitchen, the living area and the dining area, and by creating these three areas you will create a space that the entire family can enjoy. You will need to think about ways in which to divide this up. A kitchen island is a great way to split the space between the kitchen and the dining area, and a snug in the room (depending on your plans) is a great way to create a living space. If you are thinking about having a dining area next to your kitchen island, you should allow 2.5 metres of width from the island to the wall to accommodate a dining table comfortably.

How to plan a kitchen extension

Consider your glazing

This is such an important feature in a kitchen extension as you will want your new space to be as light as possible. Often you will have the choice between bi-fold, sliding, crittal or french doors with many different types of frames and threshold options. You may also be have to a skylight (s), velux windows or a roof lantern (s) in the extended part of your home. There are so many options, TuffX Glass can provide you with a solution to meet your requirements and plans. Their flat modern roof lights are made of either Triple Glazed Safety Glass or Double Glazed Glass, and would look super stylish in a modern kitchen extension and let loads of light into the room.

Think big

Whatever you want to do think as big as you can for your budget. Kitchen extensions are not cheap and it makes sense to go as big as you can to really maximise the space and create that wow factor. My builder said to me not to skimp on size when you’re spending £££s on this project and creating a family home. This was in response to me questioning the size of our kitchen island which I thought was too big for the space. So if you can go big, do so, you’ll regret it if it’s too small.

View outside of our kitchen extension

Lastly how to style to space

Once the plans are in place and the build is underway the next step is to think about how you are going to style your space and what type of kitchen you would like. Actually you need to think about this from the outset to avoid any last minute rushed decisions. Some things to think about include what the style of kitchen you are you looking for – modern or traditional. If you’re creating a brand new extension it makes sense to go to modern, but if you live in a traditional Victorian home it may be better to stick with traditional. Do you want light or dark tones. What type of floor would you like? What colour do you want it to be? Lighting, think about lighting from the very beginning as your electricians will need to know where all the lights are going before the walls are plastered.

It’s really beneficial to start looking at ideas on Pinterest and Instagram, saving what you like, and then going back through it to see what styles and colours you save the most as this will help to influence your decision.

I could talk all day about how to plan a kitchen extension as there are so many things to take into consideration. But I do hope that this post has given you some food for thought and helped answer a few of your questions.

Have you completed a kitchen extension? I would love to hear what your top tip for planning it was?

Claire x

This is a collaborative post. 

 

 

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