Is the standard kitchen extension dead? 10 characterful ideas that will help yours stand out from the crowd
If you live in an area of the UK with a high density of urban houses, whether they're modest Georgian cottages, 1930s semis, or Victorian terraces, you have probably come across a lot of rear extensions. Usually comprising a kitchen and dining area and often including some kind of living space as well, these rooms have a lot of benefits: they allow for a style of open plan living which puts the kitchen at the heart of the home, they open onto the back garden, and they offer greater volume and perhaps more light than the pokier original rooms of the house.
Architecturally and decoratively, they can pose a bit of a conundrum, since they are contemporary additions to houses from the past, they are on a totally different scale to the other rooms, and seem to demand a different kind of style and decoration. They also tend to be a bit repetitive: a wall of french doors, often Crittall doors, a breakfast bar, and roof lights. So how do you bring personality into one of these popular extensions? Do you try and blend the architecture and decoration in with the rest of the house or accept the contrast? And how do you make it look different to everybody else's? An important thing to consider is how do you create pockets of interest in a space which is essentially lacking in character (due to it's shiny new-ness)? Many designers opt to do this with colour - as is the preference of Rosi de Ruig, whose kitchen is pictured below. Others embrace the airy openness and keep the decoration as light and natural as possible (see Laura Logan's kitchen below, where lime wash paint and natural materials are used to impressive effect).
We've gathered seven impressive examples from our archive to copy for extensions packed with character.
Astrid Templier1/19To the right you can just see how Pandora has used a sheet of Perspex to create a splashback without disrupting the effect of the wallpaper. A Pandora Taylor bespoke table complements the antique chairs. They built in a panelled seating area in the same blue as the window frames, but the other furniture can be changed over time.
Owen Gale2/19For the interior designer Laura Logan, when it came to renovating her London house, it made sense to extend the property at the rear to create the space for the “daylight-soaked kitchen and dining room that is fully connected with the outdoors,” Laura says. “With this in mind, the oak framed façade (a feature which translates into the interiors via beams and joinery by Tim Gaudin) became one of the first key decisions we made.”
Owen Gale3/19A vintage refectory table sourced from eBay sits in the middle of the kitchen, which has cabinets from Custom Fronts. The pendant lights were designed by Laura and made by Hannah Stacey Ceramics.
Owen Gale4/19Bauwerk limewash paint covers the walls in the dining area, which Laura says is her favourite space in the house. The table and chairs are from Lercolani and the artwork is by Alexandra Yan Wong. Ceramics from And Four studio and Sway Ceramics decorate the space.
Owen Gale5/19With its airy, light-filled extension, lush jungle garden and gently decorated rooms, Tom and Connie Barton of Honest Burger's London house feels like the ideal city home. The extension accommodates an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area and functions as the beating heart of the space. ‘It felt amazing to have discovered somewhere that balanced the old and new so well,’ says Connie. ‘I love how the house opens up from the relatively small proportions at the front to this light and airy space at the back.’
Mark Fox6/19The open plan kitchen in designer Katie Glaister's London house is a complete showstopper and a huge surprise given the standard 1930s architecture of the rest of the house. A double height space was dug down so that it opens up straight onto the generous garden and vast, glorious windows that let the light flood in. A mezzanine connects the room to the house's ground floor. “I didn't want to go the usual route with Crittall windows,” she explains. “I wanted to get this schoolhouse feel instead, and I wanted it to feel architectural but also very much decorated at the same time."
Mark Fox7/19For the windows, Katie found that timber contributed a much gentler aesthetic than steel Crittall windows. “They are large scale but not overwhelming.” The stable doors and window frames are spray painted in Argile’s “Celadon”.
Mark Anthony Fox8/19Blurring the lines between house and garden was a priority for the owners of this east London terrace, so the architects designed glass apertures and an internal courtyard to create an expansive feel, and used a mix of timbers that marry beautifully with the outside space. The new single-storey sculptural extension by Hayhurst & Co features cladding in natural and charred Siberian larch, as does the area around the clerestory window to one side of the house, which illuminates the stairs and internal courtyard. The extension manages to be both dynamic and subtle, combining a pleasing outline with windows that make the most of the garden views.
Mark Anthony Fox9/19The mix of charred and uncharred larch baton cladding on the outer copper coat contrasts with the pale kitchen.
Owen Gale10/19If you do opt for classic Crittall doors, why not choose an interesting colourway that will bring a smile to your face each time you see it? For Chris Graves of Clarence Graves it was obvious that the back wall of his formerly poky lower ground floor kitchen needed to be opened up to the garden, so he installed a glorious wall of pistachio green Crittall windows and dug out a sunken courtyard for them to open onto.
Owen Gale11/19The windows are certainly a showstopper, and it was the first time, apparently, that the installer had seen anyone choose a colour other than black or grey in twenty years. See the rest of the house here.
Owen Gale12/19Instead of committing to wall to wall French doors, a more elegant option can be to add smaller doors and large sash windows, as Alice Palmer has done in her 1930s terraced London house. It's a more understated solution, and also steers away from the starkly contemporary feeling of many extensions. The deep windowsills also allow extra space for displaying collections, and play host to Alice's collection of houseplants.
Lucas Allen13/19This Notting Hill town house by Suzy Hoodless has a beautiful kitchen-sitting room extension with a glorious double-height window that has completely transformed the back of the house. The architect Johnny Holland borrowed from Parisian know-how in making the most of old buildings, using more pane and less frame.
Lucas Allen14/19An interior view of the extension, where the kitchen and dining area opens out onto the garden terrace.
Christoper Horwood15/19Digital creative and brand consultant Lucy Williams has tackled her first renovation with confidence and flair, filling her Victorian terrace with bold colour and considered pieces.
Working with Flower Michelin Architects, there were numerous iterations of the house's rear facade before the team landed on this one. Taking inspiration from the brickwork on the original house, they added the inset arch over the window and concealed the pitched roof of the side return. Built by Hughes Design & Build, who painstakingly matched reclaimed brick to the house, Lucy loves the “painted wooden doors and windows […] that connect with the kitchen."
Christoper Horwood16/19“In the kitchen, I didn’t want to do banquette seating for the dining table," says Lucy, “but I really wanted something squishy to sit on and I’ve always had a real soft spot for window seats.” The window seat cushion is upholstered in hardwearing denim and the bright check fabric is by Jennifer Shorto.
Christoper Horwood17/19This side of the extension has a pitched glass lean-to roof that allows more light to flood in directly over the dining table. A pendant light by Beata Heuman was done in a custom bright red to contrast the pale blue kitchen.
Michael Sinclair18/19Interior designer Emily Todhunter collaborated with the architects Flower Michelin on this extension to a small Georgian-style cottage in South Kensington. They pushed the back of the house out into the garden by three metres and moved the kitchen upstairs, so that it now looks out over the garden – recently redesigned by Tania Compton.
Michael Sinclair19/19In the original layout, the kitchen was tucked away in the basement, with no outlook and felt removed from the rest of the house. ‘The wife is a fantastic cook and I could see it just didn’t work for her,’ explains Emily.
