Extending Your Home: 10 Great Ways to Add Value with a New Extension

Extending your home is the ultimate way to boost light, space and value. But with so many different kinds of extension available in all shapes and sizes, it can be a little tricky to work out which design would suit your needs and home best.

From loft extensions to side-return additions or even a basement extension, each home and family has its own requirements that’ll form the basis of a successful design. Maybe you have a redundant side return that’ll perfectly suit a glazed, lean-to roof to form a new kitchen-diner. Or perhaps you have a single-storey, attached garage that’s just waiting to be built on top of?

Whether you’re after more room to create a better work-from-home setup or additional rooms to support your growing family, the kind of space you need will depend on a whole host of factors. Planning permission, your home’s layout and budget will all weigh in – but to help you see the potential that’s laying in store, here I’ve rounded up 10 different ways that you can extend your home.

1. Side Return Extension

By using the side area often found to the rear of terraced houses, you can unlock vital space to expand an open-plan kitchen-diner or living area. In this project by Plus Rooms, the kitchen has been extended into the side return to finish flush with the rear wall, whilst preserving the rest of the garden.

The pitched roof allows for multiple skylights to let in as much natural light as possible, and creates a zoning effect internally that breaks up the dining and living areas.

More Inspiration: Side Return Extensions: 17 Inspiring Project Ideas & Expert Advice

2. Rear Single-Storey Extension

One of the most popular ways to extend is by building a single-storey addition at the rear of your home. This design by Brosh Architects reversed the original layout by locating the kitchen space to the rear in the new extension.

Photo: Ollie Hammick

Natural light flows throughout the entire lower ground floor through a set of French doors and a skylight on the flat roof of the new addition.

3. Loft Extension

Extending upwards or converting your loft is a great way to add extra room if you have limited space at ground floor level. This playful flat roof dormer addition by Office S&M allows for an extra bedroom so each of the owners’ children has their own space.

Photo: French + Tye

The yellow arch windows and rounded cedar shingles give the dormer a unique aesthetic that successfully contrasts the exterior of the existing house.

4. Extending Your Home’s Basement

If you can achieve adequate ventilation, natural lighting and sufficient waterproofing for the space, a basement could make an invaluable addition.

Photo: Matt Clayton

Here, Scenario Architecture dropped the existing basement floor level significantly to create more headroom to incorporate a gym and home cinema. On the ground floor, a rooflight has been installed to flood more natural light down the steps into the basement zone.

5. Garden Room Extension

There’s a whole spectrum of garden room extensions, from classic glass-and-frame structures like conservatories, through to robust orangeries and sunrooms that incorporate solid walls among the glazing.

This rear extension by Paul Wiggins Architects features a conservatory-style section that is offset at an angle, with a glazed pitched roof and corner sliding doors that blur the boundary between the indoor and patio areas.

More Inspiring Ideas: Conservatory Design Ideas: Inspiring Projects and Expert Advice

6. Wraparound Extension

Combining both a rear and side return extension can be a great way to maximise space and form a seamless addition to your home. Iguana Architects are behind this wraparound extension, designing a space that opens up the dark and disconnected ground floor.

Photo: Juliet Murphy

Rooflights brighten up the open-plan kitchen-diner, and the black diagonal timber cladding creates a striking contrast against the white render of the original house.

7. Extending Your Home at the Front

Extensions don’t have to be limited to the rear of the home – additions such as a front porch not only add kerb appeal but can provide practical extra space. It’s also a more affordable addition that involves less disruptive building work.

Photo: Lorenzo Zandri

Designed by Unknown Works, this cubic porch is constructed from cross-laminated timber panels which have been insulated, coated in textural render and painted a bold banana yellow.

8. Over-Garage Extension

Building over an existing structure could be a cost-effective way to add space to your home, provided the foundations and walls are suitable for bearing the load of an additional storey.

Photo: Kilian O’sullivan

In this project by Paul Archer Design, a new master bedroom and ensuite bathroom have been constructed over an attached garage, blending seamlessly into the original home with updated cladding and matching roof tiles.

Learn More: Garage Conversions: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide

9. Double-Storey Extension

Getting two storeys out of your extension can really maximise the available space and make a huge transformation to your home.

Here, Bi Design Architecture demolished the previous single-storey kitchen extension and rebuilt it as part of a new double-storey addition that allowed for the master bedroom to be relocated above it. The oak frame glazed extension allows light to pour in and frames riverside views.

10. First-Floor Bungalow Extension

For bungalows, adding a first floor is one of the more big-ticket extension projects you can undertake, but one that can really transform a home.

The first-floor timber frame addition to this bungalow by Studio 8 Architecture includes a new master bedroom, ensuite bathroom, family bathroom, walk-in wardrobe and a west-facing balcony, with dormers on the bedrooms to maximise views out of the rear of the property.

Read More: Bungalow Extensions: How to Add Value to a Single Storey Home