How to plan a successful kitchen.extension

From coming up with a design to the best ways of configuring the space, this is what you should consider before starting your project

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If you've decided you want to add a kitchen extension, you may think you know what you need to do to get it done. However, there's a whole raft of questions to ask yourself before you commit to any fixed plans for building your new space. Make sure you write down everything you can think of, including your practical requirements and how you currently use your home. It's not just about your dream design, it's getting the right combination of inspiration and practicality that will define your final plans and hopefully end with you building an extension that works for you, your home and the future.

Do you really need to extend?

There are so many cases where the existing layout of a house just doesn’t make the best use of the space available. In other instances, a layout that worked in the past for homeowners may, over the years, have become unsuitable, perhaps due to a growing family or, alternatively, children leaving the nest.

“Before you extend, looking at existing floorspace and reconfiguring is always the first port of call and something we work through with clients,” says architect James Munro of Pace Architecture. “I have worked on significant renovation projects, where we've added zero square metres, as there was so much existing badly configured space to sort out first. Often we come in to undo decades of bad extensions, which have created a very poorly laid-out house.”