Choosing a room for your extension

By Ben Inder - August 2012.

If you are adding an extension to your home, it would be a good idea to know what you will be using the room for, so that you can guide your builders appropriately. As extensions can be highly customized, you will have to tell the company you choose how many windows, doors and plug sockets you will need, what the electric demands are, whether or not you will need water pipes and you will also have to eventually decorate the room. Making these decisions before you recruit someone for the job is a better idea than deciding afterwards as adding pipes and electrics is much more difficult after the extension has been completed than before. Today we will go through a checklist of considerations to help you decide what kind of room you want your extension to be.  

1.)    Existing or completely new?  

Extensions to the ground floor of a home are usually extensions to existing space. If you have a cramped kitchen and would like a large open plan one, for example, then you literally extend your home and remake the interior to give yourself a more usable and therefore more useful space. The same goes for a living room, or bathroom, or any other room that you would like to extend. Extending your home could mean the extending of all of the other rooms in the house, and so its important to know what you need: do you need more of your existing space, or do you need an extra space?

2.)    What will you use it for?  

The most common reason for an extension is that there is a particular space missing from the home. Sometimes what is missing is very clear: you may need an extra bathroom, or an extra bedroom. Other times, what is missing is a functional room and this will be evident from how your home is organized and arranged. Is there a great deal of music equipment in the living room for example? If so, then you may be in need of a studio. Do you have large volumes of books and papers in the kitchen? If so, then you may be in need of an office. Do your guests rarely have seats when they visit? Then you need a dining area or extra living room. Although it may feel like a waste of an opportunity to use your extension in this very functional way, having a dedicated room to house whatever it is that is currently polluting all of your other rooms will have a very positive impact on the space and feel of the rest of your house.

3.) Do you have a particular hobby?  

Home rarely have a designated fun zone, and no matter what your hobby is, there is no way that you can enjoy it to the maximum whilst you have to pack and unpack your things every time you engage in your hobby. Whether it be garden (build a greenhouse), painting (build an art studio), or mechanics (build an extra garage) , basing your extension on your hobby will make your home a fun place to be in, and keep all of your hobby related equipment and things in once area to enjoy.

Ben writes about home improvements and currently writes for Best at Hire, A UK hire company.