reaming of a new kitchen? Our kitchen extension ideas will help you make the most of your kitchen design and bring the wow factor to the most important room in the house.
Kitchens are no longer seen as purely practical spaces in which to prepare food. These days, they are very much the hub of the home, where families congregate, friends socialise and day-to-day life takes place.
As such, the compact kitchens of old are increasingly being replaced with light, bright, open plan spaces where lots of different activities can take place and many various moods can be conjured up – and, for this reason, kitchen extensions are one of the most popular home improvement jobs out there.
Whether you’re starting with a blank canvas or adding extra space to a tired old kitchen, we round up some of the very best kitchen extension ideas out there, so you can be sure that your new space ticks all the boxes.
1. Flood the kitchen with light
Kitchen extensions offer you the ideal opportunity to create a new space that is absolutely saturated with natural light. Plus, by ensuring your extension is full of light, the existing areas of your home can also benefit, providing you build in ways to allow the light to reach them.
Natural light in a kitchen space has all kinds of benefits, including fostering a sense of wellbeing and performing a practical role in helping to illuminate this functional space.
In order to pull in as much light as possible, include a combination of slimline sliding doors, or bi-fold doors and larger panels of fixed glazing.
You could also consider replacing solid internal doors with designs that feature glazed areas to ensure light can permeate throughout your layout, or replace standard doors with internal bi-folds that can be flung open to let the light stream through.
2. Turn your kitchen into a multitasking space
The way we use our homes has changed so much over years. Where houses were once designed to incorporate lots of rooms, each with their own distinct use, these days, we want greater flexibility from our layouts.
The best kitchen extension ideas tend to centre around spaces that can multitask. When planning a kitchen, think about all the possible ways you might want to use the room, other than to cook in. Will you be hosting large crowds? Will the children want to do their homework there or will you be using the kitchen as a spot to work from home? Would a play area for younger children be useful or perhaps a cosy seating space?
When designing your kitchen, consider the orientation of kitchen islands or peninsulas, along with the dining table and any seating – aim to face them towards your outdoor spaces and use large glazed openings to ensure you can fully enjoy the views of your garden.
3. Connect your kitchen with the garden
A kitchen extension presents you with the perfect opportunity to create a greater connection to your garden. Kitchen diners really do benefit from a strong relationship with outdoor spaces as a paved area or terrace can become an extended dining space when the sun comes out.
Begin by thinking about how you can best maximise views from your kitchen extension – would sliding doors with slim sightlines work or perhaps a run of bi-folds that can open up one wall of your kitchen completely?
Talk to your chosen installer about the best ways to create a level threshold between inside and out, and consider using the same flooring in your kitchen and for your outdoor dining area to create a seamless feel.
4. Create a side return kitchen extension
Side return extensions are among the most popular kitchen extension around and make up a huge proportion of home improvement projects. They are particularly well suited to semi-detached and terraced properties where they can put the often wasted space to the side of the kitchen – often located to the rear of the house – to better use.
Not only do side return extensions add extra space, but they are also a useful solution when it comes to dealing with central reception rooms lacking in natural light. By installing a run of sliding or bi-fold doors into the new space, it becomes possible to draw light beyond the extension and into the heart of the home.
You don’t have to go full width with your glazed doors, it is quite possible to fit both sliding and bi-fold doors to smaller openings, using just two panels, and still get plenty of their benefits. Alternatively, you might like to consider French doors instead.
5. Infuse your kitchen with industrial style
A current trend in kitchen extension ideas is for designs that focus on industrial details. The industrial look is one that suits contemporary homes as well as period properties, adding character to the former and really highlighting original features in the latter.
Ways to achieve an industrial-style kitchen extension include:
- Leaving structural elements, such as steel beams, fully exposed
- Using raw natural materials, such as timber and even orientated strand board, along with stainless steel finishes on worktops
- Exposing original brickwork or leaving new brickwork bare also works well.
- Using Crittal-style or steel-style aluminium windows and doors to bring the whole look together – offering some industrial chic without the draughts or issues associated with traditional steel windows.
6. Make an open plan kitchen space
While an open plan kitchen extension is great in theory, it is important to break up the space into separate zones, whether that is visually or physically. This is an idea commonly referred to as ‘broken plan’ – a more flexible layout that’s often suited to family homes.
Physical zones might include a kitchen island or breakfast bar – a great way to separate the kitchen and dining space – or internal bi-fold doors. Glazed internal bi-folds are a great way to achieve a flexible layout without running the risk of blocking the flow of natural light.
7. Introduce a covered outdoor space
A kitchen extension provides a great opportunity to design and build a covered outdoor space at the same time. A popular architectural feature right now is to continue the flat roof of a kitchen extension out beyond the internal spaces to create an overhang, with a patio area beneath.
Covered outdoor spaces offer the opportunity not only to enjoy your garden whatever the weather, but can also incorporate great exterior lighting, an outdoor heat source and some beautiful planting.
These spaces can really lift the exterior of a house too, adding depth and character to otherwise bland house designs. Bi-fold doors or sliding doors that open the kitchen up to the new covered space make it feel cohesive, while the shading provided by the new structure will protect you from the elements.
8. Combine old with new in your kitchen extension
When thinking about new kitchen extension ideas, don’t forget to consider how the new sections of your home will sit alongside your existing spaces. A kitchen extension need not match the materials or the style of your home as it stands – a contrasting extension can really add a welcome new design element and is often an idea encouraged by local planners, keen to see a clear definition between new and old.
Whichever kitchen extension style you choose, be sure to highlight the original elements of your home, particularly if you have some original features of note, such as decorative mouldings, period windows or rustic timber flooring. Introducing contemporary elements, such as slimline alumninium windows and doors, ensures both the old and new sections of your home will stand out, while industrial, steel-style aluminium sliding doors sit beautifully against exposed original brickwork and wooden or stone flooring.
9. Use bold colour combos
A kitchen extension provides you with the chance to introduce bags of natural light, be that through the use of a wide expanse of sliding doors or bi-fold doors, or with large picture windows – or all of the above.
Make the most of your bright new space by adding splashes of strong colour elsewhere in the kitchen. Appliances, light fittings and even aluminium powder coated window and door frames can all be used to achieve this.
If you are unsure about where to start when it comes to choosing a colour scheme for your kitchen extension, then consider using a colour wheel. This is a useful tool, often used by interior designers, that shows how colours work together. You can use it to develop colour schemes that you feel would suit your kitchen extension. Consider a monochromatic look using variations of the same shade for a soothing feel or, for the braver homeowners out there, a contrasting scheme – this uses colours from different colour families and the effect can be striking.
Origin aluminium Doors and Windows come in a massive range of RAL colours, making it easy to find the right colour to complement your new space.
10. Bring in light from above in your kitchen
To really add drama and increase the sense of space in your kitchen extension, incorporate both horizontal expanses of glazing, in the form of sliding or bi-fold doors, as well as wide, narrow high level windows. These eye-catching glazing elements will draw the eye upwards while adding a very clear, bright light that is quite different to that brought in at lower levels.
You might also like to consider tall, vertical window openings – useful where overlooking could be an issue or where you want to create just an enticing glimpse of a view.
11. Use layers of light for your kitchen extension
Ensure your lighting design makes the most of your new kitchen extension. Think about how you can use sources of artificial light to ensure your new space works on lots of different levels. Combine ambient or background lighting, such as pendants and recessed downlighters, with task lighting for more targeted beams of light above food preparation areas – side lamps and those within cooker hoods are good examples.
Finally, complete your lighting scheme with some mood lighting (also known as accent lighting). This can draw the eye to areas of interest, such as artwork, and includes sources like hidden LED strip lights and directional spotlights on tracks.
Don’t forget to think about how your lighting design scheme will work alongside the natural light entering your kitchen extension. North-facing kitchen extensions, for example, will have very different needs to those that are south-facing.
12. Make a small kitchen extension feel bigger
We are not all able to create large kitchen extensions, so if you need kitchen extension ideas for a smaller space, read on.
It is obviously important to discuss your requirements with your kitchen supplier in order to make the best use of the space you have available but, along with the fitted elements of the room, such as units, don’t forget to consider the other ways in which you can increase the feeling of space in the room.
A glazed extension will feel bigger than one with all solid walls, thanks to the light it will draw in. However, if you are limited by planning constraints or budget, a single wall or section of bi-fold doors or sliding doors will have a very similar effect. Not only will they pull in lots of natural light for that airy, open feel, but they also mean that the space can be physically extended when the doors are opened up to outside.
