Nine ideas for characterful kitchen extensions that 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.