How To Plan The Perfect Kitchen Extension
The kitchen is the heart of the home. With family and friends instinctively congregating in the kitchen during social occasions, it’s a room that has quickly evolved to become much more than just a cooking station. With this in mind, more and more people are carrying out extensions to open up their kitchen into a larger, open plan living space.
Being able to cook, drink, dine and comfortably socialise in the same room has its benefits. When cooking for family and friends, it means that the chef can still entertain and join in the fun whilst whipping up dinner.
So, when it comes to planning a room which serves multiple functions, you want to get it right. These 4 tips will help you to plan the perfect kitchen extension.
1. Consider the size carefully
A large open plan kitchen is great, but one which utilises space in a smart way is even better. Choosing to make your extension as large as possible isn’t always the smartest move because when you’re paying per square meter, it could mean that you’re paying for unnecessary space.
Before deciding on the size of your extension, think carefully about the purpose it is going serve and exactly what you want to go in it. Then work backwards from there.
Your architect should be able to draw out your extension with furniture in it to scale to give you a good idea of the perfect size for you. Or, alternatively, there are plenty of free online tools that enable you to play around with this yourself. Such as the Ikea kitchen planner.
2. Plan for ventilation
When considering an open plan kitchen, one topic that sometimes crosses people’s minds is cooking smells. With good enough ventilation this shouldn’t be a problem. Planning ahead to include additional ventilation into the extension, such as adding an opening rooflight, will ensure that you don’t have any cooking smell regrets.
Adding an opening rooflight will also help to disperse steam and heat when cooking, keeping the room thermally comfortable and the air fresh.
3. Introduce natural light
Natural light helps to make a room feel lighter, brighter and provides a feeling of more space. Whilst windows and glazed garden doors will certainly help, opting to include a rooflight will ensure that your kitchen extension is flooded with light.
Choosing a frameless design over a traditional wooden framed design will help to maximise the amount of natural light in the room. This is because frameless rooflights, such as the Luxlite, channel up to 49% more light.
4. Choosing your extension style
There are several options when it comes to the type of kitchen extension that you can have. Whatever is best for you will depend on the design of the original house and your budget.
A side return extension stretches your home into an alleyway or space at the side of your home, making the room wider. This works well for widening a narrow kitchen so that it can accommodate a dining area too. This type of extension looks stunning with a pitched rooflight.
If a side return sounds good to you, but you also want to include a larger living space, then a wrap-around extension could offer a good alternative. This type of extensions builds upon the side return by extending out from the rear too, so that the extension quite literally wraps around the side and rear of your home.
If you don’t have space at the side of your house to extend, you can still choose between a pitched or flat roof rear extension. A rear extension with a pitched roof will last longer and require less maintenance than a flat roof extension, which usually requires the roof to be replaced after a couple of decades.
However, if your budget is tight, a flat roof extension often comes out less expensive. With this type of roof, you can still include a rooflight in the form a flat rooflight or a roof lantern.
Are you planning to create a rooflight kitchen extension? If you are, call Roof Maker on 0116 269 6297. Our rooflight experts will help you to choose the right solution for your needs. Alternatively, get a quote online.