We’re so excited to be able to share our news – we have planning permission!
You may remember that we already mentioned a secret project on our list of projects for the year and we can finally share what it is.
We’re building an extension!
It feels like it’s taken forever to get to this point and it’s taken months of behind the scenes work to get to this stage. We would have loved to have shared our plans earlier, but we didn’t know how things would work out and didn’t want to share our plans before we knew that we’d be allowed to actually carry them out.
Now that we’ve officially been granted permission, we’re excited to be able to share everything!
The new extension will be to the side of the house and will run (almost) the full length of the current building. We’ll only be extending the ground floor and the additional space will give us room for a cloakroom, a utility room and more importantly and extended kitchen and dining area.
We’ve been waiting to do this for such a long time and a lot of projects have been put on hold because we knew that they would be affected by the building work for the extension.
The extension itself isn’t particularly large, but it will give us just enough space to completely transform the back rooms of the house.
As we live in a house on a corner plot and because the extension will be visible from the road we had to deal with rather stringent planning rules. These rules mean that we have to build the extension out of materials that will match the current house as much as possible.
We would have liked to opt for a much bolder design and although the extension will still be a big improvement to the current side of the house, it’s sadly not going to be 100% what we would have liked.
I personally don’t agree with the concept of making things match what’s there. If it’s new, show that it’s new! Even if we use materials that match the existing property, the extension is never going to look like it’s always been there and it’s never going to blend fully. By using new materials and new & current building methods you’re much more likely to end up with a more sympathetic design which will complement the existing building and not detract from it.
Luckily the size and interior of our plans weren’t affected by the planning restrictions and we think that the new addition to the space will really change the way we live in the house.
We already shared our plans for our new kitchen and for our decking a couple of weeks ago. The kitchen is already designed to work with the new extension (we were too scared to jinx things when we shared our kitchen plans which is why we didn’t share our extension plans without having planning permission) and there won’t be any changes other than the space around our new kitchen being larger and the current exterior wall being removed.
One of the things I’m most looking forward to is having a downstairs toilet. Not only will this mean that we don’t have to run up and down the stairs for a quick trip to the bathroom (yep, you can call me lazy), but most importantly it means that we can finally start work on our existing bathroom. With only one toilet in the house we’d been putting off replacing the current bathroom, but with a second WC in the house, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem now.
We’ll be sharing more information on our plans for the other new rooms over the next few weeks – at the moment we’re not completely sure what the interior of the new spaces will look like!
The actual building work should start in June, so watch this space. This summer is definitely going to be a busy one and will bring about some huge changes!
Do you have any plans for the summer? Have you ever had to deal with Planning Authorities? What do you think – should a new extension match something old or should it show that it’s new?
Fantastic, so exciting. Looking forward to seeing your plans
Thanks, Kerrie. It’s definitely going to be an exciting summer!
Cx
Congratulations! This is exciting!
Thank you, Jessica! I can’t wait to get started now that we finally have the necessary approvals!
Cx
Planning decisions are often odd. I totally agree with you that new parts of the building should be distinct from the original building in the majority of cases. A case in point is my Edwardian terrace. Our loft conversion could/should have been constructed with different materials – the simple fact is that old doesn’t always equate with better and there can be real beauty in combining old with new. In our case we had to tile our dormer which can have the effect of making the building look heavy and oppressive. We’ve managed to get away with it by installing floor to ceiling glazing.
The planning system is sometimes a heavy handed tool to help speed up decisions, but it’s incredibly frustrating for architects and building owners who want beautiful as well as functional living spaces.
Couldn’t agree more, Tania! Designs and materials should be approved on a case by case basis – isn’t that the point of planning permission?! A general “it has to be the same as the old” statement is a very outdated way of looking at things, especially with all advances in modern building methods. New additions should definitely be sympathetic and harmonise with the existing, but just like in your case a generalised view on materials can actually make something less beautiful than it could have been.
Cx
Congratulations! I am excited to see how the addition transforms your interior spaces. I look forward to reading your progress.
Thanks, Gabrielle! We can’t wait to see the transformation either!
Cx
Ohhhh what great news! I can’t wait to see what it looks like, this is going to completely change the way you use the house and I agree, a downstairs loo is definitely rather useful!
Gemma x
The British Feather – A UK Lifestyle & Home Decor Blog
Thanks, Gemma! We’re so excited about getting this project started!
Cx
I’ve always thought there’s a difference between being sympathetic to a building and making it look the same. A new extension should be different so you can read the history in years to come and see how a house has evolved. Our house is old and has been extended a few times so half the fun I’ve had is trying to work out when and where it was extended at different points in its history. Different parts of the house are made of different bricks, the ceiling heights are all over the place and the loft hatches are just about big enough for a five year old! If planning insist everything should the same as existing, in a hundred years it would just look like nobody ever did any building work in the 2000’s as it will all have blended in to match what was there… not that I have a strong opinion on it or anything ;-)
but I forgot to add – well done on getting the planning! Adding those two extra metres to the kitchen will make a world of difference, we’re planning the same in our kitchen (subject to planning…eek) as we need more space with a second baby and high chair on the way.
Thank you, Stu! I couldn’t agree more – making something new look the same isn’t necessarily going to be the best design decision overall. I guess there’s always a balance that has to be found between making everyone happy and making the building look good. Keeping our fingers crossed that your planning process runs smoothly, too!
Cx
congratulations! exciting news! so you have busy months to come! :) we are changing roofs on the garage, extension and car port soon , hoping to start around June.
Thank you, Anna! My head is already spinning with all of the decisions and work that needs to be done. It sounds like you’re going to be super busy, too!
Cx