What happens after an extension is built?

[Why2why]

Hello, we are looking at extending the ground floor but I often look at the floor plans of extended houses and wonder whether in some (maybe most) cases it’s a waste of time. Rooms inside the original house, like the dining room or lounge become redundant because people now spent most of their time in the massive extended open plan kitchen and family room.

We will not do a massive open plan family/ kitchen space. The extended space will be used for a utility room and office.

Curious what others think. How have you used your living space after an extension? In hindsight, would you have done it differently?

I came in to say 'you have a party! ' but as your follow up to the initial line is more serious, I'd say my serious answer is for most households the shape and size of the family can change as do the needs, so sometimes what looks like wasted old rooms soon become useful spaces as children mature or as hobbies increase or working from home becomes a thing. We used a concept planner to help us with our space and she proved to be very responsive and approachable with heaps of ideas. Cheaper than an architect - but we'd already got that bit done before we found her. Seeing it all on 3D helped me choose and try out colours etc too. (Google karen at oneplan if you want to see the sort of thing you get.) And afterward we did have a party ( just before covid ). We found a garden lady to do the garden too. She's not online though as does it as a small hobby more than work.

@Abraxan would be interested to hear about your dining chairs!

I think it depends on how big your property is, how you live your lives. We extended about 4 years ago, have the big open plan kitchen diner and yes, we do spend a large proportion of our time in there (family of 5, 3 tweens/teenagers). However we do use the rest of the house.

I agree with a pp - a house is never perfect indefinitely. Its (hopefully) adaptable, and if not, it can be changed to suit future needs.

I think many modern homes are quite adaptable. Internal walls are frequently stud rather than block meaning that it isn't complicated to open up rooms into each other. We found this when we opened a doorway through into the room next to our bedroom to create a dressing room.

We looked at a beautiful detached 1900s house that had a huge extension on the back. Beautiful big kitchen diner sitting room. But it also had a separate huge sitting room and and a large separate study/dining room.

Upstairs was 3.5 small bedrooms. The half wasn’t even a box room really, more a large cupboard with a window and a child’s bed.

Other couples had looked at it to try and extend upstairs but it would have been hugely difficult and expensive. It felt very bottom heavy. Still sometimes think we should have bought it….as it would have suited us, but limited sell on.