How would you extend?

[Rg9g08]

Hi everyone, advice much appreciated as extending a home in 2025 is no small matter.

I’m hoping to add a small, rear, single, lean to extension to my home. See floor plan photo with yellow mark where extension would go.

This extension will consequently create a “middle room” currently used as our tv and living room. As the extension will open into the garden it will have lots of windows and patio doors meaning it will be difficult to reconfigure the space. I can’t quite visualise how to organise the downstairs space to make it functional. In total the extension which will add about 12m2 will fit a home office and then I welcome any ideas on layout and design.

Sorry, I've not been very well and my maths clearly isn't adding up - my (significant) mistake!

I'm not sure I'd call that (picture) a lean to conservatory as you did in the OP and which will be qhat people are basing replies on, it looks more like a property extension with sliding doors and roof lights.

Mine is a classic style conservatory.
For many years it was open to the kitchen, and whilst it did get used year round it also made the kitchen a lot colder than it needed to be.
We then added a curtain across the space and only really opened it on nice winter days.
I now have glass doors, and again only really open on sunny winter days, and the kitchen is much more livable.

I did call it a lean to extension in the OP as that is what it will be. I used the word conservatory later on so people can understand it will gets lots of light.

rebuild garage, extend and insulate it, making it in to office with a loo. better than patching on a cheap extension to rear blocking light into living space.

Like I said garage would be over 80k and not worth the investment. Why is a rear extension cheap? It will be properly constructed and incorporate roof lights

Another image of what it might look like internally

How big is your garden? I think if you need office space then I'd consider a garden office if at all possible. It will likely be significantly cheaper than an extension and won't cause issues with your current layout.

What direction will it face?

It isn't how many of us would choose to do it and it will make your house a funny layout but only you know how you live.

It feels a shame to spend all that money on a proper extension as shown in the pics but not incorporate it into the rest of your house (if we are interpreting you correctly that the current division between the rooms remains).

Garden is north facing. I suppose division remains in the sense that I can’t move the kitchen. Garden too small for an outdoor office building. Neighbour has done something simir except his conservatory is the traditional old style. Yes his garage is also converted but without regs. See floor plan

I think the difference there is that they don't already have in effect a middle room because it has a wall and hallway.

Yours already has a layout issue with a toilet off the kitchen which doesn't seem right.

I'd worry that while open plan gains you a bit more dining space, because you have to walk through everything you end up a giant corridor. Which is probably why you are struggling.

What are you trying to achieve? Just working from home space? I think you need to really think about what the aim is before committing to any decisions.

I'll be honest, if I had to choose between that layout and your proposed one I'd pick the other house so if you need to sell in future it could be an issue.

Don’t understand both mine and neighbours toilets are “off the kitchen”
In fact mine has 2 doors to lead to toilet with a small coat room in between
Im hoping the extension will add living space that is currently under a covered pergola that gets used a lot less than a warm room would be, whether it be a library/office or play room

I’m looking for suggestions of how to make it work.

That's not what your floor plan shows. It has a door off kitchen to the toilet. And that's all we have to go off

Ok it’s all open plan downstairs and it’s not an issue as you might think from the floor plan

80k for a garage conversion?! That horrific. We’ve recently been quoted 25k to convert ours into an office and that’s with everything, windows, electrics insulation , doors etc. We’re in the south.

Because if a garage re build is too expensive, how will a build be cheaper, unless it’s cheaply made/a conservatory? And a conservatory will be rubbish to work in. IMO

Yes because the whole garage roof needs to raised in order to meet insulation regulations

It’s not a cheaply made extension as you assume. The garage needs structural changes such as raising the roof in order to
meet regs

insuspext that your builder likes doing the type of extension you have proposed and doesn’t want to improve your garage.

or you don’t want to do the garage. That’s ok. I’m just not sure what you want from mumsnet as you seem fixed on a plan.

Im sure it it will be all you hope it will be.

All that glass will be a nightmare for a room you're working in. Even in a north facing room. And your north facing living room will become so dark and gloomy. Even with a glass roof, it will still be much darker than it is now in the living room.

If your garden is big enough to put that extension on, then it's big enough for a garden pod, which would be much smaller.

And even if you have to raise the garage roof, it will still be cheaper than building an extension with all that glass. And you'd end up with a MUCH nicer room to work in. You can still get to it through the existing door, if you convert the back half - you don't have to knock through from the house if that isn't practical.

The garden is not big enough for an office pod but yes I can extend as the moment I have wooden decking and a covered pergola.

garage quotes from multiple builders:70-80k
12m2 extension: 40k

so garage is NOT an option.

I would appreciate constructive ideas and shared photos of other who had added a similar sized rear extension and how they made it work.

You won't get many photos of people who have done a similar thing, because as almost everyone has outlined, it's not a sensible idea!

Where's your front door? I can't make it out from your layout or your neighbour's. What's your priority - extra living space or office space? Is office space a nice to have or essential and, if essential, how much space do you really need? Is it simply a desk and chair or more?

Front door highlighted pink
Extension drawn on and orange shading to show where an office would go. The rest of the layout is subject to ideas. Extension will hopefully have large bifolds that open directly onto garden.

It's a shame you don't have the same internal layout as your neighbour as they have a few places they could put a desk without needing to build an office. But you'd need to do too much internal reconfiguring. Honestly, I'd apply to Love It or List It and see what Kristy would suggest.

Would this work? You wouldn't be converting the garage just accessing the office through it.