To extend or not!

[hedgepig]

Hi we are considering building an extension financially it makes much more sense than moving but I don't love my house at the moment, it is OK, but I just don't love it.

so my question is have you extended a house you didn't love and then been really happy with it once it was bigger or did you still not love it?

I wouldn't.
You needa gut feeling about a house.

Why don't you love it, it can't just be floor space surely ?

Hmm im the other way - i love where our house is and would be happy with an extension etc.. but dh totally against the upheaval and thinks moving to somewhere bigger will be easier

If you have been in love with it perhaps with some tlc here and there you will love it again

The house as it is in particular the kitchen drives me crazy just because it is always mess and we have no storage. Every meal I cook is so stressful because there is no room, to put anything down, I end up piling things on the hobs when I am preparing and then they end up on the floor when I need to use the hobs. So if we extend then I get a much bigger kitchen, I like the area DS1 is settled in the local school so there is much to be said for staying here.

Very little is coming on the market here at the moment and even in this financial down turn the prices of anything being put up for sale is beyond our reach. I need some more space now so I suppose I feel I am being backed into extending anyway.

well we're kind of in the process. We actually just bought here - chosen for the area, the street, the plot and the potential. I love key aspects about this house: it's age, the light, the open fire, the garden space, the eves etc. But as it stands today I don't love this house - it has many faults - a massive one being the same kitchen problems as you, no heating, a downstairs (bloody freezing) bathroom, a third bedroom off the second etc. So, we are extending (which we knew we would do when we moved). We are currently having plans drawn up to double the kitchen, open plan it to the dining room, add a bedroom, an ensuite, separate beds 2&3, a back hall and lots of additional little features. And I'm completely and utterly in love with the vision, and my idea of what it will be like. Can you see the vision? Could you be in love with that?

thanks weegle when we bought 5 yrs ago we planned to extend but pregnancy and children got in the way. I have some vision but need to find an architect to see if they are realistic and won't cost the earth. What we needed to do sounds similar to the size of extension you are doing. I just keep gpoing around in circles, but know if I don't do something with the kitchen soon I will kill DH or DS1/2 while I am cooking dinner

We extended our kitchen last year, from a small galley kitchen into a big open plan kitchen-diner, and put in a downstairs loo. Yes, we are really happy with it and it has made a huge difference to how we feel about our house, but, honestly, I wouldn't extend in the current economic climate. We had planned a loft extension with the remainder of our savings, too, but have put that on the back burner for now, as we'd rather keep the money for security. I wouldn't dream of taking out a loan / remortgaging in this climate.

Watching. Have exactly the same kitchen problems, need to extend, well, will extend, it's just deciding by how much.