Unique Ideas for Kitchen Extensions
Whilst looking at ideas for kitchen extensions it’s always worth bearing in mind that a kitchen extension is a great opportunity to inject character or complement existing character within your home.
By researching a diverse array of ideas for kitchen extensions, especially those applicable to the footprint of my own Victorian terraced house, it was interesting to see the innovative approaches to designing a kitchen that went far beyond a standard rectangular layout.
In this post I share ideas for kitchen extensions that are both unique and beautiful. Each of these extensions showcase the possibilities of how a kitchen extension can maximise the space for the kitchen and dining area, whilst also adopting different design styles to create exceptional homes.
1. Ideas for Kitchen Extensions: Concrete Plinth House by DGN Studio
This rear kitchen extension pairs using brutalist concrete alongside lighter and softer materials, such as the Dinesen timber floors and muted terrazzo tiles, to transform what was formerly a dark Victorian semi-detached terrace into a family home that feels bright and serene.
Large windows help to connect the kitchen with the outdoor space, and the extension has also been designed to allow for direct view lines from the front to the back of the house. The clever use of joinery, through details such as the hidden cellar door within the kitchen cabinetry, also helps to keep the space feeling minimal, clean and sleek.
Daniel Goodacre and Geraldine Ng, the architects of this home, stated that the brief from the homeowner gave more prominence to function and how the space was to work for family gatherings, it was less focused on how the space should look. The architects have skillfully elevated the function of the space for the family whilst still factoring in form, by selecting materials that will endure and patina beautifully.
The combination of smooth surfaces, muted natural colours and careful detailing softens the impact of the bare concrete and ensures that the overall impact of the kitchen remains inviting and tranquil.
All images courtesy of DGN Studio. Photography by Nick Dearden.
2. Ideas for Kitchen Extensions: A House for Sunday Lunches by Forgeworks
The use of dark colours and materials in this Victorian terraced house helps to frame areas and ground the scheme in this kitchen extension. The darker brick is sympathetic to the style of the house but also reflects a more modern and minimalist style.
The strong dark colour of the wall in between the two panes of glass creates a sense of drama and interest against the neutral tones of the walls and kitchen worktops. Yet by using warm coloured wood on parts of the kitchen cabinetry and window frame, providing texture to neutral walls through panelling and adding soft furnishings, the space becomes more balanced and provides warmth to areas where people naturally sit and congregate.
The concrete floor in the kitchen continues right through into the garden, helping to connect the two spaces and create the impression of a larger room.
All images courtesy of Forgeworks. Photography by French + Tye.
3. Ideas for Kitchen Extensions: Bracken House by Novak Hiles Architects
The arts and craft architectural style holds the following principles at its core: asymmetry, traditional construction, variety of materials, clarity of form and quality craftmanship.
Heavily influenced by the Mingei folk art movement in Japan, the Arts and Crafts movement started to gain influence in the late 1800s due to the architect Augustus Pugin, writer John Ruskin and designer William Morris, who famously stated ‘'have nothing in your house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
The arts and crafts houses that you see in different areas of the country usually differ from one another, due to the principle that the building should be constructed using local materials and traditional methods.
This unique application of the arts and crafts style by Novak Hiles Architects includes a rear kitchen extension that features contemporary folded metal, alongside bespoke ceramic tiles that were designed by the architects specifically for the house.
The tiles and their associated dye were handmade in the UK and showcase the intention to celebrate quality local craftmanship and the impact of asymmetrical design, through the contemporary bracken fern foliage pattern.
All images courtesy of Novak Hiles Architects.
4. Ideas for Kitchen Extensions: TI House by TR Studio
This cleverly reconfigured and extended terrace house is both a beautiful and functional family home. The kitchen has been extended into the garden with a double height infill extension.
The kitchen benefits from the sheer amount of light that can pass through the floor to ceiling sliding doors and glazed roof. This understated luxury kitchen has been crafted from cross sawn oak veneer, marble and has details of satin brass. The soft textured clay walls by Clayworks adds subtle movement and further interest to the space.
Pairing the light along with the use of natural materials and neutral tones, gives this kitchen an extremely calming and relaxed aesthetic.
All images courtesy of TR Studio. Photography by Kalina Krawczyk.
5. Ideas for Kitchen Extensions: Hackney House by Applied Studio
The design within this kitchen extension has considered the original character of the house, as shown through the extension being split along the existing wall line.
The character has been retained and celebrated through exposing existing bricks and having chevron granite tiles mirror the timber flooring at the point where the existing part of the building meets the new.
The kitchen design, with its dark joinery and darkened bronze recessed handles, in contrast to the lighter dining decor also adds to the personality of the space’s “two sides”.
The contemporary additions such as the glazed roof, window seat and large pivot door help to create a bright and open structure, to what is usually a dark and smaller space in original terraced house layouts.
All images courtesy of Applied Studio. Photography by Nicholas Worley.
If you’d like to see more ideas for kitchen extensions, take a look at these 5 amazing single storey rear extension ideas, or these must see small house extension ideas.
If you’d like to see my own kitchen extension then be sure to follow my renovation diaries on my YouTube channel and progress updates on my Instagram account.