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Design Dilemma Exteriors

Turning an ugly duckling into a swan

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I love my house but it needs an extension and im not a big fan of the way it looks. Wondering if I can enlist some advice on how to do an extension and make it more aestehically appealing...

It has 2 front doors (very confusing for the postie), one on the far left which actually takes you straight into the utility room and the one further to the right which takes you to a central hallway.

It really needs a ground floor extension to create a desired family kitchen, diner, lounge area but im concerned about the proximity to the road (its a quiet cul-de-sac but still..) and how it could be designed to improve the look of the property. Im not adverse to a 2 storey extension if it makes sense.

It also has a separate garage which eats into the rear garden, my thought was to try an integrate a garage into the main property or create a structure in the front.

Any advice on aesthetic changes would also be really welcome!

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Comments (4)

Jonathan
4 years ago
I really like this kind of house and it’s proportions..... but I get that the tile and brick combination is a bit brown by today’s standards.
As far as a replan goes it really depends on the plot, exactly what you want, your budget and what the local planners will allow.
As far as the exterior I think unifying the window colour and replacing the tile with a more contemporary choice will make a huge difference.
As far as layout goes Houzzers will need a bit more info to give you a starting point before talking to professionals.
arc3d
4 years ago
Hi Wglenn,

I agree with Jonathan I really like this type of house. They have so much potential.

From what I can see of the internal layout the house seems huge! I don't think I would go any bigger unless you have a really big family. Internally I would just take out the wall between the kitchen and living room to create a very spacious open plan living area. I would glaze the whole chimney wall facing the garden. It seems like you have a wrap around garden? I would leave the family room separated.

Making the house any bigger may not add any value to your house. If you did a two storey extension you would have maybe seven bedrooms? You have to ask who would buy a seven bedroom house in my area? I've seen many people over extend their houses while the kids are at home and then they've found them impossible to sell when they have wanted to downsize.

The house should be in proportion to the plot. If, as you say, the garage eats into the garden then the plot is probably not big enough for the size of house you are thinking of.

You called the house an ugly duckling but I think this type of house has great dimensions and proportions. It just need an update. The brickwork and tile look very tired so I would replace these with new cladding. I would have the ground floor in a dark material. The budget option would be to render and then paint black (you could even just wash the brickwork and paint directly on it), but I would prefer a metal cladding painted black. The first floor I would build out over the front to create an overhang and then clad in a much lighter material like wood. The lighter wood overhanging the black ground floor will give the feeling of the first floor floating by itself. I would use this opportunity to consider adding a layer of external insulation to bring the house's thermal credentials up to date. I would change out all the windows with triple glazed grey framed with large openings.

something like this?
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wglenn44
Original Author
4 years ago
Great feedback, thanks. What a radical change arc3d, you’ve shown that it doesn’t really take much refresh the character of the house.
PRO
Studio Evans Lane
4 years ago
A lot of good suggestions above from arc3d - just one further thought that I would add:

The roof pitch when viewed from the end (second picture) is not symmetrical - you might consider extending on the shorter side to provide a (single) integral garage at GF and enlarged bed 4 at first floor. This would make the entrance door more central in the elevation, and place the garage in front of the second exterior door to the utility - thereby removing the two front doors dilemma. It would require some replanning upstairs to utilise the additional space efficiently and obviously be subject to local planning guidelines.

Good luck!

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