I haven’t revealed too much yet about our extension project. But I’ve been beavering away behind the scenes, coming up with ideas, designing interiors, deciding on bricks, dealing with builders and balancing budgets.
Last summer, we received planning permission for a two-storey rear and side return extension designed by Scenario Architecture. Rather excitingly, our two bedroom Victorian terraced house will be transformed into a three bedroom home that better suits our family lifestyle. We’ll be demolishing the single storey extension that currently houses our only bathroom and replacing it with a new living/dining space opening onto the garden as well as fitting in an additional bedroom and a new bathroom upstairs. The rear elevation will be clad in contemporary dark grey brick and feature Crittall-style doors and a big picture window to help bring the outside in. My favourite feature is the new window seat at the rear of the house – a comfy banquette seat that provides seating for the dining table before wrapping around to create a cosy nook framing the garden.
I won’t lie that the process has been stressful and there’s been a fair few sleepless nights. But we’re slowly getting to the finishing line of the planning and tender process, and will soon be able to begin construction. I can’t wait to share the whole journey with you, but in the meantime, while I balance spreadsheets and negotiate quotes, here’s everything I’ve learnt so far about planning an extension project. It turned into a slightly longer post than I thought so well done if you get through my ramblings! Hopefully it might help someone else about to embark on the same path.
Images: Cate St Hill. Architectural visualisations of our extension project: Scenario Architecture
Have a good idea of what you want
Before you embark on an extension project or renovation, it helps to have a clear idea in your mind of exactly what you want. When I go to the hairdresser, I usually take a photo of the style I would like, which helps avoid any possible surprises. Likewise with a renovation project, you might want to go to an architect or designer with some inspiration or a rough brief to help them quickly get to know your needs.
Work out what your priorities are for the space and define your non-negotiables. Make sure to think about how you and your family use your home and what kind of spaces you need – don’t just think of resale value. For example, you might work from home and need a good sized office space, or you might love cooking and entertaining so perhaps a huge kitchen island could be the focus in the space.
Spend some time gathering ideas, whether it’s on Pinterest or by tearing pages out of interior magazines. I have a private Pinterest board with a different board for each room or area of the extension. It really helped me hone in on what I wanted for the extension. Try to whittle your inspiration images down to the ones that really sing to you. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with lots of ideas that don’t all fit together. Ask yourself what it is about the image that really draws you in. It might help to make a list of features or common themes. After I had gathered together my Pinterest boards, I chose a couple of images from each one and used them as a spring board for my own mood boards on Photoshop, with material details, samples and textures.
A spreadsheet is your best friend
It really pays to be organised when it comes to an extension project. There’s a lot of different elements to think about and a lot of money at stake. I have spreadsheets for everything – lists of what we’re spending, lists of contractors and suppliers, lists comparing quotes. I also have a spreadsheet for every room in the house listing every fixture and fitting I want to use in the spaces, right down to the light switches and plug sockets. Maybe that’s just because I do that for my job everyday, but it will be useful when the builder asks me ‘what light do you want here?’ and I will already know the answer. It’s all there in one place and helps set my mind at ease.
Get your neighbours on board
From the very start, make sure you’re communicating with your neighbours. We weren’t sure if we were even going to get planning for our extension so we were waiting to tell them about our plans when we heard the news. Of course they found out about the project and filed an objection to the design. Luckily we received planning permission despite their comments but it wasn’t the best start for the project or our neighbourly relations! It would have been much better if we had gone to them with our plans and explained our intentions so they understood the design from the beginning. Once we sat down altogether and ran through a few of their questions, we got off on a much better footing.
Refine the plan
Once we received planning and knew our ideas were possible, it was then about refining the details and figuring out a few of the practicalities. Our architect helped create our tender package for us which was invaluable in making sure everything all worked and was feasible. For example, we ended up having to move our toilet in our new upstairs bathroom because in the original plan the waste pipe wouldn’t have been able to get outside without blocking the hallway.
As an interior designer I also wanted to look in detail at the plan and make sure it really was the best use of space. I noticed we didn’t have much storage so came up with an idea of adding a pantry cupboard and storage space in the centre of the house. It was like a light bulb moment; suddenly the space started working better and I could picture us using it every day.
Be realistic about budget
Material and labour prices have shot up considerably. We all know the story – Brexit, the pandemic, inflation etc etc. I’ve had people message me on Instagram saying they’ve had to pause their plans or that their architect is advising them that costs are going up week by week. There is no magic money tree, so as much as you want to do the project, you have to plan for something within your means. Set out a clear budget and know what your very upper limit is.
It might also be worth thinking about return on investment – if you spent that money, would you get it back if you sold it? Our extension project is unlikely to be our forever home, so we only want to put into it what is necessary. I love the look of Crittall, but could I get the same look for less?
Always have a contingency fund
Quotes will likely come back at much more than you anticipated and projects almost always go a bit over budget. Make sure you have a contingency fund for unexpected set-backs or surprise costs. That might be an obvious point, but sometimes easy to forget when you’re swept up in the stream of things!
Learn to compromise
Budgets don’t always tally up with tastes. What do they say – champagne tastes and lemonade budget? You might have seen a gorgeous image on Pinterest but they might have spent millions on that project rather than thousands or hundreds of thousands. You might find, like us, that when you get the costs back, you might have to scale things back or adapt a few elements. That doesn’t mean you have to lose your design vision – often with constraints comes ingenuity and creativity. How can you get around a problem or adapt it while still keeping its essence? I had my heart set on exposed joists to help add character to the new spaces. Rather than get rid of them completely to help with costs, I’m thinking about changing the spec or looking into faux joists instead.
Do your research
When it comes to the tender stage, make sure to get at least three quotes to compare contractors. The quotes we received varied wildly and it was interesting to contrast them together. Ask to visit previous completed projects or speak to past clients – that will help you get a real sense of the quality of their work and their reputation.
Understand where you can save money
Once we had detailed quotes from contractors, I could go through them with a fine tooth comb and work out what were the big ticket items and what we could try to save on. Glazing, labour and steel will always be your biggest costs. In our extension, we’ve had to reduce down the glazing, take out some joinery which we can do later down the line and change the material spec on some things. If you’re confident in DIY, you could also consider doing some elements yourselves, such as painting and decorating.
You can also save money by sourcing everything yourself rather than leaving it to the contractor to spec. It takes a bit more time to shop around, but you’ll likely get a better deal, cut out their mark up, and end up with a product that you know you’ll love (you can’t always rely on contractors to make good, aesthetically pleasing design decisions!). Maybe it’s because I’m a control freak, but I’ll be sourcing everything from glazing to bricks, through to flooring and tiles.
Open up a dialogue with contractors
Don’t be afraid to ask contractors ALL the questions and go back and forth before agreeing a quote. We’ve managed to knock £100k off some quotes by refining it and questioning some elements. An extension project is a big project and it’s worth taking the time to understand the ins and outs of it. If they say something’s not possible, ask them why or if there’s a way to get around it. If something is too expensive, ask them about more budget friendly alternatives. This will also help you work out if the contractor is the right one for you – when you’re on site, you’ll want to be working with someone who you feel you can approach and ask questions, and who can problem solve and come up with creative solutions with you.
Work out your roles
If you’re in a couple, delegate out jobs and make sure everyone is clear on their role. Have one person in charge of one thing for the whole duration of the project. For example, have one person who deals with all the correspondence from the architect or the engineer, so there’s no confusion or crossed wires. Or one person who always deals with payments. Make sure you communicate what each of you has done – if you haven’t told them, they don’t know you’ve done it.
Be patient – it will take longer than you think
When you see finished projects on Instagram or in magazines, it’s easy to forget all the hard work, stress and slog that went into them. An extension project can take a long time to realise, from waiting for planning to finding the right builder. When I was planning our wedding, I looked at other people’s weddings and thought how on earth am I going to be able to pull something like that off, there were just so many things to think about and organise. But somehow it all worked out on the day. And I’m sure the same will be true for our extension project. It helps to break it down into steps and not look too far ahead. Don’t get too carried away with the little details before you’ve (quite literally) set out the foundations. Be patient – it will all work out in the end (or that’s what I keep telling myself!).
The overwhelm starts from the beginning (sorry, spoiler alert!)
You almost can’t avoid renovation overwhelm. From the overwhelm of ideas to the overwhelm of costs, it will undoubtedly be a stressful process. It doesn’t have to be, but when you really care for a project and invest yourself in it, it can be a daunting experience involving a rollercoaster of emotions. I find it so much easier to design for clients and organise projects for them than for my own – it helps to have that step back and be able to see the bigger picture. I don’t know how to beat the overwhelm because this is just the beginning of my project and I’m sure there’s more to come, but for now I’m taking it step by step and trying to keep faith that my ideas will soon become a reality. Watch this space!
