Make the Most of Your Home Extension with an Open Plan Living Space

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Deciding on the right layout is crucial when planning a home extension. Should you simply add a new room onto the side of the property? Or should you rethink the entire design, re-arranging existing rooms? One option you might not have considered is removing walls to create a large, open plan living space. There are many benefits to taking this route - find out what they are below.

Avoid wasting space

One common pitfall of extensions is the creation of 'through rooms'. These are existing rooms which you must walk through in order to access the extension. While creating a through room might seem like a good way to cut costs and maximize space by avoiding the need to build a corridor, they actually have the opposite effect. These rooms generally end up as a large corridor anyway, full of items that have nowhere else to go.

Having to use the room as a route to your extension seriously limits what it can be used for, and how the furniture can be arranged. Creating an open plan space eliminates this problem completely. There won't be any wasted through areas, and you'll be less inclined to store items when you know they'll be on show.

Let in more light

Removing walls to create one large living space will massively increase the amount of light in your home. Rather than having lots of separately lit rooms with small windows, you'll have the option of large windows on each wall. This creates a lovely, bright environment that takes advantage of the sun wherever it is in the sky.

You can alter the lighting in the different areas of your open plan living space with curtains and different size windows. For example, a big window next to the breakfast table will let you enjoy your morning in the sunshine, while a darker corner without a nearby window could be a great space to curl up with a book in the evening.

More cost effective

Removing walls is generally cheaper than building them, so by going open plan you could make a big saving. Planning the new layout of your house might also make you realize that you won't need as large an extension once you're making full use of all the existing space available to you. Again, this could save you a substantial amount. Saving money on your extension means you'll have more to spend elsewhere. You could splash out on furniture and accessories for your new space, or choose more expensive materials for your building work.


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