" No Toys Allowed " And Other Beautiful Lies We Tell Ourselves About Living Rooms”

The irony? They didn’t need more interior space. They needed a better-defined space.

There is a moment, somewhere between juggling school bags, tiptoeing around the dog and stepping over a scooter that’s mysteriously inside again, where many families look at their home and think:

We just need more space. And that’s usually when the extension planning begins.

But here’s what years of designing extensions, reviewing floor plans, watching builds go beautifully right and occasionally quite wrong, has taught me:

More space is not the answer. Better space is.

You can’t make that decision from a Pinterest board. You certainly can’t make it on site with a builder and a set of plans. You make it by really understanding how your family lives through the seasons, through the years, through the chaos, the calm, and the in-between.

Where It Really Begins

When I start a pre-build consultancy, I don’t open the architectural drawings first. I begin by asking about life.

“Where are you on a rainy Sunday afternoon? What happens to scooters in summer or ski bags in winter? Who cooks? Who hosts? Do doors stay open? Do children drift outside? Where does the dog sleep on wet days?”

The truth is, homes don’t fail because they’re too small. They fail because they’re designed around rooms, not around how life actually happens.

One family I met had a back room that was beautifully proportioned but had no real role. It was glazed wonderfully on three sides, but had nowhere to add shelves, cabinetry or storage a perfect case of “pretty but unusable”. The dining table floated awkwardly, surrounded not by dinner guests, but by football boots, Amazon boxes and the Xbox, all the things that hadn’t found a home anywhere else.

Let’s Talk About What an Extension Really Is (and Isn’t)

A glass side-return extension, the one you’ll see most often on Instagram, typically costs anywhere between £80,000 to £140,000. Yes, that’s quite a range. Costs depend on materials (glass isn’t cheap), contractor choice, your postcode, and whether you’ve got your heart set on that frameless skylight that looks amazing on Pinterest but costs the same as a small car.

Many of these don’t even need full planning permission if they stay under roughly 4m high, cover less than half your land, and use materials similar to the house. But even when planning isn’t required, design certainly is.

The Myth of the "Adult Lounge"

Across so many projects, I’ve seen clients lovingly curate their dream grown-up lounge oak side tables, considered art, soft lighting, maybe even a fireplace. And then real life happens. Teenagers take over. Gaming consoles arrive. Drinks spill. The dog claims the sofa.

The thing is, that’s not a mistake. It’s life unfolding exactly as it should.

What we can do, however, is help the rest of the home work harder, so those “adult-only” spaces won’t be sacrificed later they can evolve naturally.

We don’t fight the life stages; we design with them in mind.

Where Dead Zones Come From

Architects love light. We all do. But when glazing creeps onto every available wall, it quietly removes your opportunities for storage, joinery, seating or zoning. And then, almost inevitably, you end up with what I call a “transition room” visually lovely, socially useless. A hallway in disguise!

That’s why the planning phase needs to look beyond aesthetics: Where does the everyday clutter live? Where do coats go when football is cancelled because of rain? If you lose your garage during the extension, do you know where the bikes will go? Are you happy to stare at them next to your linen sofa?

This is where garden studios, outhouses, and bootilities become part of the architectural strategy not just decorative afterthoughts.

The most beautiful homes don’t hide everyday life; they accommodate it . with style.

Wraparounds, Lofts & The Big Question: Is it worth it?

A full wraparound extension is often the dream — inside/outside living, garden views, space for an island, dining and sofa zone. Those typically start around £90,000 and climb up to £150,000+, depending on spec, size, and whether you're adding structural steels, underfloor heating or vaulted ceilings. Build time? Usually three to four months, often longer in Victorian terraces or semi-detached homes because they tend to come with structural surprises (and neighbours).

Most people don’t realise this, A loft conversion is often cheaper, sometimes takes as little as four to six weeks, and if you’re staying within certain boundaries, it may not need planning permission either. It's less disruptive, adds bedrooms and bathrooms, and doesn’t involve tearing up your kitchen or garden.

But here's the catch. Extensions give you lifestyle space, not just rooms.

And that’s the difference.

The Garden Isn’t a View — It’s a Room

More and more families are realising that the garden isn’t just something to look at it’s a living space. So when we're planning an extension, we aren’t just opening doors; we’re expanding the lifestyle.

Will you be able to cook while watching children play outside? Can you sit at the island and still see the trampoline, the sprinkler, the teenage sunbathers, the dog stealing socks from the washing line? If you’re adding a gym in phase two, should it live inside — or would it work better as a garden studio?

There is nothing quite like finishing a dream open-plan extension, lighting the candles, pouring a glass of something cold… and then staring at a rowing machine in the corner. Let’s prevent that.

Where Space, Aesthetics, and Sanity Meet: Storage

The most underrated luxury in a home isn’t marble or brass. It’s order. Calmness.

A surface that stays clear for more than 24 hours.

Planning for storage early and thoughtfully is what turns an extension into a functional family home. Boot bench storage for winter gear; alcove joinery instead of floating shelves; hidden charging drawers; a utility zone that actually absorbs muddy boots and backpacks without pretending to be “too lovely for that”.

Because style and practicality don’t cancel each other out they rely on one another.

People often assume that once the walls come down, the space will simply “feel big and open”. But the truth is, homes don’t feel good because they’re open. They feel good because they’re considered. When your rooms are connected by purpose, not just floor space.When you can cook, chat, supervise, watch, and exhale all in one zone.When there is somewhere to put the shoes. Somewhere to store the bikes. Somewhere to welcome the chaos. Somewhere to close the door to it.

And That’s Where It Starts

Before any drawings, demolitions or dazzling kitchen islands clarity. Understanding how you live, where you live, and who you’re designing for.

That’s why my Pre-Build Consultancy doesn’t start with walls, or budgets, or bifolds.

It starts with life  your life because that’s what we’re designing a home for.

If you’re planning an extension and want the layout, lifestyle, light and logic to work beautifully together—book your Pre-Build Consultancy with Emma Merry Styling.

Let’s design the home that works as beautifully as it looks.