14 front porch extension ideas for UK homes
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IDeas for a front porch extension - image: @1950s_reno_virgin
You might not have given a front porch extension much thought, but they can be a ridiculously useful addition to your home, particularly in the UK. So many British homes are laid out in a way that, when you enter the front door, you go straight into the living room (or other living space). In practical terms, a front porch extension helps separate the two. This means less draughts every time you open the front door and less muddy boots straight onto the carpet. It’s essential to have a little hallway space to keep your home warm and clean during the winter months in Britain.
From small, tasteful additions to letting a a front porch extension do over the whole front exterior of your house, we’ve gathered some of the most brilliant ideas to help you see how one could work on your home.
Here are some ideas for your front porch extension…
Idea for symmetrical front porch extension - image: @1950s_renovirgin
1. Finishing touches make a big impression
If you’re going to the effort of a full front porch extension then you really want to make sure you’re dressing it as beautifully as possible.
This gorgeous home pictured here uses symmetrical wall lights and potted little trees to make it look absolutely amazing.
They’ve also coordinated the door shade to the surrounding colour scheme.
Idea for steps in a front porch extension - image: @surreyhillscottageholidays
2. Make it grand with some steps
To be able to work steps into the lead up to your front porch extension, you’ll likely need a difference in ground height.
If you don’t have this, it may be possible to fit in a couple of shallow steps.
But, either way, it makes a huge difference visually and looks rather grand and splendid. It makes for a dramatic entrance!
Hallway entrance idea for a front porch extension - image: @vaughans_
3. Create a large hallway entrance
For larger homes, it’s important to get the scale of your porch design right to suit the rest of the building. You can create something stunning by building onto your entrance to make a hallway out of the front porch extension.
It can be simple in building style and interior decoration but giving yourself that extra space to get ready, to gather and to chat with visitors can bring so much joy to an ordinary front door.
Idea for a garage with front porch extension - image: @buildingwiththree
4. Build across to bridge to a garage door
A really nifty way of elevating the whole front exterior of your house is to go big with your front porch extension.
This home has used the semi detached house layout to create a long front extension which bridges to the garage door and makes the whole thing an extension of the full house.
The nice touch of coordinating the garage and front door materials tops it off.
A front porch extension with a cabin look idea - image: @architecturecambridge
5. A cabin-look is truly unique
We’re not completely sold on this unless you’re living in a part of the UK with country vibes, but if you have the kind of house age and building style to suit it, you really ought to consider using some more unusual building materials like cladding.
This home has created a cabin-look for the front porch extension. They’ve kept the roof materials the same and used glass panels to make the porch open and welcoming.
Long layout idea for a front porch extension - image: @dpahomerenovations
6. Go long by extending either side
There’s no design rule that says you need to keep your front porch extension to the limits of the front door space.
If you have the available space and planning permission, add tonnes more floor space by building out either side, too.
You could squeeze in a larger hallway, a small downstairs toilet, a utility or a window seat in your front room.
Timber cladding idea for a front porch extension - image: @lifeinthebarn
7. Timber cladding can transform your exterior look
You can take adding a front porch extension as an opportunity to jazz up your entire house exterior.
This home has build a larger porch and finished it with timber cladding, transforming the overall look and dictating a point of the style for the rest of the house.
It can work really well with contrasting exterior materials if you want to make a statement.
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Idea for a coordinated look on a front porch extension - image: @grant_builders
8. Match your brickwork and window frames
If you want your front porch extension to look like its just part of the house and built at the same time, like its original, you really need to think about coordination.
You can do this with the roof materials and style, the window frames and especially the same kind of bricks.
It might take a little weathering to really settle in but it’ll be worth it.
Front porch extension idea with frosted glazing - image: @town.endlane
9. Knock through into a glass front porch
We love this idea for a front porch extension because it almost looks like a small front conservatory.
By building a glazed structure, you can let the light travel through when you knock through where the old front door has been and use it as an extension of the living area.
Protect your privacy with some tasteful frosted panels and make it a transitional space.
Idea for an open front porch extension - image: @poppy_construction
10. Keep an open extension
You don’t always need to build a contained room to make a front porch extension.
This home has used coordinating brickwork and a thick timber frame to build an open porch, bridging the function of the space to the outdoors and protecting from the rain but keeping it open to the elements.
For some people it looks a little too unfinished but for others it’s a really nice middle ground if you want to add some structural appeal to your facade.
Long open front porch extension idea - @homewithlaurajayne
11. A long open structure adds something different
You might be surprised by how much an open structure with a protective roof can add. This home has used a front porch extension to stretch out sideways.
This protect the garage and gives more undercover parking space, covers the front door with beautiful wood beams and covers the front bay window to make space for gorgeous greenery.
Side door idea for a front porch extension - image: @catrin.stuarthome
12. Make more of a side front door
Quite often in UK semi detached houses, you find a side entrance, leaving the front for bigger windows.
In a situation like this, it really pays off to build an extension on the side door to make it just as visually impressive as if it were on the front.
This looks all the better if you can keep the door facing to the front and replace the same shape of the main house with your extension.
Semi wrapped porch idea for a front extension - Image: @no3_home_reno
13. Use your semi for a corner wrapping porch
We love a semi-detached home here at Fifi McGee and they also make the perfect opportunity to make something of a front porch extension.
Go big on adding more square feet by using the corner to build out and to the side, adding another small room to make more of a hallway.
If you’ve got the space, this can add so much more living space to your home and it looks absolutely stunning.
Glazed idea for a front porch extension - image: @alternative.home.solutions
14. Glazed and able to see through
If you want to create something visually light for your front porch extension then you should consider a glazed structure, similar to a conservatory but on a smaller scale.
This keeps the whole thing looking open and you can see through the interior front door.
The big difference, though, is that there’s space to take muddy boots off and stop the cold arm from getting in.
Which of these smashing ideas has caught your eye? Is there one in particular which would really look good on your home? What kind of porch set up do you have? We’d love to chat!
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