Long cornflower-blue extension with an oak dining table in the foreground and a separate sitting group beside the garden glazing.
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ROOM 105 · Living Room

The long room with two lives

Published

A contemporary extension behind an edwardian house, conceived for Manchester.

An extension can add floor area without adding a place to settle. This long Edwardian rear addition gives sitting and dining their own centres, joined by a clear route to the garden.

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THE DESIGN

The two uses sit beside one another in the wider view. A modest four-place dining table occupies one rooflight bay; the sofa and rug form a separate sitting place beside the garden. The retained brick pier marks the transition without closing either part off.

Cornflower and apricot separate the wall planes without dividing the room into two decorating schemes. Pale oak runs through the furniture, and the graphic blue rug stays entirely with the seating. The dining chairs stand on bare floor where they can move easily.

The garden bench gives the sitting end a second place to perch, while the dining pendant stays over the table. Brick and the exposed beam acknowledge how the extension meets the older house. The distinction is useful: each part can retain its own scale.

WHY THE ROOM WORKS

A long room needs two destinations and one clear journey.

Colour palette

  • Cornflower blue
  • Apricot
  • Pale oak
  • Graphite
01

Two centres, one route

The dining table and sitting group have separate centres. The passage to the garden runs beside them.

02

A change underfoot

The patterned rug belongs to the sitting area; bare floor beneath the dining table makes the second zone clear.

03

Hang light over the task

The pendant marks the table rather than the middle of the extension.

04

Keep the junction visible

A retained brick pier and exposed beam explain the transition between the old house and its contemporary addition.

WHAT TO BORROW

Place a chair at the dining table and someone on the sofa in your plan. Trace the garden route between their occupied spaces before adding more furniture.

THE PIECES BEHIND THE DESIGN

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