Are you considering extending your property? Are you feeling hesitant about taking the plunge and getting in contact with an architectural designer? While investing in a house extension can seem like a big commitment, there are plenty of ways in which going ahead with your plans will enhance your home and, indeed, your life. We’ve listed a few to encourage you to make your extension dreams come true:

Planning house extensions and proximity to trees are two things that property owners rarely consider as being co-dependent, but the truth is that they are. If you're building an extension on a house, the proximity to trees, bushes, and shrubbery matters. Here's what you need to know.

Converting an old barn can be a wonderful opportunity to create a new dream home. You’re not exactly starting from scratch as with a self-build project but converting can allow you to shape the interior to your own style and tastes. Converted barns can also make great home office spaces for working in a home-from-home on your own property.

Barn conversions are sometimes available in areas where it would be extremely difficult to get planning permission for a brand-new development but you might still need consent and there are a number of other issues to bear in mind…

Small rooms are often a source of frustration for homeowners, particularly if they feel cramped and oppressive. However, there are plenty of simple design tricks available that will make your room feel bigger. We’ve put together a short guide for those that need a helping hand in transforming their small rooms into havens of peace and tranquillity.

Here at BDS Architecture, we recently shared some top tips to maximise light and brighten a dark room (if you haven't yet checked out these tips, click here). These ideas, such as decorating with light colours and using mirrors to reflect light around the room, can really make a huge difference to the look and feel of your home, but they're not the only options. In fact, there are actually even more ways to maximise light and make your home feel more open, airy, and spacious, and we're going to show you how.

Here are 4 more tricks to maximise light and brighten a dull, dark room:

Choosing the right colours for your home design can be one of the most difficult parts of redecorating. Indeed, as well as helping to make your rooms homely and beautiful, certain colours have the power to profoundly affect our moods and can even impact long-term well-being.

Although deciding what colour to paint a room or picking shades of wood for your new furniture can seem like daunting tasks, they don’t have to be. Colour should represent an outlet for your creativity and flair. To make sure you get the colour schemes for your home just right, we’ve put together a few helpful tips below:

Choosing the right architect for your home extension project is important if you want to achieve the results you are after. Knowing precisely what they can offer you, however, can be a little confusing. To help you understand what to expect from your architect, we’ve drawn up a few fundamental questions you should be asking before work goes ahead.

Do you dream of bright, airy spaces and beautiful, elegant windows? Would you like a larger, lighter, brighter home? Or are you thinking of building your own home to get exactly what you dream of?

Space is at a premium in every home - whether you live alone or in the midst of a busy family, there never seems to be enough space. But just because you think your home has no more available space for you, it doesn't mean it's true. A call to the friendly team at BDS Architecture may just be the key to unlocking the hidden space in your home.

Maximising the available space in your home needn't be an enormous or expensive project. There are a number of ways in which you can achieve a more spacious feeling to your home's interior, with nothing more than a subtle adjustment to the layout or construction.