Perfect extensions: the best ways to extend or renovate a home to create space and add value

With our love for shows such as Grand Designs and DIY SOS, it's no surprise that Britain is a nation of home improvers.

We spent a mammoth £7.4 billion on home improvements between 2015 and 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.

London is leading the way with more than 100,000 applications for planning permission, which represents a quarter of all those submitted across England.

In the capital's most affluent areas, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, there have been almost two planning applications for every sale over the past two years.

However, east Londoners are fast jumping on the home improvement bandwagon - with the biggest growth in applications seen in Barking & Dagenham, Waltham Forest and Newham, according to Britain's latest Home Improvers Report by Barbour API.

Increasingly squeezed Londoners are buying in these areas, which offer some of the cheapest house prices in the capital. These districts are also seeing some of the fastest rising house prices in London, and so there is good reason for owners to expand and improve.

Don't move, improve
Uncertainty about how the property market is going to fare post-Brexit is just one of the reasons 38 per cent of homeowners are choosing improve rather than move, according to the latest figures from interiors website Houzz.

Although finances may be the driver for renovations, it does not determine budgets. Nearly a third a renovating homeowners admit to not having a fixed sum in mind - a third of those that do set a budget admit they blow it anyway.

THE MOST POPULAR ROOM REVAMPS
The Houzz survey also reveals that bedrooms are commonly the first choice for home improvers. Here the primary aim is to create an environment to get a good night's sleep, and feature walls and curtains dominate the space.

This is closely followed by bathrooms, with white being the colour of choice and easy-to-clean porcelain or ceramic tiles being used for walls and floors.

Conversely, living rooms tend to be the most colourful room of the house, injected via cushions, vases and artworks even if walls remain a failsafe cream or white.

Tempted to use the bank holiday to get started on that dream project, or to do a spot of DIY? Take inspiration from some of our favourite home renovations in our gallery, above...