Home extension design

Home Extension Design with AI: See an Extension on Your Own House

Thinking about a kitchen extension, a garage or a loft dormer? Before you pay for drawings, it helps to see what the idea looks like on your own house. Upload a photo of the back or front of the house, pick the Residential type, and ArchitecturesAI renders the same view; then describe the extension in a sentence to try a glass rear extension, a side garage or a roof dormer. The result is an idea picture. It does not know your plot, your measurements or the rules in your area, so it is the start of a conversation with a designer, not a plan.

Try an extension on your house

Sign in with Google or email to render. New accounts get 2 free renders (watermarked); free renders are not available in India on this site.

Back of a brick house seen from the garden, with two upstairs windows, on the ground floor a small window, a white back door and a larger window, a slate roof with a chimney, patio slabs and a lawn — Both images are AI-generated with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo of the back of a house; it is not a real property. Edit prompt used: "Replace the ground floor of the back wall with a wide modern glass extension: full-width floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors with thin dark grey frames under a flat roof with a slim dark grey edge, built right out from the wall. Keep the upstairs windows, the brick upper floor, the pitched roof, the chimney, the lawn, the patio and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: the brick upper floor, the upstairs windows, the chimney, the patio, the lawn and the camera stayed in place; the back door, the small window and the large window were replaced by four floor-to-ceiling glass panels in dark grey frames under a flat roof with a slim dark edge, and brick remains only at the two corners. What the picture cannot tell you: from straight on you cannot see how far the extension sticks out, and the glass shows a table, a room and the garden fence through it, which a real extension would not show like that. The roof slab also overhangs the side walls. Extra changes the AI made on its own: the downpipe on the right now ends at the new flat roof, the satellite dish and the black pipe on the left wall are gone, the upstairs window frames were redrawn a little. The slate roof, the chimney, the planting and the fences look the same. A first attempt with a shorter instruction (add a flat-roof extension across the back) only gave a white-painted right half of the ground floor under a flat canopy and kept the door and the windows, so a more specific wording was needed.

The same house with a wide ground-floor glass extension: four floor-to-ceiling sliding glass panels in thin dark grey frames under a flat roof with a slim dark grey edge, brick only at the two corners, the same upstairs windows, patio and lawn — Both images are AI-generated with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo of the back of a house; it is not a real property. Edit prompt used: "Replace the ground floor of the back wall with a wide modern glass extension: full-width floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors with thin dark grey frames under a flat roof with a slim dark grey edge, built right out from the wall. Keep the upstairs windows, the brick upper floor, the pitched roof, the chimney, the lawn, the patio and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: the brick upper floor, the upstairs windows, the chimney, the patio, the lawn and the camera stayed in place; the back door, the small window and the large window were replaced by four floor-to-ceiling glass panels in dark grey frames under a flat roof with a slim dark edge, and brick remains only at the two corners. What the picture cannot tell you: from straight on you cannot see how far the extension sticks out, and the glass shows a table, a room and the garden fence through it, which a real extension would not show like that. The roof slab also overhangs the side walls. Extra changes the AI made on its own: the downpipe on the right now ends at the new flat roof, the satellite dish and the black pipe on the left wall are gone, the upstairs window frames were redrawn a little. The slate roof, the chimney, the planting and the fences look the same. A first attempt with a shorter instruction (add a flat-roof extension across the back) only gave a white-painted right half of the ground floor under a flat canopy and kept the door and the windows, so a more specific wording was needed.

What a house extension visualizer does

A house extension adds space to a home: a room at the back, a block at the side, or more room in the roof. A visualizer shows that idea on a picture of the real house, so you can judge the look and the proportions before you spend on drawings. Drawing and planning software can do this from a measured model, and a designer can draw it to scale.

AI tools take a faster route. They start from a photo, keep the camera and the main shape of the house, and paint the addition you describe. It is cheap to try several ideas. It does not know your plot, how far the new part may stick out, or whether the structure allows it.

How to try an extension on your house with ArchitecturesAI

Click "Try an extension on your house". The Render Architecture tool opens with Residential selected under Architecture Type and Modern under Style. Sign in with Google or email.
Under "Please select an image", click Select Image and upload a JPG or PNG of the side of the house you want to extend: the back from the garden, the front from the street, or the side. Use a level, straight-on daylight photo with the whole wall and roof in frame.
Pick the Style closest to the look you want, such as Modern, Minimalist or Traditional (25 in total), and generate. Free accounts can only use Low quality (Medium and High are marked PRO).
To ask for the extension itself, use Custom Action or Edit Image on the result and describe it in a sentence: where it goes, the shape of the roof and the materials. Each edit uses credits. Run it a few times, since each result differs.
The examples on this page ran directly on our image model with the written instructions shown, not through this tool, so your result will differ. Short instructions often fail, as the first example shows; say where the addition goes and what it replaces.

Try an extension on your house

Extension ideas you can try

A glass rear extension across the back wall, as in the first example, for a kitchen or dining space opening onto the garden.
A side extension such as a garage or utility room where there is a side passage or driveway.
A roof dormer or loft extension, as in the third example, for an extra bedroom or office under the roof.
A new storey on top of a single-storey house.
A porch or entrance extension at the front.

What the AI keeps and what it may change

Use this as a checklist when you compare a result with your house.

Usually kept: the camera angle, the main walls and roof, windows and doors you did not ask it to touch, and the garden or street.
Often redrawn: windows and doors on the wall you extend, roof outline near the new part, planting, fences and neighbouring buildings.
Sometimes different from what you asked: the number of windows, where the addition sits, and the materials. The dormer example asked for two windows and got three, and sits off centre.
Sometimes wrong in physical terms: see-through glass, an addition that is set back from where a real one would sit, or a roof that does not join the old roof properly.
Never produced: measurements, a floor plan, a structural design or a check on planning rules.

Front of a detached two-storey brick house with a pitched tiled roof, a white front door with a small porch roof, white windows either side, a lawn and a driveway running up the right side to a black gate between the house and a neighbouring brick wall — An AI-generated pair made with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo, not a real house. Edit prompt used: "Add a single-storey side extension on the right where the driveway meets the house: matching brick walls, a pitched tiled roof joined to the house, a grey garage door and one small window. Keep the original house, its roof, windows, front door, the lawn and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: the house itself, its roof, windows, porch, the lawn and the camera stayed the same, and a garage block with a pitched grey tile roof, a grey garage door and a small window above the door now fills the gap where the black gate stood. What differs from the prompt: it asked for matching brick walls, but only the front face of the garage is visible and it is mostly door, so you cannot judge the brick. The garage sits set back behind the front wall of the house rather than level with it, and its roof is lower and darker than the main roof. Treat it as a rough massing idea, not a design.

The same house with a low garage block beside it down the driveway, with a pitched grey tiled roof, a grey garage door and a small window above the door, in place of the black gate — An AI-generated pair made with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo, not a real house. Edit prompt used: "Add a single-storey side extension on the right where the driveway meets the house: matching brick walls, a pitched tiled roof joined to the house, a grey garage door and one small window. Keep the original house, its roof, windows, front door, the lawn and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: the house itself, its roof, windows, porch, the lawn and the camera stayed the same, and a garage block with a pitched grey tile roof, a grey garage door and a small window above the door now fills the gap where the black gate stood. What differs from the prompt: it asked for matching brick walls, but only the front face of the garage is visible and it is mostly door, so you cannot judge the brick. The garage sits set back behind the front wall of the house rather than level with it, and its roof is lower and darker than the main roof. Treat it as a rough massing idea, not a design.

From the idea to a real extension

The image is for deciding what you like and for explaining it to others. A real extension needs drawings to scale, a structural design and, in most places, permission or a building regulations check, and the rules differ by country, town and house. A permitted size, a boundary distance or the effect on neighbours cannot be read from a picture. Show the image to an architect, a building designer or your local authority and ask what is possible on your plot.

If you want a measured plan, design software can draw the house and the addition to scale. If you want a finished-looking picture from a drawing you already have, see the floor plan to 3D render page.

Front of a detached brick bungalow with a plain grey pitched roof without roof windows, a white front door with a small canopy, a window on each side, a lawn and a driveway — Both images come from our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo, not a real bungalow. Edit prompt used: "Add a modern dormer extension to the roof of the front: one wide flat-roofed dormer clad in dark grey panels with two windows. Keep the brick walls, the ground floor windows, the front door, the driveway, the lawn and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: the brick walls, the ground-floor windows, the front door and canopy, the driveway, the lawn and the camera stayed in place, and a wide flat-roofed dormer clad in dark grey panels now sits in the roof. What differs from the prompt: it asked for two windows and the dormer has three window frames (one double and two single), and it sits left of centre rather than in the middle. Extra changes the AI made on its own: the dormer rises to the ridge, so the top left of the roof slope is now dark panel instead of slate, the slate around it looks a little darker, and the curtains in the left window were redrawn. The roof outline and the rest of the roof stayed the same. A dormer in real life needs a structural design and usually permission, which this picture does not show.

The same bungalow with a wide flat-roofed dormer clad in dark grey panels in the front roof slope, with three small windows, above the same brick walls, white door and windows — Both images come from our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo, not a real bungalow. Edit prompt used: "Add a modern dormer extension to the roof of the front: one wide flat-roofed dormer clad in dark grey panels with two windows. Keep the brick walls, the ground floor windows, the front door, the driveway, the lawn and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: the brick walls, the ground-floor windows, the front door and canopy, the driveway, the lawn and the camera stayed in place, and a wide flat-roofed dormer clad in dark grey panels now sits in the roof. What differs from the prompt: it asked for two windows and the dormer has three window frames (one double and two single), and it sits left of centre rather than in the middle. Extra changes the AI made on its own: the dormer rises to the ridge, so the top left of the roof slope is now dark panel instead of slate, the slate around it looks a little darker, and the curtains in the left window were redrawn. The roof outline and the rest of the roof stayed the same. A dormer in real life needs a structural design and usually permission, which this picture does not show.

AI idea picture, design software or a designer?

ArchitecturesAI. No setup: upload a photo, describe the idea and get a picture back. Good for comparing ideas and for talking to a designer; not to scale and not faithful to every detail.
Home design software. You draw the house and the extension in 2D and 3D with real measurements. More work, more precise.
An architect or building designer. Drawings you can build from and submit, advice on structure and planning, and on costs. Needed before any work.

Free tier and plans

You need a free account to render. New accounts get 2 free renders, and free renders carry a watermark. In India this site does not include free renders, so a paid plan is needed there. Weekly, monthly and yearly plans for more renders without the watermark are on the pricing page.

The "before" images on this page are AI-drawn stand-ins, not photos of real houses.

Frequently asked questions

Can AI show a house extension on my own house?

Yes, as a concept picture. Upload a photo of the back, front or side, then describe the extension with Custom Action or Edit Image on the result. It keeps the camera and the main walls and paints the addition in, but it is not to scale.

What should I write to describe the extension?

Say where it goes, what it replaces and what it is made of, for example a flat-roof glass extension across the whole back wall in place of the back door and windows. In our tests a short instruction like "add an extension" gave a weak result, and a specific one worked better.

Will the image show the real size of the extension?

No. From one photo the AI cannot know how far the extension sticks out or what your plot allows. Use it to judge style and proportions, and get a scaled drawing from a professional.

Do I need planning permission for an extension?

It depends on where you live, the size and type of extension and the house. A picture does not answer that. Ask your local authority or a professional, and check before you build.

Can I add a second storey or a dormer?

You can try, as the dormer example shows. The result is a rough idea, and a real roof or storey addition needs a structural design.

What photo should I upload?

A level, straight-on photo in daylight of the whole wall and the roof, with as little clutter as possible. Crop out text and toolbars.

Is it free to try?

Yes. After you sign in, a new account gets 2 free renders with a watermark. In India this site does not include free renders. Paid weekly, monthly and yearly plans are listed on the pricing page.

See the extension before you draw it

Upload a photo of your house, describe the extension, and compare a few ideas. Your first 2 renders on a free account are on us.

Try an extension on your house