We did both to a standard Victorian terrace and it does add to your living space (we managed to fit a kitchen with breakfast bar (and an American Fridge freezer), a family room, and breakfast room, ground floor wetroom into the space while also having the front 2 rooms for a more formal living and dining area...ie kids zones, adult zones) but also importantly for us it let more light in to our house and our previously dark kitchen rarely needs the lights on during the day.
As the back extension does eat into garden space we used bi-fold doors on both sides so they completely open up and our indoor space becomes outdoor space (we put a big roof light over the back extension). We matched the wood decking outside to the colour of the wood flooring inside and had it flush so the inside outside spaces merged.
Also when you are doing side return extensions/back extensions think about things like underfloor heating for the space (we used water underfloor heating) as you are going to have to replace all the flooring anyway and add more heating for the extra space/glazing, we found underfloor heating more cost effective than adding new radiators. As we wanted solid wood floors we used water underfloor heating. We have no radiators on the ground floor which is great with my baby and 2 year old, also means they can both play on the floor in winter and not get cold hands and feet.
balhammummy5 our kitchen width is now 4.6m with the side return, have added some pics so you can see how much stuff you can fit in to this space (kitchen photo taken while work being done so kitchen not finished in pic). American Fridge Freezer is against the wall on the left of the breakfast bar (as well as double oven).
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