ATTENTION all home improvers: now is the time to register for Architect in the House. This is part of Architecture Week (June 15-24), an annual event in which RIBA Chartered Architects are lent to punters to give design advice. In return, you must donate at least £40 to the charity Shelter. Go to: http://members.riba.org/arch%2D house/def3.asp

A veritable encyclopaedia of practical advice on loft conversions, extensions, conservatories, self-build, planning permission, finance and insurance – you get the picture – is at www.house-extension.co.uk. The downside of this website is that much of the useful content leads to the site’s “partners” – in other words, services you will need to get your credit card out for. Try also the Government’s surprisingly user-friendly planning website www.planningportal.gov.uk, which offers impartial guidance on what you are allowed to do.

If you are a bit of a design junkie, head for the Architects’ Journal website: www.ajplus.co.uk. There’s news and events, but annoyingly you have to pay to see certain parts of the website such as the winners of the magazine’s small projects awards.

Want to build but looking for wacky ideas? Then visit online Tokyo design magazine PingMag’s architecture section: www.pingmag.jp/category/ architecture/. A personal favourite is the 1970s and 1980s futuristic communist architecture – get there by clicking on the link to “Frederic Chaubin: Soviet SF Style”.

For a heady mix of building styles (few of them attractive, but all fascinating) visit this blog: http://unusuallife.com/. It has everything from the Russian gangster who built the world's tallest log cabin to upscale mobile homes. For more weird and wonderful photographs go to http://tinyurl.com/2zuxfr. It has some fabulous pictures of Dubai and spherical tree houses.

Got a great website? E-mail lucia.adams@timesonline.co.uk

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