HOMES are a lot like lists. Three-dimensional to-do lists, that is, where every nook and cranny is a potential project that could transform your ordinary home into an impressive work of architecture.

OK, so that might be asking a bit much of an average suburban semi, but most of us harbour ambitions to extend, knock through and generally improve our surroundings. For many, a desire to add an extra bedroom or create a larger family room is prompted by a dire need for more space. You might feel stuck in the wrong property, but trading up is expensive and in today’s stagnant market often not feasible.

During Architecture Week, it may be possible to right these wrongs if you sign up for the Architect in the House scheme run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In exchange for a £25 donation to the homelessness charity Shelter, RIBA will send round one of its members for an hour-long consultation.

Bob Thompson, the director of PEP Architects in Tring, Hertfordshire, has taken part in the scheme for the past six years. “It’s an opportunity for homeowners to dream a bit and to work out those little niggling problems without committing themselves,” he says. “The meeting motivates people and prompts them to think about aspects of the project which they may not have considered before. In some cases the client’s ideas are hazy and the entire 60 minutes are spent teasing out what they really want or need. Other times we have to advise people that their idea would not be cost-effective or is simply too expensive. Even a short meeting gives you a sense of what is realistic and possible within a certain budget.”

As there is no obligation to hire the architect who knocks on your door, many people who take part in the scheme use it as a useful brainstorming session but take the project no further. Some go ahead, but decide that they do not need to hire an architect after all.

Architects admit that, depending on the scale of the project, their real value is often concentrated in the first 5 per cent of their time. They have the vision to find space in the smallest homes and turn awkward corners into usable areas. Once the work is under way, the humdrum project management can just as well be left to somebody else with a talent for organisation and dealing with builders.

Commissions that do result from the RIBA scheme can take a while to filter through. One RIBA client had two consultations over two consecutive years before settling for a design. David and Anna Kellard, however, knew that they had found the right man for the job when Thompson turned up on their doorstep. RIBA tries to put homeowners in contact with local firms that have expertise in the type of work needed. For the Kellards, it was a perfect case of matchmaking. “Bob came over as a really nice guy,” David Kellard says. “We wanted a clean look with a lot of metal and ceramic tiles on the floor, and Bob was on our wavelength.”

The Kellards had been thinking of extending the back of their three-storey Victorian home in St Albans since they first bought it five years ago. With three sons, Tom, 4, Jack, 8, and Sam, 10, and a dog, they wanted more space. Their aim was to replace an unattractive lean-to with a plastic corrugated roof at the back of the detached house with an airy family room connected to the kitchen and garden.

As the co-owner of a small chain of clothes shops, David had worked with architects before, so he knew what to expect. “We had a clear idea what we wanted, but were not sure how to go about it structurally. We provided Bob with a load of pictures that we had seen in magazines so he could create the look we were after.”

Unfortunately, the local planners did not share the Kellards’ initial vision for a modern addition to their period home. That their home is in a conservation area made gaining planning permission for the project difficult.

In the end, after almost a year of arguing with the council, Thompson used his architect’s nous to sidestep the process by creating a design that would not need planning permission. They had to scale down the project, but the compromise worked. The Kellards now have an extra room where they can listen to music, watch television and socialise. Good storage also means that the space is kept remarkably tidy and free of clutter.

“The actual build was fairly painless,” David says. “All the time was spent in the planning and preparation. We were determined to get something through. These days we rarely spend any time in the old lounge. We can sit in our new extension and see the cathedral.”

Architecture Week runs from June 17 to 26. See www.architectureweek.co.uk or ring RIBA on 020-7580 5533.

Bob Thompson, PEP Architects, 01442 828411.

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