The Attic Space

The attic space has so much potential! It's around 700 - 900 square feet depending on how you include the dormers. It is already equipped with heating, cooling and a bathroom. Right now it's my 17 year old girl's dream come true...a gigantic room of her own with a bathroom!

It order for this to be a 17 year old girls room instead of a 7 year old girls room, I had to cover the lavender walls and dark purple accents. I painted everything but the bathroom Sherwin Williams Pure White. (It truly needs a second coat of paint but since so much future demolition is going to take place in this space, I decided to hold off.) I also added these lovely white cafe curtains on all four of the dormer windows.  As you can see these windows are just the right height for our little  Maggie dog!

My daughter Carolyn has her full size boho decorated bedroom in one of the dormers, a desk area in another, a living room/reading area and a sleepover area with two twin mattresses. It's really a space made for a teenage girl!

​Attic space in older homes is often surprisingly large and often converted into living space along the way. Once upon a time, the original owners stored things up here. I imagine some old trunks, suitcases and odds and ends. The storage would have been limited to what would fit up the staircase and through a 27 inch wide doorway. This limit is still imposed today. Thus, the beginning of the current drywall job problem. So many small odd pieces of drywall were tacked up with visible seams joined together by the wrong kind of drywall tape. The carpet is worn and I can feel several holes in the floor boards underneath the carpet. 

Our current plan (after our daughter leaves for college) is to:
1. Remove the worn carpet and assess the 100 year old floor boards underneath. (My guess is they are not in great shape to provide the subfloor support needed.)
2. Salvage what 100 plus year old floor wood we can to repurpose in this space or elsewhere.
3. Improve electrical wiring while everything is open and exposed from the top down.
4. Reinforce and/or add support to attic floor.
5. Floor the main room of the attic with new subfloor.
6. Frame this large space to create an open area with a dormer at the top of the stairs and two small bedrooms with dormers in each. 
7. Electric, lighting, drywall and flooring in new rooms. 
8. Update the attic bathroom.  (The sink needs to be moved and a stand up shower needs to be added to make this bath more functional. I would love to replace the huge garden tub with a small soaker tub.)

I know this sounds like a big job and at times I'm overwhelmed by it. However, this will make a wonderful space for our kids when they are home from college or come to visit. It will be a more functional use of space for the future!

This is going to be a big project to tackle Fall 2020. Wish us all the best!!!