Turning the Attic Into Living Space

I realize I left you hanging with our attic mess in my excitement to tell you about the start of our porch project. In fact, the attic has been useable, although not finished, since May. Let me give you an update.

After the delays and problems I described in the last attic blog, “When Things Don’t Go as Planned,” we found a skilled, reliable carpenter, Steve of Designed Carpentry, to fix and finish the drywall. We went back to Jon Iorio to skim coat the walls so we could match the style of the plaster finish we used in the downstairs. Then David added wood paneling (from the old wardrobe) to one wall and painted everything else. We hired Brandon Mosley to sand and add a clear coat to the old pine floors. You can see the progression in the photos below:

I love the little dormer windows off the sides of the attic. We were fortunate that the ceiling peak of these is just high enough for the average person to walk upright. The small platform in front of the windows was needed to add air conditioning to our second floor. (A Cool Plan for the Upstairs.) David put back the wood floor panels and later added floor boards to finish the trim.

This window has been missing a glass panel since we purchased the house. David was able to cut a new panel from old glass, reglaze the window and add new trim for the final, finished look.

Another section of the attic that I love is the new library. My house needs books on display to make it a home, so we had Steve build bookshelves at the top of the stairs. We also painted shelving that already existed on the stairwell landing.

I was worried that the books that had languished in boxes in the garage for the past two years would be ruined, but they survived! It was so fun to unpack them and recall the stories and memories they hold. And like any book lover, I still have too many books for my shelves!