When you are running out of space in the home due to a growing family or family members moving back in, it is common to look into building an addition to the home. Instead of spending the money to do that in addition to tearing the house apart for a few weeks, you should look into converting space you already have into a living area.
An attic can make a great extra bedroom or even living area depending on the size. It is far less intense an experience than building an addition and costs a fraction of the price. Then, you can take a look at our home tour to get some design ideas to make the room one of the nicest in the house.
In this article, we will go over what you need to do to make this a reality.
Get the attic ready
The first thing to do is to get the attic cleared out and cleaned up so you can make the plans as accurate as possible, you have to know what you are working with to get an accurate estimate of what is required to do the conversion.
There could be some pests that have taken up residence there. Bats and squirrels are the most common animals that will find a way to make their home in your attic. If you don’t know how to get rid of bats in the attic or squirrels then your best bet is to call an exterminator that handles ethical animal removal.
Take all of the stored items in the attic somewhere else to clear the space. You may need to rent a storage unit for this if you are lacking storage space like a garage.
This is when you need to take some measurements to see what you are working with. You can then use an online room planner to see how it can look with a conversion to understand if it will work within your plans.
Decide on how it will be used
There are so many uses for a converted attic and all of them will allow you to use the extra space the way you wish. For instance, if the space isn’t adequate for a bedroom, it can be converted into a walk-in closet which can free up space in the rest of the house to be converted into a bedroom on the lower floors instead.
Or, it can be used as a recreation room so the living room can be used as a bedroom instead. There are many possibilities here.
When there is enough room to walk around, then this expands the possibilities to be used as a bedroom, efficiency mini apartment with kitchenette or even a home theater.
Use the features
All of the quirky angles and sloped roof add up to a very interesting area that can have a cool design. Use these features instead of trying to get rid of them to create a unique living space.
Try to use natural looking materials for the ceiling like wood beams to give it a warm and homey feel.