ATTIC CONVERSIONS – USES

There are endless uses that one can apply to a converted attic or loft. Everything depends on the space that you create from the parameters with which you begin.

It will also reflect your lifestyle because improvement in that lifestyle is what you want to achieve. You want a home office or study. You may have a growing family that need more space to retreat to in their leisure time. You may need extra bedrooms, for example, and there is no doubt that converting your attic is the most economic method by which to add space to your home.

Here are some suggestions that may be useful.

An ‘OUR’ room

Are you fed-up with the kids hogging the sitting room with their boyfriends/girlfriends?

Are you constantly finding that the television is unavailable because the offspring are watching their stuff on it?

Well, maybe it is time to create your own space that will be exclusively reserved for you and your partner. The attic, no matter how small, once it has the requisite height, would make a perfect haven from the bedlam that teenagers can cause. There you can set up your own home entertainment system, watch the movies you like and listen to the music you like. Sometimes parents have to be selfish and enjoy their own chill out-time. If you have the space, you could also add a bar, have your friends around for a night, and still leave the kids to have the run of the house. If you do go that route, however, be warned; get a Chubb lock for the door!

A guest bedroom

Attics that can be inexpensively converted are ideal as a guest bedroom for that unexpected visitor or for an impromptu stay over. With the new rigorous drink-driving laws in Ireland, there will always be the occasion that somebody may wish to stay over after a party. It will also be very useful for family reunions and a host of other opportunities that will present themselves as time goes by.

A home office/study

If you are self-employed, or you bring home work from the office, then conversion of the attic can create a quiet haven as a study or office. Your children for school study, for example, can also use it without clashing with your need for its use.

Bear in mind, however, that an issue can arise with the planning authorities if you use it as a commercial office running your business from the home. (See our section on planning permission)

Extra family bedrooms

A growing family will always create a demand for more space. Moving to a larger home creates all sorts of problems. There is the obvious expense in securing a larger home and paying the associated costs, in particular, the penal stamp duty rates that apply in Ireland.

Even more important is the impact it will have on the family, particularly the children.

It may mean uprooting them from their friends and schools and this has the potential to create a divided household. Children do not appreciate that what you are doing is for their benefit – they well assume the contrary view.

All of this can be avoided by the provision of extra rooms in the converted loft or attic. Depending on your needs, it may require a large and complex conversion but even allowing for that you are still getting space at a much cheaper price per square foot than you could ever hope to achieve by moving to a larger home.

The social benefits of remaining in an area you love and having a contented family are priceless, however.

Family den/play area

If you are able to extract a large amount of space from your attic, it is worth considering using a general play and relaxing area for the children and their friends. It will also give you control over your own living room again. If possible, leave the entire area open-plan and design it in such a way that it is a multi-purpose room. Install sofa beds, television, and other amenities so that the children’s friends can use the room for sleepovers.

It will also allow you free up one of the kid’s bedrooms should you have visitors staying over.