How much useless junk do you have stuffed away in your attic? Do you really need it all? Attics are such an underutilised space that have so much potential. Imagine having a whole room that gets used for nothing more than letting boxes of Christmas decorations and old photo albums get dusty. That wasted space could be used for so much more: a much-needed quiet workspace, a playroom for the kids, a hobby room or an extra bedroom for guests! These are just some of the potential rooms you could have at the top of your house following a clear-out, some easy DIY, and a bit of creativity.
So, as experts on all things extra space, here’s a how-to from Kangaroo on how you can give that old attic a new lease of life!
First things first, you need to make sure you’ve budgeted for the change of use or conversion. If your attic needs a complete conversion, like reinforcement of the floor, skylights, insulation, a staircase, lighting and heating and electrics, then you’re looking at costs in the £15,000 to £20,000 range. For a complete change of the roofing structure for your conversion, you’re looking at a much more costly investment of upwards of £40,000.
However, if your attic is already a room with heat and light, provides safe access, and all it needs is a makeover, you could achieve that new room right now and benefit from the extra space. It’s the perfect time to give it a thorough clean, lick of paint and some new furniture. So, whatever your requirements, consider the costs carefully and create an appropriate budget for furniture and fixtures, with an extra 10% of the expenses set aside for those pesky, additional, unexpected costs!
Once you’ve sorted the costs, you can get to work on the design and layout of your brand-new space. Sit down and take a look online to get some inspiration. Pinterest is great for this! If you’re creating a hobby room or a place for the children to play or even setting up a classroom environment to help your kids while they’re out of school, you should take a look at example rooms online to get inspired. This is the time when you get to really let your creativity shine; think of your attic as a blank canvas and let your imagination take over. Just don’t forget, in amongst the fun of décor, you’ve got to think about the boring bits, such as storage solutions, too, so you don’t end up with a cluttered space again.
Once you’ve done your research and all the admin, if you’ve decided to do a full conversion, it’s time to start actually putting those plans into practice. Put aside a day (or a couple of days, depending on the amount of stuff you have) to get everything down from the attic and sort out a new home for it all so you can see all that glorious space. This will involve going through it all and deciding what you might want to get rid of, what you want to donate to a charity shop and what you need to keep hold of. Sort through your items and box and label everything while you’re decluttering to save you another task of sorting through your things again. This is a big task, and you’ll probably uncover all sorts of things you’d forgotten about, from old school work to that DVD collection you’ve been clinging to. But don’t worry. If you can’t part with all of your old things but still want extra space in your attic, we can help!
Whether you want to turn your attic into a cosy home office, an inviting guest bedroom, or a dedicated playroom for your kids, Kangaroo’s household storage helps you do just that! Our storage solutions offer complete flexibility for your convenience, making it an exciting opportunity to enhance your living space in a way that suits your changing home.
We’ll keep your belongings safe and secure until you need them again. With our 24/7 CCTV, burglar and fire alarms, and individual padlocks for each unit, you can rest assured that your things are safe under our roof. And, if you find that you need to up or downsize your storage unit, you can! We make storage simple so you can focus on other things, like what paint colour you’ll use in your attic space.
Now, with the space tidied up, you can concentrate on cleaning and redecorating. Give the room a good scrub from top to bottom, making sure every nook and cranny is clean. What’s the point in renovating or having a clear-out just to put things back in a dirty room?
Once this is complete, it’s finally time to create the room you really need. You could reutilise furniture from other rooms to save yourself even more space all over the house, or maybe you have some things in your garage that you can finally bring out and put to good use. Again, we recommend you consult your online inspiration board for ideas. If the room is for your children, why not get their input? Let them help you with the layout and design, or perhaps enlist their services and get them to create a piece of artwork for the wall. Whatever you choose to do, just have fun with it.
Once the room is complete, take a step back (or a step down the ladder) and admire your new space! You won’t believe the transformation you’ve worked so hard to achieve. So, what are you waiting for? Make this dream a reality, and if you’ve got an attic going to waste, make it your mission to get it converted into a beautiful new space for you and your family.
Don’t forget we can help you here at Kangaroo, so find your nearest domestic storage facilities below and get in touch to start your journey to a brand-new attic space:
