While we work from the bottom of your home on up, we share articles in this series from the top down. Don’t worry, the Extreme Reblocking team will cover everything in between. We are certainly experts at designing, constructing, and maintaining the foundation of your home through our reblocking services, but once we do so, it only gives us the maximum amount of joy to build your dream home with you on top of it. Don’t get us wrong, that’s not our forte – although we do have a multitude of recommendations of the right people in the area to work with. Instead – or rather, in addition – we’re able to share information and that’s why we’re kicking off this series. We’re looking at each different room in your home, determining recommendations for how to design it and sharing with you what it can be used for. So, let’s start with the attic:
We feel badly for attics. They get a bad reputation for an area that you don’t want to visit or explore. You see them too often in scary movies, (timely for Halloween) and they can also be difficult to access. For these reasons alone, you’re losing square feet that could be used for a variety of different purposes. What’s a minute of climbing up a flight of stairs if you know that your children, or you, can take advantage of a den space that’s a little bit removed from the rest of the home.
Here’s what you need to consider. You need to consider water and power, especially if you’d like any sort of bathroom upstairs. It’s not a necessity, although it will add value to the property down the line – even if it’s a smaller bathroom with selective amenities. It will also save you the trip downstairs. Although know that you may never see whoever uses the attic again, once they’re comfortable up there…
Now let’s think about what else you need up there. Certainly, electricity and bonus points for good airflow and also good lighting. You’re already as far above ground as you’re going to get in your home, might as well take advantage of it. Don’t try and fool us, we know that a television or sound system will be in there someone. To that point, you’ll want to design the room so that the light coming in from outside (very good for you, mind you) isn’t creating any sort of glare coming off of the screen. There are solutions for this, of course, you can reach out to us to have all sorts of conversations around shades and curtains. But while you’ll want these at certain points of the day, let in the natural light.
You’re also going to want to think about maximizing space. This is a subjective goal, but we’re going to give it to you anyway. We’re also probably doing you a favour when it comes to moving furniture upstairs, but as you do, do so intentionally. A couch facing one way, an area dedicated to a certain activity – the sky’s the limit.
Follow these tips and your attic will be not only a value add to your home, but an add to your enjoyment of your home currently.