Thursday, May 19, 2011

Before and After photos of the attic......

As promised photos of the new stairs and attic.  To see the before photos you will have to click on this link  For those of you who are new to the blog the attic was not insulated when we moved in.  To get to the attic you had to go up narrow tiny stairs through the bathroom.  It had one small original window in it.  All the walls were plaster and lathe, which had to be carted down the narrow stairs and then down the main stairs, in the stinking heat in June and July.....oh those were the days!!!

Since then we have relocated the stairs so you access them from the landing and not the bathroom.  They are an exact replica of the original ones.  We replaced the dormer window and installed a large 4 foot square skylight window.  It's all been insulated, new drywall, painted, new flooring and carpeting.  A window seat put in the dormer window area with storage underneath.  We decided to use regular trim as despite the new drywall being put in the rafters and joists were not perfectly level and so the walls still bow.

We have evicted the mouse population and any other wildlife that was up there.  Dh has trimmed out the corners are the drywallers left them a mess......and no we couldn't be bothered to argue with them to come and fix it.  It was easier dh doing it himself.  There has been a lot of blood, sweat and even a few tears with that room and despite it still not being quite finished I wanted to show you what it looks like now.

This photo is looking up the attic stairs the skylight is directly at the top of the stairs.  The wood was all white pine when it was installed.  I have stained and varnished it all.  The carpet fitters thought it was original wood, so that made me very happy.

This is the stairs with the carpet runner on it.


This is looking at the side of the stairs, isn't it gorgeous?  The detail he did was just lovely.  All the nail holes are to fill and they still need a top coat of varnish on them.  When you are staining and varnishing wood you shouldn't fill the nail holes until you are finished as it prevents "ghosting" as per the carpenter.  Dh is on mudding the drywall underneath the stairs at the moment.  I will be decorating the landing and stairs next when he has finished all the jobs on there.


This is looking down the stairs.  We put the half wall in to give the room privacy as there is no door on it.
This is looking towards the sky light window.  The object on top of the half wall is our "temporary" electric supply until dh gets all the plugs connected.  We will also have new lights, dh just hasn't had time to install them.

This is looking towards the dormer window and the window seat.


Another view of the dormer window and the seat with the lid up.  I am getting a seat cushion, two throw cushions and a valance custom made for there.  They're not ready yet.

This shows a close up of the trim work that had to be done in each of the corners.

Again showing the trim work and the half wall.

I painted the walls a beige colour with a hint of pink undertones in it.  The trim work is white, except for the corner trim.  The colour of the carpet is a darker beige colour called Taffy.  The stain is English Chestnut.

I will post more photos when dh has got all the electrical work done and we have it all furnished.  Mind you it's going to be furnished with what we have around the house........

17 comments:

angela said...

Looks great! What a wonderful room you have created.

Shammickite said...

Well, it looks lovely and is well worth all the blood sweat and tears that you have spent on it. Congratulations! I know quite well how much time and effort goes into renovating an attic. I think my attic was in the same state as yours when we moved into our 1895 Victorian house 30 years ago. No insulation, bats, wasps nests, no window and no stairs for access. We had a new roof put on and while we were at it, opened up the attic to be used as an extra bedroom, installing a huge triangular window, insulation, drywall, stairs etc. After the makeover it was no longer referred to as the attic, it was now "The Loft"! I am quite aware how much work goes into keeping an old house shipshape.... well done to you and your husband!
BTW I sold my huge old house last year and moved to a very modern smaller house, it makes a nice change to know that I don't need to tackle any major renovations any more.
PS my son lives very near you in Tottenham.

Sugar__Mama said...

it looks gorgeous! all your hard work has definitely paid off!

Sugar__Mama said...

it looks gorgeous! looks like all your hard work was definitely worth it!

akalittleeva said...

WOW!!! Great job!

Jane and Chris said...

Gill, that is absolutely gorgeous already! I'll no doubt have you on speed dial when we renovate!
Jane x

Cindy@NorthofWiarton said...

very nice....love the Chesnut stain, as well as everything else you have done !

Niki said...

looks absolutely fabulous!! Those stairs are gorgeous. So much hard work finally starting to pay off :)
Good Job Gill and Hubby!

Rose said...

Oh, Gill, you guys have really done a nice job. It is sure lovely.

I looked back at your post of before pics...in it the last pic is a picture of the bags of plaster and lathe sitting on your deck and I can see your house looks like it is made of stone...am I correct? and if I am, do you know if there is a picture of the house from the outside? I absolutely love stone houses....

Piece by Piece said...

Gill, it looks great, worth all the blood, sweat and tears. Can't wait to see it all done.
Patricia

Valerie said...

I always wanted a window seat.It must be so exciting to see the changes taking shape. By the time you've finished you'll think you're in a new house.

Stella Jones said...

Looks gorgeous! Amazing difference Gill. You've both worked so hard and it certainly is worth it.

Janet said...

Give yourselves a big pat on the back-what a transformation-the stairs are beautiful ! have a well deserved rest now !

JohnD said...

Looks great - I really like it!

DeniseinVA said...

Brilliant Gill. It's been a lot of hard work for you all but must be so rewarding to see it as it is now. You know when we had to stain our patio doors a while back, we also used English Chestnut so I can see even more clearly the shade of your varnish.

Karine said...

You guys have done such an amazing job, congrats!!!

Shirley said...

I really like the colour of the stairs. The before and after pictures are so different. Lots of work inbetween!

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