Our new attic space

Well, it's been a month of steady work with Josh at the helm. I've done what I could here and there, but Josh, our master carpenter friend, is the expert. In any case, you have to check out the details below. It's come a long way from what it was when we moved in. With renewable cork flooring, occasional reclaimed wood, two new skylights, and lots of innovative design ideas for the removable parts.

keely napping. nothing new here.
notice the chandelier above the opening.

we love the skylight directly overhead when we are waking up in the morning.

view from the other great hole in the roof.
we live under gigantic red maple trees. the leaves are just beginning to turn.

the old trunk that was sitting out in the mud when we moved into the house, now cleaned up and dried out, miraculously stores all of our camping gear. old leather suitcases i bought in grad. school at a salvation army store for $5 stores art supplies.

detail of Josh's excellent railing joints. because of the tight space for moving large furniture like the bed, this railing is designed to be easily taken apart. that means everything needs to fit tight and strong together, but disassemble as easily as possible.

we used a simple but elegant system for the railing. 1/8" steel cable through the 4x4 posts and anchored on the ends. posts are bolted into the floor, but removable. trim around the opening is designed to look good even if we take the railing off. the darker trim boards visible on the bottom here is reclaimed cedar that josh brought from another job, ripped down, rounded the edges then cut to fit. the top boards are new cedar and the posts are spruce. i've still got to rub tongue oil into them all of them.

we've laid down all cork flooring. fully sustainable cork is a great green product. flexible, not as hard as hardwood floors, easy to install, and it looks great. we have a different pattern for the nursery floor. also, what is not shown, but probably the hardest job in this renovation, is the new subfloor. the old floor was 4 inches higher in the middle than the sides and also sloped the other direction as well. josh leveled the entire thing. crazy good carpentry.
just look at that level subfloor. kuddos to whomever can locate the can of Bud. yep, we are doin' it Hoosier style.

in the small round window josh nicely trimmed it with a small shelf. we were lucky enough to have a gift of one of josh's prize violets to dress it up.

but before all that work, it was this...



at one point we had the attic decorated on the bare plywood uneven floor as a guestroom. not bad for a dark attic space. but we've taken it up a notch.

keel and i are happy with the finished product, though we of course have paint touch up, some staining and oiling, and a few more trims pieces to finish. renovation is never done.