My attic is also done, I did most of it back in october and november. I also build a closet with shelves back in june or juli 2020.
I didn't think of making a lot pictures here while I was working on it. Just forgot.
But the attic was, you guessed it, one big mess. It was filled from top to bottom with stuff. My mom didn't like throwing things out. It took me weeks just to sort it all out and throw 95% of it away.
The attic was very ugly, there was never any real work done here. 4 types of carpet leftovers on the floor, brown, yellow and white carpet, and a few pieces of red linoleum. Walls fulls of holes and crumbling plaster. Not a drop of paint on the wooden beams, and full of nail holes and torn off parts. I must admit, when I was a child, I did my part of the destruction here, because the corners of the slanted roof were ideal for building huts. And as a kid, I loved building huts. And my parents didn't care what I did to the attic, as long as they had a moment of rest. [wink]
Well, I think I made up for all that now. [cool]
Come to think of it, I am still buildings huts, just a bit different.
There was this big old antique closet in the middle of the room. An heirloom of an aunt of my mother. I always hated it, old and ugly, and somebody once painted it old pink. That was a popular colour here in the 1920's. When I was a teenager, I had a ninja star and a BB gun, this closet made really good target practice.
But now I wanted to get rid of it, but didn't want to throw it away because most of it was red oak. And that's pretty expensive wood here. So I put it on marktplaats for free pick-up, I thought, maybe somebody wants to restore it or do something with the wood. But nobody was interested. And then I thought, wait a second, maybe "I" am somebody who can do something with the wood. And I was right about that. Took it apart and already used its wood for various projects in the house.
On the left of the oak closet there's all these shelves with all those drawers, that was my first woodworking project when I was 14 or 15, and made it with all the scraps left from my father's 1984 remodel. Quite the Frankencloset.
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Took the closet apart so now the old chimney is revealed. My father removed it from the first and second floor, but left it here in place. I'm not gonna remove it now, too much work. I'll close the bottom part with drywal and some plaster, and build a wall spanning closet over it.
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Everything removed. So many holes, this needs a skim coat of plaster.
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Left the Frankencloset in place for now because I still needed it. Due to all the work, my house was a big mess right now, and I needed a storage solution to get some law and order in here, not make it worse.
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Closed the chimney with plasterboard and plastered and painted it all. First particle boards for the shelves are in place. Nothing fancy, just something practical.
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Fast forward to end november, finished it all. After I had plastered the walls on two sides with a thin skim coat, the rest was all painting. And an incredible amount of "schuren en plamuren" as I always call it, sanding and putty-ing. In Dutch it rhymes. [smile]
I also installed two types of used laminate flooring. Light brown in the corners to mark the storage places, and light grey in the middle.
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I plan to extend the shelves to the left also so it spans the entire wall. And make an elaborate system of drawers to store all my tools and fasteners - etcetera. The part with all the books is just temporary for now, I will redo that later.
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Part on the right will get more vertical dividers later on.
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And the other side of the room. This attic has never been so spacious before.
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It is amazing how quickly a stockpile of materials builds up when you're doing some work. This is like a family photo, one moment they're all nicely dressed up and sitting straight for the picture, the next moment they're muddy and all over the place again.
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I also removed the old TL-fixtures and replaced them with LED lights. I always hated te constant buzzing of the TL lights, I am so happy with LEDs.
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Another corner, filled with my trusty Stack O' Boxes. I like these, they come in two sizes and all stack together. I mark what's in it, and I have a very handy, modular system to store everything I have, and locate it in a second.
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This contraption built by my father will have to stay for now, I need the storage space. Later on I will remove it.
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My other trusty Stack O' Boxes.
Not as big as the other, but you know what they say, it doesn't matter how big it is, it's what you do with it. And boy, do I do a lot with these. [tongue]
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That tiny window on the right is all the light the attic gets. I hope to change that to a bigger one someday.
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I am not yet sure what to do here with this hole for the stairs. Make a lid there, or leave it open? There are some practical concerns. Also still deciding on the fence, leave it like this or paint it?
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