Extreme Home Makeover - Attic Edition

That was the name that Tyler came up with for our attic project. It was actually more like "Design on a Dime," but we still gave our attic a nice little makeover.

I planned one of my furlough weeks for last week so I could work on the attic. For months, Angel has told me that she wanted the attic fixed up enough so she could have a slumber party up there. We have a large unfinished attic that could comfortably hold Angel and all her preteen friends.

First, we went up to see what we were dealing with. Usually, my husband is the one who braves the attic trips to get the Christmas decorations. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There was a lot of dust, dirt, and dead bugs. We spent a good while sweeping and cleaning everything up.

Our next concern was making the attic comfortable enough that they could all sleep. The floors are just bare plywood. We checked around to see if we could find some inexpensive carpet remnant. We found a real good deal at Menard's. Their carpet remnants were on sale, and we found a 15 x 19.5 ft remnant for $107. It covered enough of the main section so everyone could fit with their sleeping bags.

Next we looked around for some furniture we could temporary move up to the attic. We have an air mattress that folds up into a small couch, that we bought for guests. That went up along with some folding chairs and oversized pillows. We also brought up Angel's T.V. with the D.V.D. player.

As we were hauling all of this stuff up to the attic, we realized we were having some problems with the folding attic ladder. The hinges that lock the ladder sections had broken, and it was starting to bend. I called the manufacturer, Werner, and asked about getting replacement hinges. To my shock, they told me they had discontinued the model we have, and they would send us out a new one free of charge! They even expedited the delivery so we would have it before the party!

The finishing touch was my brainchild. I concocted the idea of creating a pulley system so the girls could hook something from below, then pull the robe to hoist it up. At first my husband thought I was nuts, but he finally got on board and helped put it together. It worked really well, and it helped prevent the girls from trying to climb the ladder while carrying stuff.

The attic still needs some more work, but at least it's good enough for a nice little getaway for the kids. It was a fun little project.