Roughly $1000 Attic Redo – Earlier than and After Photographs

For Marcel Dagenais (@brewcitybuilds) and his companion, Ben, the upstairs of their house is technically a 3rd bed room. However Ben additionally used it as an workplace, they usually additionally wished to make use of it as an area to hang around and possibly hearken to music or have a cocktail with company after dinner. (A tall order for a protracted and slim 450-square-foot house that, general, “wanted some love,” as Marcel describes it.)

Earlier than, the cream-colored carpet smelled and had holes and tears in it, the partitions have been a grayish blue colour that wanted to be cleaned up and spackled, and there was a big cupboard constructed across the prime of the steps that wanted to be eliminated to open up the house in addition to a column within the center that wanted an answer, Marcel says. “I lastly completed renovating the primary flooring of our house, so it was time to tackle the higher stage,” he says.

It took Marcel about two months and a bit over $1,000 to finish this attic renovation. “I actually went in laborious on this, so I chipped away at one thing I wanted to do each day,” he says. “It was exhausting, to be trustworthy, however so price it!” 

His first step was eradicating the musty carpeting and placing tile down as a substitute. Marcel had used peel-and-stick tile earlier than, however he’d by no means put in tile with adhesive, and he was stunned at how straightforward it was. “The one factor was discovering the ground glue on locations of my physique that I had no concept the way it might have gotten there,” he says. “That stuff is intense.” Marcel and Ben opted for an inexpensive black vinyl tile with white specks that make it seem like rather more costly terrazzo.

“The opposite precedence was eradicating the previous built-in cupboard that took up approach an excessive amount of house,” Marcel says of the venture. Marcel eliminated that and changed it with a glossy black metallic railing that enables for open sightlines. Down the road, he says he may add a function wall on the window wall as a result of he thinks “it might use slightly pop as you enter the house.” 

And despite the fact that the cabinetry across the stair railing was eliminated, there’s nonetheless loads of storage within the “after” by means of the angled open shelving Marcel added, the built-in bookshelves on the other finish of the house, and the storage cupboards constructed into the partitions. One among Marcel’s favourite particulars? The brand new hinges and {hardware} he added to the doorways on these, which he painted the identical colour because the partitions (Behr’s Mesa Taupe). “It simply makes it really feel extra trendy with that little element that nobody actually sees,” Marcel says.

The trickiest a part of the redo was working across the giant column within the room. As a result of the column was a chimney stack that will require execs (and roof patching) to take out, Marcel determined to maintain it and use it as a pure divider within the house; he simply expanded it and added vertical slats to make it a pronounced partition with a extra trendy really feel. “I had to determine the angle of the pitch of the ceiling after which create a body to encase all of the 1x2s,” Marcel says. “It was a whole lot of angles and a whole lot of cuts, however fortunately, it turned out nice.”

Now, the room has distinct zones that make it the multitasking house Marcel and Ben have been after. And Marcel likes to make use of the workplace portion, too! “It’s my new favourite place to edit my movies,” he says. Not solely is there a pleasant work setup with shelving for Ben’s books, however there’s additionally a big couch for sleeping and hanging out, too. (Marcel sourced it from a local vintage furniture store.)

“My favourite half is the comfy issue within the chill space,” Marcel says. “The Mesa Taupe colour actually makes it really feel heat and alluring in that again nook. It additionally enhances the rug I ordered from Society6. All of it simply flows.” He provides that though he didn’t change the sq. footage of the house, it appears like there’s extra usable house now, because of the separate workplace nook behind the partition wall.

Marcel’s recommendation for engaged on an bold redo like his is to deal with one factor at a time. “This was a giant venture to tackle with a whole lot of issues to do, so as a substitute of fascinated about every thing that must be completed suddenly, deal with one activity at a time, and ultimately it’ll all be completed,” he says. “I used to be a bit overwhelmed taking this venture on, but it surely’s lastly completed, and it simply feels excellent.” 

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