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Design Sponge
June 20th, 2008
before and after: leah’s attic


talk about a makeover! writer and editor leah hennen undertook one heck of a before & after with the renovation of circa 1939 home’s attic. because both leah and her husband are on the tall side (lucky), their attic space was best suited to their young daughter. after some pretty incredible renovation they created the perfect work/sleep/art studio space for their daughter. oh man, this sort of makeover makes me want to buy a fixer upper and get started! thanks to leah for sharing- you can click here to read her full post about the project and see more photos.


[leah's attic space "before". yikes!]

[improved, but empty, space]

[the new corner bedroom]

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37 comments
Sam said:
June 20th, 2008 - 10:08 am

What a beautiful space! Those small circular rugs are so great. Anybody know where I can find them? Thanks!

laura said:
June 20th, 2008 - 10:44 am

What a lovely place to be a little girl.

shimelle said:
June 20th, 2008 - 10:50 am

I am totally willing to revert to childhood, including going through the horrors of junior high a second time, if it means I can live in this room.

Or more seriously: such a beautiful result!

June 20th, 2008 - 10:53 am

What a great created space,especially like the added skylights,beyond the light,bright,and airy saying….!

jhayne said:
June 20th, 2008 - 10:55 am

wow! what a beautiful space for the imagination to grow! the stuffed animals tucked into the ledge are too cute.

Naomi said:
June 20th, 2008 - 11:09 am

Great post! I have being thinking of converting my bungalow’s attic and this gives me a good idea for keeping the roof versus removing it. Thanks!

Jen said:
June 20th, 2008 - 11:15 am

Truly beautiful! I wish I had a bedroom/artroom like that when I was younger! We have a 1938 house with a huge attic I would love to renovate. I read her blog and I had no idea you could hire an architect by the hour. Good to know : )

June 20th, 2008 - 11:54 am

Good job Leah – nothing like vertical light from skylights to improve an attic space – looks so fresh and cool!

Lauren said:
June 20th, 2008 - 12:09 pm

wow! that looks so incredible.

Monica said:
June 20th, 2008 - 12:25 pm

*Wow*! That’s such an amazing and beautiful change!! I love those floors.

Melissa said:
June 20th, 2008 - 12:33 pm

WOW! the transformation of your attic is just unreal! Thanks for sharing your eye for design!!

Kristan said:
June 20th, 2008 - 12:41 pm

My god, that transformation is about as stunning as turning lead into gold… Can she do my place? :P

Kristan said:
June 20th, 2008 - 12:41 pm

That dress is beautiful too…

tinyheat said:
June 20th, 2008 - 12:55 pm

wow. amazing. ever since i can remember i was always fascinated by having an attic room, especially as a kid. this is just that and then some.

Becce Apple said:
June 20th, 2008 - 1:10 pm

Incredible! Where did she get those fun pom-poms hanging above the bed?

Elena said:
June 20th, 2008 - 1:24 pm

omg i love the puffy balls hanging from th eceiling. have been trying to find some forever. the closest i got were chinies red ones that are plastic, but they look cheap and tacky. anyone know where i can find sth similar?
Thanks

Sam said:
June 20th, 2008 - 1:35 pm

Hey — what a beautiful space! I’m hunting for some small circular rugs like the ones in the last photo. Can anybody tell me where they came from?

emily said:
June 20th, 2008 - 2:27 pm

Love it! Where are those blue swirl circle rugs from?

Wendy said:
June 20th, 2008 - 3:12 pm

Beautiful!

June 20th, 2008 - 7:11 pm

Thanks, everyone!

We got the circular rugs at IKEA for like $5 each — they’re actually bathmats! IKEA doesn’t seem to sell this particular swirly design any more, but they do have solid colored circular mats that you can use to similar effect: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20122661

The pom-poms are from Cargo in Portland, OR: http://www.cargoinc.com/

Other resources listed here: http://morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com/2008/06/house-in-progress-attic-to-aerie.html

All the best,

Leah

Tyler said:
June 20th, 2008 - 10:14 pm

Look’s like Leah was/is a Cal athlete. Go Bears!

Suzanne said:
June 21st, 2008 - 12:41 am

Fantastic transformation. I think you can get those little rugs from Ikea, possibly not in the same colours though.

Lydia said:
June 21st, 2008 - 2:16 pm

Wow! This is my childhood dream room.

June 21st, 2008 - 2:46 pm

Beautiful! We are getting ready to buy a house whose attic is identical to the ‘before’ picture, and this just gives me so much hope! Thank you.

cadmium red said:
June 21st, 2008 - 8:04 pm

Beautiful transformation. Did you have to raise the roof for this renovation?

Expresso said:
June 22nd, 2008 - 3:09 pm

Amazing! looks light and cosy!

June 23rd, 2008 - 1:08 am

Cadmium Red ,

We opted not to raise the roof at this time — that would have required a lot more engineering and a lot more $$$ — which is why the room is better suited to our 4-foot-something daughter than to us!

Leah

June 23rd, 2008 - 8:30 am

I read on a blog that the rugs are actually ikea bath rugs. I looked on the site but couldn’t find that actual design. I might not have looked properly, or the design could be phased out already.Great idea though.

Leslie said:
June 23rd, 2008 - 12:03 pm

Fantastic! One of the best makeovers I’ve ever seen.
I love all the light and white. Just lovely

June 23rd, 2008 - 5:12 pm

great attic space… I wonder if my attic space could be converted like this… hmmm

Catherine said:
June 23rd, 2008 - 7:38 pm

I’ve been wanting to do this to my attic-this is great inspiration!

blake eames said:
July 1st, 2008 - 1:58 pm

leah,
we are wanting to do this at our casa! we don’t have a staircase to our attic…just pull down stairs…did you have to put one in or was it existing? p.s. cargo is one of my favorite places in the whole world!!!

July 9th, 2008 - 5:56 pm

Hi Blake,

We had an existing staircase to the space, luckily enough. Having to locate and build stairs would have made the project much more complex.

Carol said:
August 1st, 2008 - 3:44 pm

The room looks gorgeous!! I love the circular rugs and the bold colors! I’ve done something similar for my daughter with lots of pink!! I got her the Rose rug at elegantlinenspc.com/Luxury-Bath-Rugs.htm – We are very excited!

September 21st, 2008 - 5:57 pm

How beautiful! We’re remodeling our attic right now too, and this is inspiring. Great job!!

Wendy said:
February 1st, 2009 - 9:30 am

We have the same small circular rugs, and they came from Ikea. They’re really cheap and we love them!

Sherri SW said:
March 23rd, 2009 - 11:36 am

WOW this is so lovely makes me want to talk my parents into renovating their attic – they could really use the extra space

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