The Neverending loft refurb. after nearly 8 months and several near nervous breakdowns, the loft is just about complete.
A couple of things still need doing; skirting fitted once the carpet has settled, staircase painted, a new door attached to the storage cupboard and a couple of pieces of trim and filling.
But as Sam is about to start moving things into the room this will be the last chance to get some photos while the room is still empty.
So to Start at the begriming. When we got this house it was always the plan to have the loft as an area for Sam to craft. And just after we moved in I got to work on it, Started the week before Christmas. In my naivety I thought I would have the loft redecorated, the bedroom and the living room finished by New Years Eve. ROTFLMAO. Let’s see then.
The first pictures are walking into the staircase and looking down the staircase.
Next moving around the room is the handrail, door to storage, the velux window. The back wall which contains a giant mirror. (and as Sam is into Dress Making what a perfect Functional feature piece). Which I think is built into the house?!?!
Here is the back of the room with another door to more storage, the gable end window and then back to the staircase.
Here are a couple of pictures just to illustrate how the room looked scruffy with peeling paint and dingy magnolia paint.
So the first problem was stripping the ways. It was like someone had super glued the paper on.
After a couple of weeks I had the room stripped and now to get started.? No, the water tank in the loft sprang a leak, flooded part of the loft and bought down some of the ceiling in the bedroom. Six weeks later and £4000 out of pocket, the tank is gone we have a new combi boiler fitted with one of those Nest Learning Thermostat. (The good thing about it is you can control the heating from anywhere via your smartphone. I can phone up Sam in the winter and Say “what you wearing right now” When she replies “Shorts and Vest” Outcomes the phone and I’m turning that motherfucker down…. Put on some damn clothes woman!… Don’t be running up triple-digit heating bills.) So the loft had started to dry out, I knew I wanted to do a few things up there but had no real plan. Sam wanted internet up there, extra plug sockets, a desk and she had got some wallpaper, (picked up one roll at B & Q months before not ever imagining that when we wanted to buy more it would be discontinued! So thank you eBay for tracking down one more roll.) And picked out a paint colour.
I wanted to do something really special for my girlfriend. As with most things, I thought I would just start and the creative juices would get flowing and from there I would make a plan. So I started plastering. (Pro tip on plastering – get a pro in!) After another couple of months working on weekends, I had the room plastered, I lifted some of the floor to run internet and new power cables. The handrail was gone, the walls were painted and the back wall had her wallpaper. I had even run some new cable from the light bulb and fitted 2 strips of spotlights each with 3 bulbs so that Sam could point them where needed. All looks good as a shell, A canvas if you will!
I then sat up one-night drinking and looking for inspiration on the net, I decided I was going to build her a huge desk with a removable section so she could still get the storage. My initial Idea was stud frame and MDF sides. Then I got to thinking about getting some cheap decking strips and cladding the whole thing to have that sort of seaside beach hut vibe. Even ordered the wood online. Got sent a message from B &Q to tell me my wood was in. I went down and picked up a shit load of baton wood for the framework, a selection of screws and plugs for brick and plasterboard. I used both 2b2 and 2b1 so that’s like 50mm by 50mm and 50mm by 25mm for the carcass. I get to the desk to pick up my decking strips and get told there was an error and my order wasn’t there. The guy refunded the order and I took my timber home. I spent a weekend building the framework, making it strong bolting it to both walls and floor. (knowing that there would be several sewing machines, computers and piles of craft stuff, I knew they needed to be robust.
Now in the loading bay at work, we have shit tons of pallets! This got me thinking, what if I took some pallets apart and used them instead of the decking to get that same look. (Pro tip on taking apart pallets by hand – Don’t do it.) In the middle of summer I taking apart wooden cargo pallets by hand, removing ever nail, being left with strips of uniform rough untreated wood. The time it takes to take one of these things apart and not damage any on the slates is insane. If you have the money just buy the wood. I sweated buckets cut and scared my hands and legs but got the timber I needed. I clad my construction and used some of the pallet wood to make shelves under the desk as well as above.
Once the desk was complete I went on Amazon and eBay and did some shopping. I know Sam loves pink and girly things and I love spending money on her so I got loads for here, and her desk equipment, door knobs, transfers, picture frames, a pinboard, shelf brackets and much more.
I added to the desk and got some MDF as a worktop, cutting a nice curve with my jigsaw I also cut out a section of the desk that will be removable. I gave all the wood a whitewash and found a way to give the MDF worktop a wood grain look with white paint. I used some of the leftover pallets for shelves and added some trim here and there. Used the leftover wallpaper to jazz up the doors of the storage area.
Finally, I built her a storage unit, tv unit with the leftover timber and MDF. so she can keep her files and folders together. Fitted a computer and connected her to the network, put a Kodi box on her tv so that’s also linked to the home network.
So that’s about it, not too many photos but I will get into the habit of documenting everything. Here is the finished room.
Business End of the craft bench added a pin board and several shelves, there are also shelves under the desk. On the left is storage for the computer.
Looking up the staircase into the craft room, reclaimed pallets form the back section of the desk and with a big shelf on top. Feel that I managed to keep the rustic seaside feel with the whitewashed pallets.
The new spotlights give off so much more focused light and are now fitted with energy saving LED bulbs
Got an MDF frame for a door poster, the first one arrived broken into pieces, the second one was also damaged. I realized that it wouldn’t last long so strength
After Reinforcing the MDF Poster Frame I took apart a long pallet and used the wood to make a more rustic frame. Feel it goes with the sea feeling, like driftwood and very rustic. I’m very pleased with this one.
The back corner of the room, put up wallpaper trimmed it with wood beading. Also installed two plug sockets in the plasterboard wall.
Corner of the Craft Desk showing the gable end window. Freshly painted and with a pink magnetic note board. The idea is to have notes or anything on the board and you can look up from the computer and see them.
The removable section of the desk. The reason for the removable section is that fact it sits right under the velux and all the natural light. Just so happens that’s the same place that the doors to the storage area. The section is heavily reinforced with removable struts to support the weight of sewing machines.
I put a frame around the Velux window. As Sam will be working directly under it. I wanted her to be able to look up and not see a window but a frame with a moving picture.
Showing the two ends of the craft desk with the removable desktop removed to allow access to storage. This is the main work area of the room. I was trying to make it free flowing so Sam could move along the desk as she is crafting, with lots of shelves and cubby holes so that everything is to hand.
Shows the doors to the loft storage, this used to be where the cold water header tank was. Now that it has gone we now have room for storage. I covered the doors with some of the leftover wallpaper and got some awesome vintage style door knobs. You can also see where the pink trailing socket fitted under the desk. If you look at the back right corner under the desk you can see two panels of wood horizontally in the middle, this is where I fitted a 6way trailing socket to handle all the home networking requirements.
The handmade Craft desk complete. All in all, it is a huge work surface. Currently taking a sewing machine, a serger machine, a desktop pc, huge cutting mat and lots more with space to spare.
The Craft bench with desktop removed. You can see in the back corner the drawers I fitted to keep things like needles, thread, buttons and all sorts of craft paraphernalia.
Back wall and Craft Bench, here you can get a closer look at some of the desks built-in storage solutions. Also the reclaimed pallet shelves on the wall. I really like this picture, it just feels so light and airy.
The gable end of the craft room with a single double glazed window. I got a double glazing hammer, also an escape ladder. Fire extinguisher and both a Smoke Alarm and an Optical Smoke Alarm. With there only being one way in and out of the room I wanted to add as much safety and precautions as possible.
Looking down the staircase added some other wallpaper that sam loved and trimmed it with wood beading, I left the screw heads visible for that rustic feel. Also, put a new frame around the door.
Found this great led light with a motion sensor. Feels like a porthole. I fitted this at the bottom of the staircase, as soon as you open the door it turns on and stay on for about 30 seconds. Before there was no light and it felt very grim and pretty unsafe, especially when coming down the stairs in the night. It really has opened up the space. It is quite cool when you are in the room and someone comes up the stairs as it casts a nice glow on the staircase wall.
I found this lovely Wall Sticker on eBay and summed up exactly what I wanted for Sam. Just a little bit of inspiration when you look up. You can also see some of the shelves at the back of the craft desk. Just trying to give as much storage as possible.
The corner of the Handmade Craft Desk. It has three large shelves that fit really useful boxes. For fabric or such stuff. Also shelves around the back and side of the desk. Shelves on the wall are made from reclaimed pallets and the shelf supports came from eBay.
Sam is very Happy. And that’s All That Matters.