Furnishing an attic: the secrets to make your space under the roof unique
Furnishing an attic is a great challenge: you will have to deal with the height of the roof and the low light in many cases, but with a little skill you will be able to obtain an intimate and functional space. These are very basic rules that you can easily adapt to your favorite needs, your tastes and your style. By the way, have you already chosen the style of the furniture? Get inspired by this video!
An attic - a secret dream of many
"Mansarda": this term derives from the French mansarde from the name of a 17th century architect, Mansart, who first created the project for this type of house, reworking schemes already used in medieval times and then taken up again in the 17th century. It provides a medium slope in the highest and central part and a more diagonal one in the so-called gutter area. The rooms or the room below take light from the vertical windows or from the skylights of the roof. The attic is different from the attic. The latter is a room in the house, created as an uninhabitable mezzanine, usually used as a storage room for luggage or other.The attic, on the other hand, complies with the requirements for habitability, at least in the central part. Choose the furniture, taking into account the structure down to the smallest detail. Most Italian regions consider a habitable attic if the average height is 2.4 m, a little lower for the bathroom. The height must be calculated by a technician in the sector, especially if there are more sloping roofs, spaces in the walls or elevations or lower parts on the ceiling.
The attic is always original. Whether it is on the rustic, which basically always likes, with warm lights and vintage tones, or if it is based on a very modern and lively look, it always has its own particular charm. But furnishing it is not exactly nonsense; it takes creativity and rationality. You must always be able to combine aesthetics and functionality, making the most of the space and characterizing the environment in an original way. The style of the attic comes from the chosen materials, the furnishings, the pleasant play of light and the effects of the color of the walls. We advise you to choose light colors, which make the rooms larger and brighter. Furthermore, the use of spotlights under the ceiling seems appropriate, because too long chandeliers take up space, and LED rows under the sloping ceilings. Higher rooms should be used for areas where you spend more time, such as the kitchen and living area. To reduce the difference in heights on the ceiling, leveling can be created with plasterboard in which to insert lights, fans, boxes for accessories, containers. If the roofs create a bit of oppression, it is good to focus on windows and large windows, which create light and air. Only dormers and skylights can be insufficient. However, the difficulties do not stop, but they increase creativity and there are still a thousand ideas to make an attic cozy.
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SOS: The attic is very low!
If the attic is low, don't worry. Pitched roofs are not a problem but a feature of this type of home. And then you can have fun inventing new ways to organize any space, even the smallest ones, and to find original decorative elements. First of all, you need to think about custom-made furniture. In the lower corners of the attic, only certain furnishings can be placed: a nano table, an exposed shelf, less space-stealing than one with low doors or drawers with wheels to use even the minimum spaces between the sloping roof and the parquet. A more regular wall is good for the kitchen area and a higher one for the shower and the boiler. Open space and everything seems more spacious and brighter! Open spaces and transparent or fictitious walls, made with dividing bookcases, curtains or screens that divide the rooms. The furnishings must be distributed, placing them according to the windows or stained glass windows and taking into account the exposure to the sun. In the lower attics, the best choice for lighting is spotlights and spotlights. Ambient lights must also be created to illuminate the various parts of the ceiling, whose brightness would otherwise be interrupted by the exposed beams. For accent lights the use of table lamps and especially wireless ones should be strengthened, avoiding suspended chandeliers and floor lamps that are not very suitable for a low attic. Everyone in the bedroom is increasingly demanding. Sleeping and sleeping well is essential. Some people prefer to have the highest ceiling above their head in bed, others the darkest and lowest part. Making a small wardrobe from a mirrored wall is an eccentric solution that gives brightness to the room. Curtains and cabinets can be used to divide rooms and to exploit spaces of lesser height, such as the corners of the attic area. LED strips for lighting lighten the furniture and are functional. Not only the furniture, but the curtains for a low attic must be made to measure, even if today they are also available on Amazon in all sizes and for all kinds of furnishings. If your attic is rustic, opt for net filet curtains or ecru linen embroidered a little vintage, if you prefer the modern, throw yourself into colorful fashion without hesitation.
Double walls: how you can decorate them
By creating mezzanines above rooms below, you find yourself with double walls, difficult to embellish and furnish. It is necessary to understand which furnishings are suitable to make sense of so much space on the walls. You can use shelves for various objects, books, framed photos, ornaments well placed with taste and in an asymmetrical and artistic way. If the double wall is the one where a staircase leads to the mezzanine, there is no need to abound in objects or shelves that are too protruding and bulky so as not to weigh down the whole. The shelves can also be placed only in a limited area of the wall or maybe they can be divided into several areas with different elements. A double-height bookcase can also be created; many books will be needed, perhaps mixed with objects, which can be matched by color, by series or in an apparently casual but effective way. If in the upper part you have used spotlights and bright LEDs, in the area below you can use several small chandeliers to create lighting effects. It is essential to choose their different height according to the furnishings of the room. Using a double wall for a fireplace in a color that detaches well along the entire height also furnishes the vertical in a functional and decorative way; or put a large painting or an artistic composition of drawings or prints of various alternating with a little creativity and a pinch of artistic sense. Living in an attic is undoubtedly more romantic and unusual than staying in a normal apartment, large or small. It is a “different” house and we have to adapt ourselves and our type of furniture to it, which must contribute together with lights and colors to make the spaces more narrow and lacking in brightness. In the attics for sloping roofs the space on which you can walk is less than the perimeter of the rooms. Shop for the attic, but above all, order bespoke furnishings.
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And pay attention to the usual mistakes: do not buy large chandeliers for the ceiling, buy sconces for the walls in order to better illuminate the environment. Dark areas restrict the spaces. Do not forget the curtains: they regulate the amount of light too strong in some hours of the day on a higher floor. Air conditioners and radiators are required, because the attic is very affected by external temperatures and internal technological elements. Remember to choose top quality fixtures and windows, to avoid water infiltration. As there are no apartments above the attic, the internal climate is affected by the external one through the roof. Do not choose wardrobes that are too large: they limit the view; do not buy furniture with doors: they limit the space. You can opt for sliding ones or for cabinets without doors. plants that brighten up and illuminate the rooms. Do not buy beds that are too bulky, which prevent mobility in the bedroom. Choose a container model, for storing linen: those with drawers are less suitable, as if you open them they steal space and make the convenience of the container compartment nullified. Think for a long time, choosing the color of the walls: avoid dark colors, especially for the ceiling, because they make the environment darker, they do not take enough light like the light ones, which among other things reflect light outwards, reducing the heat in the summer.
Advantages and disadvantages of the attic: a world to discover
The most beautiful attics are those that have a panoramic view and a kind of roof terrace that allows you to admire it. The internal lighting is provided by skylights placed on the pitches of the roof. Undoubtedly, the living space is small, because the walls follow the diagonals of the roof. The exposed beams create a rustic, very welcoming effect. Furthermore, it is far from the road and privacy is quite assured; the roof terrace, if any, is suitable for summer evenings with friends or for sunbathing. A risk is that of being too hot in summer and too cold in winter, with excessive costs for heating and air conditioning, if the roof covering is not thermally insulated. In addition, custom-made furnishings cost more than those that can be purchased in stores or from vintage furniture retailers. Since the attic is always located on the upper floors, if there is no elevator, if there are many flights of stairs and if you carry packages or other items in your hand, it becomes tiring in the long run. It is also true, however, that the romantic aspect prevails: the attic reminds us of love stories on the rooftops of Paris or the old barns renovated in a suggestive way in natural and unforgettable settings.
An attic is also an ideal place to indulge in your favorite hobby, to study or just for a few hours of relaxation. It is not difficult, just a small mezzanine, essential and effective furnishings, the indispensable objects and you can dedicate yourself to painting, writing, playing in peace. A skylight allows you to illuminate the attic for the whole day, cheering up your free time or comforting you if you have to study or do some work. You can play, if you have this hobby without bothering anyone or relaxing on a sofa listening to music. You can also put a sewing machine, a cabinet for fabrics and a work surface, if you like to do it for passion or for a profession, taking care to position them in order to take full advantage of the daylight. Or it could be perfect, given the good natural lighting to devote to painting, you can make it a workshop to paint, to make pottery or inlay work, to read, to compose music or to do gymnastics, yoga and ideas never end. An attic is a mine of creative ideas; inspires serenity and gives warmth and privacy. Regardless of how we decide to use it, an attic is a great incentive for our imagination, especially when it comes to the problem of optimizing space. In addition, it can also be convenient as a guest room and take on different uses if necessary. The important thing is not to neglect it, but to make it increasingly spacious, functional and bright with our ideas.
Last tips to furnish the attic of your dreams
The important thing is not to neglect it and take care of it down to the smallest detail, to make it increasingly spacious, functional and bright with our ideas. For this purpose, it is always necessary to follow the shape of the structure, simply using it to the fullest. For example, if you have custom-made furniture, you can choose them in the same color as the walls, to give an idea of more space. Another trick to give this same impression is to cover part of the mezzanine floor with transparent glass, which also helps to increase the arrival of light from the floor below.As far as the kitchen area is concerned, try not to use wall units on the fires and work surfaces and organize the wall with columns to camouflage appliances and pantries. Or create an island kitchen with plate and sink, and apart from appliances, wine cellar and cabinets for food, for dishes, in order to take advantage of every little part of the space you have available. In the bedroom, place the wardrobes on the top, and the bed on the bottom, but watch your head! Don't give up on creating a terrace, especially if you love plants and think you have a green thumb or if you like to have breakfast outdoors, when the weather is nice. In addition, the attic will acquire brightness, air and sunshine. If you put windows overlooking the terrace, these advantages will double. Create a reading corner with a mini bookshelf and a nice sofa. Sometimes reading in peace in a crowded house is a privilege not to be underestimated. The good sun exposure of the attics should be used to the maximum; creates many skylights on the ceiling, which among other things are also suggestive and romantic during the night to count the stars.
