Here is how our attic has looked for 8 yrs

When my husband and I bought our home 9 yrs ago we saw the unfinished attic and thought it would be perfect as my craft/ sewing studio and office space.  We put some fiberglass bats on the floor and basically never went up there again.  Last year we were planning on finishing the space, but a combination of family crisis's and the project being much bigger than I anticipated pushed it back until this summer.

Our attic after I took all the fiberglass bats out spring/summer 2016

We started our journey spring of 2015 when we asked a local remodeling company Castle to give us a bid to finish off our attic.  They had a good reputation and I liked that they gave itemized bids.  I did not however like their price tag.  They wanted $65-$70,00 to simply put in new windows, HVAC, electrical, frame, add built in storage to knee walls, spray foam, sheet rock, mud and tape, prime and paint, add sub floor and hardwood floors, moldings, and a hand rail to code.  Well let's just say for what we were doing and what houses go for in our neighborhood that's kind of crazy.  We would never get our money back.   So I realized I would need to be our own general contractor/ designer if I wanted to keep the budget in check.  So it's taken a long time to realize what order things need to be done, research and find the best people for each job, learn how the trades work together, how to file for a permit, and coordinate inspections and the trades along with a few DIY projects I am doing.

Attic after first day of construction (framing) We had them frame horizontally where possible to break the thermal bridge

The Plan For Our Attic

Design Plan: 

• The space will be my sewing/ craft/ office space.    
• Over all design look:  Bright loft where scandanavian style meets glamour
• It will have a cathedral ceiling with exposed white sheet rock beams that have white led dimmable track lights at the top of the beam to create more head room
• Built in dressers in the knee walls on the side with HVAC to make the most of the space (since vents take up alot of space in the back)
• Access to the whole space of knee walls on the other side with rolling louved doors and a hanging rod
• Cat cave (yes our cat is spoiled)/ storage space in our big space that you ave to bend down to walk into (pictured below). 
•  It will house his litter box.  I can't wait to get it out of the kitchen which is the only place we can out it because we have carpeting everywhere. 
•  I think I will make a cat tunnel house out of big boxes I've kept for him along with a comfy cat bed.
  

Our cat's soon to be cat cave (yeah he's spoiled) It will have a louved bifold door

Construction Plan:
We ended up hiring a contractor to frame, create the built in storage, sheet rock, mud and tape, priming with vapor barrier paint, patch sub floor put in a thin sub floor above our existing to create a even surface for flooring install, build stair walls to code, railing to code, and trim and moldings.  I provided the plans for the city and obtained the permit and have been scheduling inspections.  I hired out Electrical, HVAC, and Spray Foam.  The DIY projects we plan to do is painting our existing windows that are bare wood white to match out trim and reglazing them (I am currently working on that), painting, and installing vinyl plank flooring.

So if you've been wondering why there have been no new posts, it's because I've been pretty busy planning this and working on my Etsy shop Ornute.  So hopefully this spring I can start to post more regularly.  :)

Next Posts in this Series:

Check out my Attic Remodel board on Pinterest to see my inspiration and my Dream Craft room board.

Collar made by Grow Creative from  Free crochet collar pattern by LuLu Loves

I'm currently teaching my sewing classes and one of my students really loves unique collars.  This reminded me that I always wanted to make a detachable collar.  I love the idea of it being like jewelry in the sense you can add it to any outfit.  The possibilities are endless!  Here are my favorite tutorials I have found.

You could crochet one like above and below from Grow Creative. This is probably the first one I will try because I have been more into learning how to crochet and knit since I'm pretty advanced with sewing.  I love a challenge. Knitting or crocheting one would take more time, but so worth it I think look at how cute this collar is?  Get the Free crochet collar pattern from LuLu Loves.

Collar made by Grow Creative from  Free crochet collar pattern by LuLu Loves

Free crochet collar pattern from LuLu Loves

 Another option that would take little time and only require a tiny bit of hand sewing is to make one out of felt (like the tutorial below from Honestly WTF), pleather, or leather (from SequinBlog).  No sewing machine needed.  Since the edges won't fray you don't need to make any seams.  You can also punch through holes in the fabric since it won't fray.  The tutorials below uses a hole punch for each scallop, but I'm sure there are many other cool ways you could add cut out designs to your collar.  I'd imagine scrap booking would have some nifty cut out like this 3 in 1 lace corner punch cut out tool, or this floral vine edger punch from Martha Stewart Crafts.  I doubt this would work on leather or pleather, but might work on felt.  Try at your own risk as I have not tested this idea yet and they are made for paper, but if you scrap book any ways I would try it.

Felt Scalloped detachable Peter Pan Collar Free pattern and tutorial from Honestly WTF (hand sewing only)

This tutorial comes from Sequin Blog, which no longer exists so the pic above is all the directions available but making it in leather should be very similar to the collar made by  Honestly WTF

You could also make one sewing on a sewing machine with fabric with a fun print like quilting cotton fabric like this one by My Sparkles (pictured below), or a bright color to color block with outfits.

Get the free pattern for this peter pan collar from My Sparkles

I also like the idea of a collar in a neutral color with embellishments such as lace, crystals, studs, glitter, beads, sequins, and rhinestones.   Megan Nielsen's collar below is a great example.

Free pattern from  Megan Nielsen for a beaded detachable peter pan collar with a scalloped edge

Free personalized Birth Announcement Templates for Microsoft Publisher (I used it in Libre Office it worked but I had to adjust text size and placement )from Full of Great Ideas for a boy or girl

I've been in a crafty baby place in my mind lately with the arrival of a new niece and nephew.  Last Oct my nephew Dominic came into this world and now in August I will have a new niece.  I just learned the sex of the baby yesterday at the baby sex reveal party.  Of course now I''m thinking of crafty shower gifts, so look for more crafty baby ideas to come!

I started thinking that a nursery print would be a great extra gift, cause it can be personalized, and really only costs as much as the frame you buy.  There are a lot of inspirational quote print outs, but since a baby can't read........well let's just say in my opinion those are better suited toward kids instead of babies.   I thought I'd share my favorite nursery free printables.

Free personalized Birth Announcement Templates for Microsoft Publisher (I used it in Libre Office it worked but I had to adjust text size and placement )from Full of Great Ideas for a boy or girl

Get this free nursery art print in pink, turquoise, orange, and yellow from Willow White

This Free Alphabet Nursery Print from The diary of a Real Housewife is available in pink, blue, and yellow

Burlap and Blue have free initial girl nursery prints available  in every letter

Free Woodland Prints by Mish Mash by Ash

Free Fox Nursery Prints by MissMandee

SohoSonnet for View From the Fridge

Hi Everyone!  If your following this class, good to see you back again.  If your new welcome to the class! If you need to catch up you can see at the bottom of this post or click here to what our prior lessons were if you need to catch up.

Homework: