Transforming Your Loft into a Family Space
Loft conversions are an extremely popular way to extend the square footage of one’s home – and significantly cheaper in comparison to building out a new single-story extension. This is a common strategy for improving the market value of a domestic property and is often used in service of creating an additional bedroom.
But creating usable living space in your loft is not only useful for contributing to the value of your home. It can also provide a great deal of value to your quality of life - spending time with loved ones and an area to yourself. With this in mind, what alternatives are there for your prospective future loft conversion?
Recreation Room
The term ‘rec room’ is one usually relegated to American English, being a space missing from the vast majority of homes in the UK. But converting your loft could be the perfect opportunity to properly invest in your home’s living spaces – and to give yourself a purpose-built room for entertaining either your guests or yourself. This could comprise comfortable seats, a TV for video gaming, and a bookcase full of your favorite party- and board games.
Home Cinema
Of course, you might be more than happy with the social opportunities your existing living room provides – in which case, you could take the concept of recreational attic space to its logical conclusion and convert your loft into a full-blown home cinema.A fun place for all ages, this can be used as a premiere for the upcoming Disney+ movies or even a late-night showing of the latest horror films!
One side of your loft would be dedicated to the screen, either in the form of a large white canvas for projections or a large flatscreen for multiple uses. The other side could be fitted out with discreet storage for cushions, throws, blankets, and even a popcorn machine if you’re feeling fancy enough. And in between, it all would be a row or two of sofas, beanbags, or even luxury bucket seats for the ultimate cinema experience.
Studio Space
Your loft space can become a great many things following its transformation from storage to a fully-fledged room, and recreation does not necessarily need to be the end goal. Many households have already given up spare rooms for home offices, to facilitate remote working or new freelance careers – in so doing, sacrificing space that may have otherwise gone to feeding a hobby or pursuit.
With this in mind, maybe your loft space could be dedicated to a craft of yours. If you are a painter, it could be kitted out with ample skylights for natural light and turned into a working studio space. As a musician, you might add extra-insulative rockwool to deaden the space and allow you to engage in at-home music production. As an engineer, inventor, tinkerer, or hand-crafter of any description, you could make your loft a den for creativity and handiwork.
Feeding your hobbies as well as your professional career can help rebalance your relationship with your home overall, making for a much more harmonious living experience.
