In many cases attics are bonus spaces in a home. This makes it a fun space to design and renovate.
The BIG question you must decide is “what will you do with the space?” In some cases, there may be disagreements about what to do with the space. You may want a games room while your spouse would like a home office.
Whatever you decide to do, if you’re going to invest money and time into renovating your attic space, you may want to consider adding skylights so that the space will have more light.
You’ll notice in several of the attic rooms below that they include skylights.
Attic space ideas include bedroom(s), bathroom, living room, reading room, home gym, exercise space, craft room, rec room, child’s bedroom, teenager’s bedroom, music room, home bar, storage or closet (create the ultimate walk-in-closet).
Other options include creating more open flex spaces if you have a large open attic.
If you prefer generating income from your home or would like a family member to stay with you, if your attic is large enough, you can turn it into a cozy apartment.
Whatever you do, likely your attic space is bonus space.
Below is our gallery setting out real-life examples of attic rooms.
1. Living Room/Family Room in the Attic
I love the design of the above attic space into a small, cozy family room. The skylights shed light onto the space. While it is small, it’s designed with whimsy, which can be perfect for attic spaces.
2. Attic Bathroom
Bathrooms are a very popular room to add to an attic. Often older homes don’t have many bathrooms so any home with one bathroom will benefit tremendously by simply adding a second bathroom in the attic. It’s also good because bathrooms are an important room, yet people don’t spend too much time in them so any low ceiling issues aren’t too burdensome.
The bathroom above is definitely nicely designed and decorated. You don’t need to make it this nice, but if you’re going to install a bathroom, you might as well make it a nice space.
3. Attic Home Office
I love home offices (probably because I work at home). Attics are ideal for home offices because they’re away from the rest of the home. Also, if it’s between a basement or attic, I prefer the attic.
The above attic home office is beautifully designed with a built-in desk and cabinets. It includes a small entertainment area with room for a small sofa and TV.
4. Attic Games Room
Some attics are spacious and make for ideal games rooms such as billiards room, home bars, entertainment areas, etc. In fact, an attic space could be made into a man cave or be considered similar to finished basement space. Often it’s bonus space in a home for fun rooms.
5. Attic Home Gym with Sauna
If fitness is your thing, attic space can be ideal for an exercise room. Often attic spaces are fairly open which provides plenty of work out space including mats, cardio machines and even weightlifting equipment. That said, it’s a good idea to ensure you have strong flooring if you’re going to install an all-out gym with weights and several cardio machines.
The attic home gym above also features a sauna, which is a nice additional feature for any home. The point is that your attic space, if not needed for more practical rooms such as a bedroom, can be space to create room for your favorite activities.
6. Reading Area
Is your home a crazy busy place? Why not create a quiet escape in a small part of your attic where you can go read, browse your tablet, take a nap, etc.
Some attics offer nooks and crannies that are perfect for one reading chair or chaise lounge which can be the perfect quiet escape for anyone in your home.
7. Create a Full Attic Apartment
If you have the attic space, you can easily turn an attic into a self-contained apartment unit. If you rent it out, obviously you’ll need to provide access to it from the outside. However, these types of suites are ideal for family members who you don’t mind having access to the rest of you home.
These days open concept living is popular so you don’t need to invest all that much to create a suite.
8. Decorating Nooks & Crannies
Here’s another example of decorating those nooks and crannies that are sometimes found in attics. The above space is enhanced with an inexpensive bench with pillows.
9. Flex Space
While technically a loft space, the above room illustrates how you can turn bonus attic rooms into flex rooms with desk space, sitting area, TV viewing area, etc.
10. Walk-in Closet in the Attic
My wife and I have twice lived in homes that did not have closet space. Our solution in one of them was to build our own walk-in closet, which worked very, very well.
If you find you don’t have sufficient closet space, an attic could be perfect for creating the ultimate closet. If you add a bathroom to the attic, you can create a luxurious dressing area. If your primary bedroom is beneath the attic space, you could look into installing a spiral staircase leading up into the dressing area creating a luxurious 2-story primary bedroom suite.
11. Teenager’s Bedroom with Office
As a teenager, my room was in the basement, which I loved. Like basements, attics can make for the perfect teenager’s bedroom who wants a little space from parents. Also, attics often provide more space than bedrooms which means your teenager can have an office area in the room as well.
12. Attic Flex Space
The above image is another example of flex space in a small attic. There’s a long built-in desk that accommodates to people. This desk could be used for working, crafts, etc.
13. Attic Sitting Room
I like random sitting areas in homes. Small sitting areas offer places where people can get away for a little bit. The above room is an excellent example of a small sitting area perfect for playing guitar, reading, surfing on a tablet, etc.
14. Attic Children’s Room
The above is a huge attic space that requires some creativity to use up. You could create zones within the room such as a TV viewing area, office area, crafts, etc. It could also be a massive bedroom suite.
15. Attic Storage
If short on storage, an attic room can be perfect for creating more storage for your home. The above attic space illustrates this perfectly. There’s not a whole lot else that could be done with the space above so the long bank of cabinets makes the space useful. I also really like the skylights which brightens up the space nicely.
16. Bedroom for 2 Kids
If you have a vacation cabin or more kids than bedrooms, you can turn the space into a child’s bedroom. The one above is nicely done with plenty of wood throughout.
17. Attic Home Library
I love this design for an attic. We have loads of books, which can make any room look great with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. With the right shelving, you can turn an attic into a great reading room.
18. Primary Bedroom in the Attic
If you dream of a huge primary bedroom suite, your attic space may be perfect. It’s also more separate from the rest of the house. Check out the amount of floor space in the above primary bedroom in the attic. This particular attic includes an en suite bathroom.
One thing to note is how simple the above room is. The walls are white. The flooring a light wood. That’s all it is.
Tip: When choosing a bed for an attic, get a low-lying bed such as platform bed. Many attics have sloping walls/ceiling creating low-ceiling areas.
Related Galleries You May Enjoy:
21 Attic Living Room Designs | 26 Home Office Designs | 54 Loft Room Designs | 27 Home Gyms
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