Finishing the attic. Part 1.
When we started this house, we began on the third floor.
I do not have one single photo of the attic that is a true “before” picture. Part of that is because this was my very first project, and I did not understand how quickly things would change.
Part of it is how I was still trying to find the coffee pot, and Paul was already ripping and gutting and tearing and throwing out of windows.
Part of it is how I did not understand that I needed to take a picture of the whole project.
When I did take pictures, I took them of the exact thing we were working on. A corner, a wall, a hole in the floor… I have 1,000 photos of walls being gutted, and not one where I stood back and took a picture of the entire room.
If you’ve looked at my about the house page, you’ve seen that our previous owner painted every room in this house a different color.
A different blindingly-bright-vivid-neon-color.
I guess he felt this somehow compensated for the repairs he wasn’t doing.
Sort of like – yes. The house is falling down. But isn’t it snazzy?
Paul and I had two goals in the attic.
One – seal it up: fix the holes, insulate…
Two – make it mine. All MINE.
My place to make uncontrolled piles of paper.
My place to start projects that I will not finish.
My office, my library, my tower, my castle.
The only thing I am missing is a moat.
And a dragon.
Originally you would have been able to look from the third floor all the way to the foyer. But at some point, someone enclosed the stairway to the attic.
That enclosure is what I labeled “box” in the drawing above.
When you are in the attic, you can see that it is just a squared off box. And since they kept it level with the ceiling on the second floor, the top of the box is raised above the attic’s floor.
Even though I would love to see the stairway restored, the box does serve a purpose and we decided to keep it… It seems likely that a future owner might use the third floor as a master suite, and that those people might expect bedroom-related amenities. Like doors.
Although, hopefully they will not be too picky about things like closets…
It looks “fine” from the second-floor hallway.
Right? Doesn’t this look fine?
But the real reason we kept the box is something you do not know about me:
1. I have super sonic hearing.
Like Batman.
Or a mole.
2. Noise makes me want to gnaw my own face off. (I realize that makes me sound like some overwrought crazy woman from a Jane Austen novel… Which we will get to in a minute.)
Noise-induced face-gnawing is a foreign concept to Paul. Or, rather it was… After he married me, he got a lot more familiar with the phenomenon.
Chainsaws, leaf blowers, unloading the dishwasher, dogs barking, the kid who sat next to me during the SATs with a runny nose AND NO TISSUES.
I spent all four hours fantasizing about leaning across the aisle, plunging my pencil into the side of his neck, and hissing – STOP SNIFFING.
I am fairly sure I would’ve gotten into Harvard if I sat next to someone else.
So even though we talked about removing the box, it was never a real option.
If anything, we might have replaced it with a steel vault.
A SOUNDPROOFED steel vault.
With a laser-tracking system that would allow me to target the noises that were irritating me and annihilate them with rockets.
Hopefully soon, something like that will be available at Home Depot.
I will love you EVEN MORE… if you share me with your friends.
Lorin
November 13, 2013 @ 4:44 pm
My husband says that if a mouse farts in the basement I could hear it. I’m sensitive, too. Which doesn’t bode well for our three very loud children. My husband is also loud with the dishwasher! ugh I hate that. He just slams everything around! Akc! I try to do it first. LOL Great post.
cheapdiva
November 13, 2013 @ 5:27 pm
In my family we all hate noisy chewers! My son asked for a different table in a restaurant a few years ago because the guy next to him was too noisy – embarrasing his poor wife!
My husband slurps his soup and coffee and makes as much noise as possible – which drives us all nuts!!
Danielle @Storypiece
November 13, 2013 @ 5:52 pm
Awwww…. my kindred spirit! Noise makes me lose my mind and I’m married to a man who finds silence suffocating and deafening. Good times!
Genevieve
November 13, 2013 @ 6:51 pm
The noise/annoying habit issue should be a deal breaker when you’re considering a lifetime with someone. It only gets worse until you consider divorce to prevent homicide….or suicide. Single people, do not doubt me.
VEB….oh, me, you entertain us all beyond measure. Just look what you have stirred up.
Linda Phillips
November 13, 2013 @ 9:21 pm
Again…..so funny!!! I am totally with you on the noise thing…..barking dogs, I have clawed my own eyes out!!!!….and how about airplanes??
A crying baby is nobody’s fault but how about screaming 7 and 8 year olds????
One time I had to hiss , “This if First Class on an airplane, not a gymnasium!” as the two kids were swinging their feet in the air while holding on to the arm rests……yelling and screaming…..really??????
Jan Ohlssen
November 14, 2013 @ 12:11 am
I’m definitely confused. Is “the box” suppose to be used as a shaft for an elevator???
Sharyl Murphy
November 14, 2013 @ 11:13 am
I sell a magnet with a 50’s couple pictured on it, sitting in their living room, he is reading the paper and she is reading or sewing or something and she is saying…
“go ahead, make that noise in your throat one more time…I dare you…” It’s hysterical and yes, I know exactly what you mean about the noise thing!
Linley
November 14, 2013 @ 12:51 pm
This comment is unrelated to your post, but I just saw this on pinterest, and since you’re working on your kitchen design, I figured you need to see this: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/241857442462328564/
I’m not sure it fits your style completely, but it IS a disco ball.
😉
nancy
November 14, 2013 @ 1:21 pm
I hate noise and it makes me very cranky.
cl
November 14, 2013 @ 1:35 pm
I also have incredible hearing, but the things that drive me crazy are barking dogs or parties when trying to sleep, people chewing loudly, think carrots, next to me, and animals on my roof running around and doing who the heck knows what?! You might want to try Epsom salt baths 3 x a week. Or magnesium. It has a calming effect, which I obviously need more of as I forget to take it and do not do my baths often enough.
We won’t even get into how sensitive my nose is!
Also your house is lovely,not so much the box. You might want to add bars and deposit noisy ones in said box. JK
Elizabeth
November 14, 2013 @ 4:53 pm
A shame about you not having enough ‘before’ photos. I’ve been there too. Now we over-compensate by taking photos of our renovation work from every angle as it progresses. The tradies look at you a bit strangely.
D'Arcy H
November 14, 2013 @ 11:05 pm
I’m glad to read another post about your house! Your garret getaway will be awesome, especially if you get rid of that ugly box and find a better way to close off the stairwell. That box ruins the beautiful railing! We, too are working on finishing off our attic and turning it into an art studio. You will no doubt beat us to the finish line.
Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse
November 15, 2013 @ 1:42 am
Maybe the previous owner of your house is the American cousin of the previous owner of my cottage: he too thought that painting everything in bright orange, bright yellow and bright pink would cover for the inexistant renovation of a very old cottage. Did yours like to add different layer of colour with a sponge on the same wall??? Mine loved that!
I adore the sash windows and their molding in your attic… It looks very “Charmed” to me… Are you going to practise magic there?
Alex
November 15, 2013 @ 2:45 pm
I’ll send you some ear plugs. We have lots. Something about our kids…
Kiki
November 16, 2013 @ 10:20 am
To add another thought to all the ‘insults’ and punishments for noisy eaters/snot pullers etc:
The alleged power to charm down insanity, or ferocity in beasts, is a power behind the eye.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Let’s stop them in their unbearable, irritating, fury-creating snottiness/noisiness…. with our mind’s power! 🙂
Even if your Victorian pile is never going to be finished, you have us hooked with your hilarious posts. Thank you dear woman.
Carol M
November 16, 2013 @ 10:29 am
I get the whole noise thing. For me it’s “mouth noises” mainly. People chewing loudly or with their mouths open, sipping soup or coffee, etc. I see someone else mentioned misophonia — discovered that term a year or so ago. Finally have a name for it which was vindication for me as my husband just thought I was weird and annoying. It also explains why it seems to run in the family: my aunt, my sister, my niece are all overly irritated by the same noises.
Kiki
November 16, 2013 @ 10:34 am
VEB; see what I mean??? Never knew about this illness WITH a name…. highly educative, your blog – should be compulsory reading!
Ann
November 17, 2013 @ 9:01 pm
You definately should have stabbed that sniffing stupid shit. No court of law would have held you responsible, he brought it on himself.
Here is the deal about noise, women are physiologically capable of shutting out sound, they have to be able to hear the children cry out for them. That’s it. You well know your loving husband can shut off his hearing in a New York second. Who said we were all created equal? That is a silly myth.
Love your blog.
Ann
Mary Ann
November 18, 2013 @ 3:22 pm
Hellohellohello fellow Misophonic!
Wow.
Just read your post and I have to tell you…when I found out there is a REAL disorder that causes folks like us to react in socially inappropriate ways(!) when we hear certain noises…I spent the next two days researching it. Wowza. A revelation. All these years. Wowza. Anyway, I burst out laughing when you wrote of your socially inappropriate pencil-stabbing urge! I, too, had the EXACT same experience during my A.C.T. exam!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shot the offender (a girl) dirty look after dirty look until she finally asked me if I had any tissues… NO!!! Hello? But if I had a runny nose on A.C.T. DAY you better believe I would have!! Jeez. So….you and I would have *both* been at Harvard were it not for those insensitive pigs. Sigh.
BTW…Love your blog!
Your support group friend,
Mary Ann 🙂
Kristne
November 19, 2013 @ 9:50 pm
I have an attic, but not like yours. Mine is new and has no character. It has no heat either so I don’t do much plotting or crafting during snow season.
I love paper, but tend to hoard it, in books and folios. If anyone give me a gift, bound paper sends me….
I also hate noise at night. I sleep with an extra pillow over my head. I thank the vet for the pills that keeps the dog from scratching all night long. Now I need something for the Paul in my life to stop his snoring. I keep him around because he is handy – maybe not as handy as yours. But handy enough – he does laundry.
I love your blog – it’s like being the nosy neighbor – not the snot dripping one, just the one who knows everybody’s business – from behind the curtains.
Mavis
January 2, 2014 @ 11:01 am
Noooo!!! All of basic morality dictates that the box must go. You, more than anyone, should know that practicality has NOTHING to do with it. Just a simple matter of right and wrong. Pull yourself together woman. For the sake of mankind.
*m