How to Decorate Attic Space

Upcycling Furniture & Home Decor For Dummies

Early Americans often used attics as bedrooms, but now they are more commonly used for storage. Because the structure (walls, floor, ceiling) exists, attics are relatively inexpensive to claim for living space. You usually need to remodel an unfinished attic before you can begin decorating. After you’ve done this, let the decorating begin! Follow these guidelines:

Keep it light: Unless you add dormers and/or skylights, attics are dark spaces. Add ample artificial lighting, preferably set-in-ceiling, high hat type fixtures, which don’t encroach on headroom. Use light, bright, cheerful colors for walls and furnishings, such as sunny lemon or banana yellow, apricot, or peach.
Consider the angles: Attics are full of interesting (and confusing) angles. Create unity to cut the confusion by keeping walls and floors nearly the same light color. If you’re using a patterned wallcovering for its old-fashioned charm, keep the background light and the pattern small to medium in scale and relatively open like a trellis. A trellis creates a three-dimensional effect that makes any room seem spacious.
Raise those low ceilings: Attics look smaller than they are because about 50 percent of the space has less than 7-1/2 feet of headroom. To compensate, stick to a light color scheme for floors and walls. Use a wallcovering in a vertical stripe with a light background for the knee wall area (the short wall between the floor and a peaked ceiling). Use a coordinating, small, open-ground geometric or floral pattern wallcovering for the ceiling.
Make the most of among-the-trees views: Leave attic windows, which are usually small, uncovered. If you need the privacy, install a simple blind, but avoid draperies (they take up visual space). If you feel the need for the softness draperies create, keep the contrast between the drapery and walls minimal, to retain a sense of spaciousness.
Let flooring do double duty: Let the flooring act as a sound absorber. A thick low-pile carpet with a generously thick pad does the trick and makes the attic seem more plush. Pass up noisy, hard-surface floorings, and avoid space-eating, deep-pile shaggy rugs.
Choose furniture that makes the space seem bigger: No big, bulky furniture for attics. Keep all furniture low and horizontal, so that it seems to blend into the low knee wall and not encroach on the ceiling height. If you plan to use your attic as a bedroom, consider dispensing with the bed frame and just placing the box springs directly on the floor. Or if the bedroom is for children or young guests, use a futon or camp cot as a bed.

About This Article

About the book author:

Katharine Kaye McMillan, former senior editor of a New York City-based national magazine, is a writer whose work appears regularly in magazines and newspapers. She is a contributing writer to internationally circulated Florida Design Magazine. She is the co-author of several books on decorating and design, including Sun Country Style, which is the basis for licensed signature collections of furniture and accessories by three leading American manufacturers and importers. A graduate of the University of Texas in Austin, she holds a masters degree in psychology and is a doctoral student in psychology at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.

Patricia Hart McMillan is a nationally known interior designer, whose interior design work for private clients, designer showcases, and corporations has appeared in publications worldwide, including the New York Times and USA Today. Known as a trend spotter and for clearly articulated views on design, she is quoted frequently and extensively in both trade and consumer publications. She a ppears on TV and talk radio. A prolific writer, she is coauthor and author of seven books on interior design and decoration, with Sun Country Style signature collections of furniture based on two books. She has taught decorating courses at several colleges and conducted numerous seminars across the U.S. She is decorating editor for Christian Woman Magazine and reports on design trends for The Sun-Sentinel, a Tribune newspaper based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She has been editor-in-chief of two publications and was head of a New York City-based public relations firm representing some of the most prestigious names in home furnishing and building products. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a minor in art history (with an emphasis in architecture), from the State University of New York (New Paltz). She was awarded a certificate from The New York School of Interior Design.