Swapping attic spaces

Article by: BY CANDICE OLSON , Scripps Howard News Service
Updated: July 21, 2012 - 1:16 PM

Function and style meet in an attic bedroom.

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AFTER: This new master bedroom is stunning and it passes the practicality test.

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THE PROBLEM

Like many bedrooms in older homes, the couple's second-floor bedroom offered very little storage space.

THE SOLUTION

They swapped spaces with a roomy third-floor attic office, where designer Candice Olson incorporated loads of storage and style between the sloped ceilings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A contemporary graphical wallpaper makes a bold statement on the room's largest wall, where a tall wardrobe and flanking dresser drawers provide lots of storage space. The wallpaper design was replicated on the wardrobe's white doors using a light gray vinyl decal.

• Shelving above the dressers provides a functional surface for displaying photos and other accessories.

• A narrow access stairway limited furniture options. There just wasn't room for a box spring, so Olson went with a platform frame and finished things off with a headboard covered in a leatherette fabric with intricate nail-head trim.

• On either side of the bed, sconces provide light for bedtime reading. The colors in the bedding pick up the room's palette and include white, dark gray and a mustardy shade, which is repeated in the small sofa positioned directly across from the bed in the lounge area. Two reclaimed-wood coffee tables, with the smaller one nesting inside the other, combine storage space with style.

• Lighting in the new bedroom comes from overhead pot lights, the bedside sconces, a high-impact table lamp positioned beside the new couch and two lighting fixtures placed on top of each dresser.

BEST TRICK

Olson added an element of architectural elegance to the room with custom-made moldings, which were installed on the side walls as well as the sloped ceiling.

Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service. Interior decorator Candice Olson hosts "Candice Tells All," which appears on HGTV.

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BEFORE: This attic was roomy and filled with natural light, but the problem was how to make the most of the possibilities presented by the space.