
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995                   TAG: 9509220114
SECTION: FALL HOME                    PAGE: 4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REMODELING OF WALK-UP ATTIC GIVES OWNER WALK-IN CLOSET

It's not often that you can walk into a house and notice the attic first, but besides providing a roomy, attractive place to sleep, Lori Thompson's new master bedroom has turned what was once a cramped, gloomy little foyer into a bright, cheerful entrance way.

The one-story house, which was built in the 1940s, was advertised as having three bedrooms. But Thompson said that although the previous owners also used the attic as a master bedroom, it was unfinished. It had roughed-in walls and a plywood floor.

There are two small downstairs bedrooms, but both had tiny closets. For Thompson, that was reason enough to finish off the attic.

"I just wanted a walk-in closet," she said.

The attic stairs face the front door, and are open to the main floor. Although they are somewhat steep, they are finished in bright pine which matches the hardwood floors in the rest of the house.

From the foot of the stairs, one of three skylights that line the back wall of the roof can be seen. The skylights alternate with recessed lamps, which provide lighting at night. Because the view from the skylights is of the neighboring treetops, the effect is very private, Thompson said.

The room itself runs the length of the house, and is divided into a sleeping area and a dressing area by the kneewalls which enclose the top of the stairway. The walls were finished with drywall and a coat of textured plaster.

There is a window at each gable end, so that light comes into the room all day. A ceiling fan over the bed keeps that end of the room cool at night, but because there is no air-conditioning, Thompson admits that it can be hard to take an afternoon nap upstairs during the summer.

In the winter, however, the room is warm enough that the one heat register in the floor can be shut off completely.

With the help of the contractor, Rick Hudgins, who completed the entire project in two weeks, Thompson designed the deep shelves and drawers that make good use of the space under the eaves.

And of course, there is the walk-in closet, which fills one of the eaves in the dressing area. It has a long pole for hanging clothes along one side, and a row of shelves along the other, also designed by Thompson.

Because the walls were already framed in, the project was not as expensive as it might have been, Thompson said. The total cost was around $5,000, including the $1,000 she paid to another contractor who took the money without performing the services he agreed to.

Luckily, she said, Hudgins came along.

"I really trust him," she said. "I tell him what I want, and he can build it."

by CNB