10 Loft Conversion Design Tips

Keep decor simple and colours light to maximise the space
© Taylor Howes

Want to create a brand new space upstairs? Before you get the builders in, get some ideas of just what could be possible in your roof space. By Sarah Warwick

1 Keep Decor Simple

In a loft room, especially one with sloping ceilings, it's best to keep the decor simple and the furniture understated to make the space seem larger and brighter. To make the ceiling seem higher, paint the flat and sloping parts the same colour - ideally, white.

2 Be Clever With Storage

In a tight spot, it's worth investing in bespoke units with sliding doors, because these doors take up less space when open. Use mirrored surfaces where possible to enlargen the space and bounce light around the room.

Bespoke storage makes the most of any awkward corners
© Neville Johnson

3 Squeeze In A Bathroom

If you can fit a bathroom into your loft conversion (ideally, alongside a bedroom), you will be doing your utmost to improve your home's value and saleability. Choose pieces that are suited to the room's proportions.

4 Fit Good Lighting

You need to design your lighting when you start planning your loft. Halogen spotlights, which mimic daylight, are ideal in a room that gets very little natural daylight. Work in low-level wall lights, too, and consider putting switches beside the bed so that all the lights can be controlled from there as well as by the door.

5 Create A Living Space

Maybe you have teenagers? Perhaps you want to create extra living space for lodgers? Ideally, you should sound-proof the floor space and furnish the room with pieces that are versatile - think sofa beds and tables with storage beneath.

6 Up Your Profit Potential

So, you're stuck in your house because of the credit crunch, you don't need more space, but your house still has loads of potential for improvement. So why not create a room that is part adult exercise space, part teenager chill out space, part guest room? A loft room could add to the value of your home, and it will improve its saleability.

7 Cater To Awkward Shapes

Building bespoke buys into your budget is a must in a loft room. It's likely that you'll end up with unusually shaped windows, for instance, which will need to have blinds at them, especially if the room is used as a bathroom or bedroom.

8 Squeeze In A Tiny Balconette

Even if you can only fit in a tiny Juliette balcony, do so. Don't forget, as with all loft extension work to check out your local council's planning rules before you begin.

9 Add A Deck

Are you building a large extension? Why not think about putting a flat roof onto it in order to create a decked area outside your loft room? Failing that, you could consider removing some of the indoor space and turning it over to an exterior area.

10 Put In A Mezzanine

You might have very little roof space to create a viable living area in your loft - so why not take out the majority of the ceiling (subject to building control approval, of course) in the master bedroom and create a mezzanine room where your bed can sit? That will leave more space below for extra living space.

For more advice and inspiration for making your home bigger, go to Channel 4 / 4Homes.