With Sarah and Raymond now getting a little bit older, and Wendy have been thinking about converting the loft into their own activity area to give them a little more room. Sarah is 10 and Raymond is eight, so I guess Sarah, in particular, will be getting to that point soon where she wants her own chill-out area to listen to music and Lord knows what else.
So that is why we have been thinking about loft and attic conversion and renovation. At the moment, our loft is basically just a big messy storeroom full of stuff that probably dates back to the Kennedy assassination. Truth be told, we could probably do with having a good clear out up there anyway, and this would at least give us an excuse to get rid of a lot of stuff we really don’t need anymore.
The kids do get on pretty well, but we are also considering dividing the loft into two separate areas; one for Sarah and one for Raymond. I think the loft is just about big enough to do this, and each of the kids would be left with a decent size area to call their own. Of course, they each have their own bedroom as it is, but I kind of hope that having this extra room will encourage them to take up new activities or hobbies that they can do up there.
Of course, we are not going to get any old builders in to carry out this kind of work; we are definitely looking at employing reputable loft conversion specialist contractors to do the job. I’m no whiz at DIY, but even I know that a loft conversion is a big job and should only really be done by professionals. I guess the best thing for us to do is clear out the loft first, and then get some companies around to tell us what they think can be done and give us a quote.
We haven’t actually even sounded out the kids about this yet; I’m pretty sure they would both jump at the opportunity, but I think it is more sensible to get an idea of the cost before getting their hopes up. Of course, if the quotes we receive are affordable, and we want to go ahead with it, suffice to say that the kids will certainly be pulling their weight when it comes to keeping that whole area clean and tidy. I think it could be a really good opportunity for them to develop an understanding of looking after their own space; especially for Sarah. I’m sure we’ll give Raymond a little more leeway in that respect.
So there we have it, it looks like having a bit of a clear-out and getting some quotes will be my task for next weekend. Come to think of it, perhaps we shouldn’t say anything to the kids and us parents can have our own little chill-out area – wouldn’t that be nice!