Why we used an architect
I am in absolute love with our newly renovated attic space - and so much of this love was due to the designs our architect dreamt up. Our attic is a walkup so as soon as we saw this house, we knew we had the ability to add some square footage and expand our living space. When we first started thinking about our attic renovation, we honestly had no idea what we were getting into. We had seen some photos, had a rough direction, but we had some weird things to work around. Namely the HVAC ductwork in the middle of half the attic.
Working around the HVAC ductwork
Left to our own devices and after interviewing a few contractors, the best we could come up with was a built in shelving unit around this ductwork that would have been a huge waste of usable space and frankly, a bit of an eye sore. The first thing we learned early on: contractors are not architects or designers. They are there to carry out the plans you provide them, not to help you create a vision. While we got extremely lucky with our contractors and they called adjusted quite a few details along the way, they didn’t exactly have the vision we needed.
Enter an architect. Our friend Katelyn over at Rose Studio did an unbelievable job with the plans. She came to view the space, and we talked a lot about how we’d like to use this space. With her help, we went from what would have been a box with a weird built in around the ductwork to a custom designed space with a built in entertainment station, a huge island, an art wall, cabinetry and counter space, and a storage bench under the windows. You can scroll through our initial plans here:
The first thing having plans allowed us to do was to get accurate quotes from contractors. When we first started talking, it was clear we had more to figure out - so we weren’t able to get legitimate quotes until we got down to it. Once we had the plans, the contractors we went with ended up charging us exactly what they quoted us.
With the plans, we immediately got to visualize the space. One thing that really hit for us was the idea of zoning the space (indicated by colors above). We knew we wanted a tv space, we knew we wanted an entertaining place, and we knew we wanted a built in bench, but separating it into zones helped us understand how it would be used. There were a few things she added that really upped the stakes for us - the art wall when you first walk up the stairs with built in shelving on the sides and the idea of building the ductwork into the space, rather than covering it up. This led us to the island we have today.
Our contractors loved having the plans. They said that most people won’t spend the money on plans, but that it’s so worth it to avoid confusion or issues down the line. It helped them understand what type of sub contractors they’d need, helped us have more detailed conversations about what we would need to purchase and when, and really helped to keep everything going on time.
For us, it really helped way beyond working with our contractors. I was able to plan for the exact sizing of the couch, to share these plans with our quartz fabricator, to determine how many built in drawers I’d have to buy, and the exact square footage needs of our flooring. Overall - it was worth every penny. It helped my confidence and be able to make calls on where to splurge (tv built ins!) and where to save (cabinets).
Thank you Katelyn for all the amazing work and creating the attic space of our dreams!