How dormer windows make best use of your attic space

Home of the Year winner Jennifer Sheahan shares advice on dormer conversions

A good rule of thumb for a dormer extension or attic conversion is to keep it bright.

It is Halloween once again, and so naturally my thoughts are veering towards spiders, bats, and dark scary spaces. I am, of course, talking about the attic, that spooky space full of broken deck chairs, dusty boxes of old school books, and an unwanted fondue set. And spiders. In an economy where buying a bigger house seems increasingly out of reach, it makes sense that many of us are sweeping out the cobwebs to transform our attics into more usable spaces.

A skylight in the chimney breast. Picture: Moya Nolan

An attic conversion or extension will not only give you more space in your home, but will likely increase your resale value. Here are the many ways in which you can make best use of your attic space.

ACCESS

One of the primary things to consider before undertaking attic conversion work is how you will access the space. If it is going to be a regularly used space, such as a home office or a bedroom, then you will need a proper staircase. Stairs can take up quite a footprint, so consider carefully where they can go and what style you should choose.

A dormer extension increases ceiling height for an attic bedroom, as shown here in Jennifer's house. Picture: Moya Nolan

A spiral staircase will usually take up the least amount of space, but is not the easiest for getting up and down, especially if you need to carry up large items. That said, I’ve seen a genius solution to this issue in some small homes which is to install a trap door.

This will allow access to lift up large items such as furniture, without sacrificing any permanent space. Aesthetics can be dealt with via clever use of paint or panelling.

If a spiral staircase won’t work and you are tight on space, consider a dual-use staircase; for instantce, one that has bookshelves or drawers underneath.

The goal is to ensure you’re gaining significantly more space than you’re sacrificing in order for the conversion to be worth it. If installing a stairs will lose too much space, perhaps a simple attic conversion that will provide extra storage without huge cost is a better idea, in this case, you can just install some sliding stairs which is fine for less regular access.

PLANNING

There are endless ways you can use a converted attic, and some of them are more heavily regulated than others. For simplicity’s sake, there are two main classifications; “habitable”, which really means a bedroom, or “non-habitable storage space”, which pretty much means everything else.

To convert your space into a bedroom, more than 50 per cent of the room must have a ceiling height of at least 2.2 metres.

Bathrooms fit in easily under eaves, says, Jennfer. Picture: Moya Nolan

Having been through this process myself, I achieved this by adding a dormer extension to raise the height of the ceiling at the back of my house.

As long as your dormer extension is not higher than the original ridgeline of the house, and leaves at least one meter on either side of your neighbour’s house (if yours is a terrace or a semi-detached home), then getting planning permission for a dormer extension is usually achieved with minimal fuss. Depending on whom you are overlooking, window placement may be an issue to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

USAGE

Now for the fun part: How you will use your newly freed-up space. If you are adding a bedroom, it is surprisingly easy to also squeeze a bathroom into an awkward attic space; toilets and baths fit quite easily under a sloping roof. If you’re adding a shower you will of course need full-height standing space, but showers are small. Other uses that don’t require dormer extensions are bespoke walk-in wardrobes. I installed a wall-mounted rail system to get affordable wardrobes that fit under awkward eaves spaces: Check out the Elfa system or the Ikea Boaxel system. Of course, a home office is ever more popular, and adding soundproofing is a simple and low-cost step to get any necessary privacy. Sound-proofing also opens up the option of a music room, where burgeoning cellists can screech away to their heart’s content. Or perhaps you would just like some quiet space, in which case some floor cushions and a few shelves instantly create a cosy library at minimal cost.

STYLE

A good rule of thumb for a dormer extension or attic conversion is to keep it bright: Bring in daylight wherever you can via dormer windows or roof lights. I have made use of the original chimney breast here; while I no longer have a fireplace, I have kept the external chimney structure and instead installed a fixed roof light in it, which floods the space with light.

The chimney-breast skylight in Jennifer's home.

I have also used frosted glass doors to allow that light into all corners of my dormer extension. If you have a view that you would like to maximise, but don’t fancy the expense or hassle of installing a dormer window extension, check out the Velux Cabrio, an ingenious foldable balcony that is very simple to install. Use light paint, and try to keep the style and flooring consistent with the rest of the house, which will make the space feel more open and cohesive.

Use sloping ceilings to add accent colours. Existing beams are a huge bonus for a cosy feel, or faux ones are affordable and easy to install if you like that look. Or throw everything I just said out the window and do whatever you want up there, depending on how you use it it’s unlikely that visitors will come up to your attic, so take the opportunity to bring your wildest design dreams to life; you can always repaint!

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