The Attic
In 2000, when I had a new roof put on, the original cedar shakes were still on the house, under the current 40+ year old shingles. By code, they had to be removed. I didn't realize what a mess that would make of my attic, which was still full of things belonging to my grandparents, and even some stuff that had been my great grandparents. All the broken bits of cedar shakes, and piles and piles of black dusty dirt came through. I hired some students from Western Michigan University to come out and carry everything down. My 80 year old uncle and my 78 year old father had never ever seen the attic floor emptied. Deciding to take advantage of the fact that it was emptied, I decided to "finish" this beautiful space. Not only would insulation keep the house cooler in the summer, it would also keep it warmer in the winter. Little did I know that this would become my favorite spot in the whole house!
The stairs. Narrow and very steep--totally epitomizes what you think of when you think "attic stairs". The red brick chimney comes right up the center and is made with bricks from the family brickyard. The railing to the left at the top of the stairs was something I bought at an estate sale in Kalamzoo. It came out of an old house in the Vine St. Neighborhood that had been turned into apartments.
I inherited the family dolls. Some of these I collected when I was 14-16 and had an interest in antique dolls. Some were my great-grandmothers (my mom's grandmother) and others belonged to my grandmother's (dad's mom) sisters. I had the willow seat custom made to fit the space. The bookcase on the left serves a dual-purpose—keeps you from falling off the edge, and is where I keep my vintage children's book collection.
A close up of the bookcase. It is so wide that I can have books facing both sides, which is nice, because it is completely full!
Many of the cool things here were found in the attic. Several vintage games and books that belonged to my dad when he was a child. The very cool little stroller my grandmother gave to me during my antique doll collecting days. She said her father had bought it at an auction for her oldest son when he was a baby. It was an antique then. The Betsy McCall doll was mine, as are the other small dolls shown here. The Mickey Mouse cutouts were found in the attic and appear to have been cut from cereal boxes--they are from my dad's childhood. The orange box with the greenery on it was a tea box from my great-uncle's dry goods and grocery store. Tea used to come from China in boxes such as this.
The little bed on the left is a "hired hands" bed. It belonged to my great-grandparents (dad's grandparents) and my grandmother gave it to me when I was a teenager. The record player is a retro unit purchased recently at Restoration Hardware. I still have my vinyl collection and now I can hear them again! You are seeing the backside of the bookcase--Nancy Drews, Happy Hollisters, and Bobbsey Twins here.
This chair was my great-grandmother's chair (dad's grandmother). My grandmother called it her father's chair when she gave it to me at 16, but my dad said he never saw anyone but grandma (Harriet Jane Smith Leonard) sit in it, so I call it her chair. The Hires Root beer case was found in the attic and makes a nice side-table. The book on it was one of my dad's and the little oil lamp was also found in the attic. The braided rug looks like one my grandmother would have made, she made many of them, but this one came from an Amish store in Indiana. The crazy quilt was made by my great-grandmother (Harriet Jane).
I put my spare bed up here and sleep here in the winter time. It is my favorite place. The cat quilt was bought in Indiana. The lamp base is an 1800s Mason jar filled with antique marbles that I collected from Ebay. The weight makes it heavy enough so the cats don't tip it over--a lesson learned when they tipped over and broke the predecessor to this lamp, an empty 1800s Mason jar!