If you've got children, or maybe just if you're a child at heart, you might want to turn it into a games room. This is a great idea if you often have lots of family or friends round and want a fun way to entertain them, or maybe you just want a game yourself. 

Home and Garden on Female First

Home and Garden on Female First

Depending on the size of your attic, get a pool table in the middle of the floor, with a wall-mounted TV and sofa at the other end, so people can chill out in between rounds, or can play cards if they're feeling less active. Make sure it's well stocked, so have a box full of board games and toys, it can double up as a bench when it's closed.

You might have an abundance of clothes, rather than toys, in which case converting your attic into a walk-in wardrobe could be a brilliant, if decadent, idea. You can store yours and your family's summer clothes in it, now the weather's getting colder, and rotate your wardrobes when it gets to next summer.

It also means you're less likely to add to your (already clearly huge) collection of clothes, as when you want something new to wear, you can go upstairs and rediscover forgotten gems, rather than buying anything.

Give yourself a well-earned break by making your attic into a relaxation room, where you can snuggle up, read a book, and get some 'me' time. Put a bookshelf against one wall, and get some soft, comfy furniture.

You should also get a few storage baskets, which can slide underneath a side table, where you can stow your magazines for a bit of frivolous reading, and a few blankets for the colder evenings. Then all you'll need is a reading lamp, so you can read away into the small hours.

If your children or partner consumes the TV schedule and takes over the living room, you should turn your attic into a spare living room. That way, whenever there's cartoons for the kids or football matches for a boyfriend on, you can send them packing upstairs and have the main living room to yourself.

Don't be tempted to get a huge television, it will overshadow the rest of the room. Instead, go for a more normal sized one and balance it out with some great furniture, so everyone can fit round.

Emily Bancroft