Thank you for your response. And I apologize for being so quickly offended.

I completely understand why my suggestion wouldn't work for you. It sounds like you've found something that works.

You truly do have a lovely space.

While I said I didn't like drawing the eye up there, I agree with pal in that older homes can get away with this sort of thing. I didn't know you wanted to give the next owner the choice of what they wanted to do, so I wondered why you didn't drywall over it. I don't think it detracts from the space, I just didn't understand why you wanted shelves there. I think once its trimmed out it will look good. I like it white to go with the ceiling and trim. Don't take this wrong but I love the quirkiness of older homes, so much charm!

I'll take a picture tonight with the transom in the photo so that you can see what I'm trying to do (successfully or not!). Like pal said, I'm trying to match the transom's trim so that it looks natural. And i bought the glass shelves so that it will pick up the glass from the transom, reflect light, and keep it more airy. You're certainly all right that it'll attract the eye upward but short of drywall (which is more permanent than I want) I don't know what won't.

Love that red. . .saving the name! Beautiful room.

Lovely room. My only thought has more to so with the safety of storing items directly above the bed, esp. with glass shelving. Myself, I'd lean more towards a paneled sliding door similar to the existing doors, so that the storage space could be accessed from either your closet or this room. I admire your creativity in transforming this old home and am sure the end result with look stunning.

Thanks everyone! Here's a quick try at making it look presentable from junk from my other shelves downstairs, just to give everyone (and me) an idea. (Repeat: still need moulding, etc.)

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

With flash:

{{!gwi}}

Some Imari porcelain would look awesome up there.

Pal, in your free time, why don't you just come over here and fix this mess since you have such great ideas and are local! (I'm only half kidding.)

{{!gwi}}

Very interesting! You never have any earthquakes there, right?
Love that porcelain, esp the colors with your room.

We have had earthquakes actually.

But these houses are masonry construction, and if the earth moved enough to knock things off shelves, the entire fa�ade of the house would probably fall off, anyway. It only has strength in compression, nothing for tension or shear.

When my gable end, which is two layers of brick and nothing else, (some of the brick essentially powder) survived the big tremor (for us) a couple years ago I figured I would also not get knocked out by something falling off the wall. Unless the wall fell down first.

Looks great so far, it really does make more sense with the over the door window. If it were me I would not put photos up there, only objects that are easily seen, like the books and other objects you have up there. I hope you post after its trimmed out.

Some morning pictures:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Wow KevinMP, I confess I was concerned about the red, but you have handled it deftly...it looks great, cozy and wonderful. The bookcase idea was fab. Well done!

I love what you've done with that room, but I truly hate the shelves. They are too cluttered, mincing and busy to be sitting way up there where you see things from a distance far below. It looks kind of absurd to have books that high up with none below.

I would much rather see one simple panel to block your closet off, and then between one and three large objects with presence. Very simple.

The first thing I thought of when I saw your loft was this object that's over a cupboard at Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, home of one of America's first interior designers in Gloucester, MA.

This post was edited by marcolo on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 12:25

I am no designer so take this w/ a big grain of salt. :) What about doing something to the back wall of the cabinet? Paint, wallpaper, fabric (wrapped on some cardboard or plywood)? Once the trim is up, seems like it might be too much white, even w/ all the stuff on the shelves.

I do love that bed. :)

I absolutely love the room.. but I have to agree with Marcolo that I think the shelves are too busy for the great space you've created. LOVE the Imari porcelain suggestion and I also like the chinese foo dog (is that what it is?). I think I'd edit way down and keep it visually simple for a stunning over all look.

So declutter the shelves, or scrap the shelves?

Kevin, I love your room too, but having the benefit of seeing all the posts at one time, I too have to agree with Marcolo. The shelf seems out of place high above the bed. If you are putting things there, they should be for simple effect and not tempt one to stand up on the bed to get a closer peek.

The room looks terrific. 'Love the red with your furniture and your rug. I have to agree with the others about the shelves though. I would wall that space up in a heartbeat. If I understand this correctly, that loft area is above those boards in your closet. If I were buying your house, and you told me there was storage area above the closet, I would remove those boards and raise the height of the closet. Then I would put in shelving for my purses, out of season sweaters or whatever. I wouldn't need to access that area from another room, nor would I want to. If you're worried about future buyers, store a couple of pictures of the loft and that opening with your deed and live in the house the way you really want it. You're not doing anything to jeopardize its architectural integrity.

If the purpose is like a niche for display, I would probably have a larger object or a grouping of similar objects, set on the lowest shelf of each niche--or limit it to two shelves but the objects should be such that they don't call for up close examination, they can be seen as a "collection" from floor level.

If you need the storage for storage, I would use it all for books or put decorative boxes there with things stored in them, not inviting individual examination.

Since the shelves are already up there, start with a collection of uniform items or a few much larger objects, and see if that works.

I am not promising anything about budget:
{{!gwi}}

Just so you know, my first preference was to dry wall up to the ceiling and paint it all. I was just told by my neighbors (who live in similar houses and know what people who buy these houses look for) that I'd be better off keeping the loft for resale. It'll probably be cheaper for me to drywall up the space than it would be to trim out the cabinets (I can still return (or repurpose) the cabinets).

The benefit with doing that is that I'd have immense storage in the closet and it would be easier for a prospective buyer to visualize making that closet a small bathroom. (I'm not too worried about prospective buyers because I have no intention of leaving any time soon.)

What was that particular loft area Used for? In my neighborhood there are still a number of lofted areas in apartments done in the 1960s and 1970s that couldn't be done today because of code issues and aren't particularly user friendly. My 14 foot ceilinged unit was lofted at one end but this left two areas of ceiling height at about 6'7 with an understructured (by today's criteria) floor in between. That was useable. I looked at a unit that had the same thing in a room with 13' ceilings, where the upper was supposed to be a sleeping area --but it was too big to just crawl into and too short to stand up: you kind of duckwalked around it. And it made for a mean little area underneath, too. The current owner of that unit just had stuff stored in cardboard boxes up there.

So, what is the purpose of it? Is it something that people would still really use it as today?

If I were you I would go by Your preference, drywall it up repurpose those shelves facing the other way, and be done with it. The shelves would work, I've seen that variation, but only if you want it or need it to be accessible to the bedroom would I do it that way.

The Imari bottle coolers were something like $8000., so I think the drywall would be cheaper and neighbors be damned :)

I don't really need the shelves in the bedroom. The other major issue is that my access point to the roof is through the skylight in the loft. That can be reached with a ladder through the closet if I bust open the floorboard ceiling in the closet. I'd rather drywall it and but some sound insulation behind it.

I'm certainly not spending hundreds (let alone thousands) on pottery that would be seen only a handful of times per year.

As to what the hell it was used for...who knows. The people who owned this place were bizarre. I could certainly imagine a kid sleeping up there on a twin mattress, but there's only 26" of clearance, so it's tough to get into and out of there.

I knew that Imari was not in the cards, it was just the best thing I could find for illustration.

I would button it up on the bedroom side with drywall and go in through the ceiling of the closet. That height and access from inside the closet seems much more logical than preserving it as a slot accessible from the bedroom.

Sometimes neighbors have bad ideas.

I don't understand why you went thru all the trouble to put the cabinet in. Just my 2 cents, but everything seens to be crowded on one wall, or one side if the room. One nightstand is right up against the door jam.

The room and furniture are so wonderfully traditional, adding 3-4 drapery panels on the wall between the windows, and one on the ends, drawing them back would have been an easier fix, w/more room for the nightstands. The bed would have become an obvious, and lovely focal point, instead of just a bed in a room. Sorry about my blunt honesty, but my visualization gets in the way.

Patty cakes, in your effort to be critical (which is fine), your post really doesn't end up making any sense to me. It does appear that your "visualization" has gotten "in the way," but I'm just not sure what you're visualizing.

How would putting drapes on the window wall physically enlarge the room to make "more room for the nightstands" (and I only have one nightstand)? If you looked at the pictures, you'd see that there is a door to the stair landing (limiting wall space on that wall), two windows along a wall that is very low because of the ceiling's pitch (no furniture can go there), another wall on which there is a closet with a door (that cannot accommodate a bed because it's both too narrow and in front of the door to the stair landing), and another corner that is the only set of wall space that can accommodate the bed. If your point is that the bed is too tall for the space, I suppose I understand. If your point is that the nightstand is too close to the door, you're right, but so what? If your point is that you preferred the bed oriented the other way so that there was space on either side of the bed (but little room at the foot of the bed, far too little room to walk around the bed on the sides, and no room at all above the canopy), I suppose I understand (although there's a much easier and less "blunt honesty"-framed way to state that basic point.

Do you want to try again so that I can figure out what you're really trying to say?

I'm not sure you need any more opinions here...but I'll venture one anyway. Beautiful home and furnishings, beautiful bed and cozy guest room. But I agree that the shelves (from the pics) look odd in that space. With the canopy, the skylight and the shelves, it just seems like too much going on in the upper part of the room. It doesn't show that gorgeous canopy to its advantage, but detracts from it. I would do as others have suggested and drywall it - or if you really feel you should leave it accessible, perhaps a wall of softly gathered fabric at the head of the bed. I'm thinking like this:

olychick, that's always been a good option, too. I just don't want to drill into the plaster to deal with all of that, and I cannot put it across the whole wall because of the door to the hall way. I know, I know, I have lots of requirements.

I think the shelves are very clever and are attractive! Again, the room is a jewel box, and I would love to stay in it!

Command hooks with a rod nestled onto them, lightweight fabric that stops just to the left of the door jamb. :)

I think you've made an extremely convincing argument for boarding it up. I've lived in small places and I know you can't spare perfectly good, usable storage space that you could use right now, just to please some possibly nonexistent future buyer looking for a convenient place to fling her children up at the ceiling. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Anyway. Close that up, then it's on to a wee bit of wall art and a touch more fabric. Not much. I'd be idly curious to see what that lace netting canopy you found looks like on the bed, just for s's and g's.

Marcolo, I never found one I liked that was the right size. Because of the arch it's difficult to find the right size.

If only I didn't hate painting so much...

I don't understand why you went thru all the trouble to put the cabinet in. Just my 2 cents, but everything seens to be crowded on one wall, or one side if the room. One nightstand is right up against the door jam.

The room and furniture are so wonderfully traditional, adding 3-4 drapery panels on the wall between the windows, and one on the ends, drawing them back would have been an easier fix, w/more room for the nightstands. The bed would have become an obvious, and lovely focal point, instead of just a bed in a room. Sorry about my blunt honesty, but my visualization gets in the way.

I don't understand why you went thru all the trouble to put the cabinet in. Just my 2 cents, but everything seens to be crowded on one wall, or one side if the room. One nightstand is right up against the door jam.

The room and furniture are so wonderfully traditional, adding 3-4 drapery panels on the wall between the windows, and one on the ends, drawing them back would have been an easier fix, w/more room for the nightstands. The bed would have become an obvious, and lovely focal point, instead of just a bed in a room. Sorry about my blunt honesty, but my visualization gets in the way.

OK, then close the wall up and paint it red. If you want to access that area from the closet open up the ceiling in that room. Then guest bedroom will be done and perfect.

Hating to paint is a very non-compelling reason to jump through a bunch of other hoops and still not end up with it how you wanted.

It was like a client I have who wanted to buy a terribly constructed house she was renting because the owners were going to sell it. Her only reason for wanting to buy it was she hated moving.

Rip off the bandaid and move on.

I meant that I hate painting and just when I thought I'd finished, I'm going to have to do more. It's not the reason I didn't do it from the get go.

I understood what you meant, but very little painting will have to be redone to finish up. Or get your first guest to paint the patch :)

Well its been fun anyways Kevin. I don't think the next person coming in would want it open, what would they do with it with the shelving gone? Maybe hang an old blanket over it? I don't think so! I am no carpenter, but just a thought that you could frame out the opening and hang a single door on hinges that would open upwards, then paint that the room color. It could be a secret passageway.

I thought if that, too, but it's too odd a size to find a door that'd work. I'm going drywall.

hmm, I still think it was a clever and fun idea.

I dont necessarily think it's a bad idea either.. I'd just edit the shelves a bit. I also don't think you need to spend a lot. I could see a variety of things there.. vintage toys or stuffed animals .. sculpture.. I just don't think you want the shelves to be too full or too busy.

By the way, trying to get around all the visualizations that are in the way, I do think you should think about window drapery. Panels on either side, hung from a rod where the wall and ceiling meet. Or do you hate drilling into plaster even more than painting, not to say I'd blame you?

Thank you marcelo, I needed that slap in the face to wake me up, but why do *our* visualizations get in *your* way? Visualizations are what help us with our insights and ideas. If *you* don't have it, I'm very sorry. Yes, it sometimes does get in the way, but I'm thankful I have the 'gift'.

Patty, your comment made no sense collectively yesterday, and it still doesn't no matter how many times you re-post it. I don't doubt that you had a point, and one I'd be interested and grateful to see in plain English. But drapes just have nothing to do with making the nightstand fit better or magically making furniture for against other walls. Whether I should have drapes is a different issue, and M's point makes sense.

Let's not get all high and mighty about your "gifts." Comments like those are why people wouldn't feel comfortable asking questions on this forum in the first place. I've not experienced it from anyone else. Perhaps they lack your "gifts."

I just want to note that just because it might work out best to drywall it up and be done, that the other ideas did not become automatically bad ideas. It's just that the OP has to chose one. The cabinets would have been okay, too. There is more than one good solution to each problem.
It kind of reminds me of the joke of getting two shirts for your birthday, you wear one the next day, and get asked "So you hate the other shirt?"

I probably missed it way back but what was the purpose of the big curved projection you removed?

Geez Kev, take a chill pill. I re-read your post so I won't go into an explanation re:my 'visualization'.

My 'gift' is something i've given to myself, no explanation needed on that either. As to whether or not it would prevent someone from posting, that's your *opinion* not a fact.

Why didn't you just use a wood, sleighbed-style daybed? You could have created a beautiful fabric canopy w/o all the aggravation you seem to be going thru, not to mention the extra work you've made for yourself. Sorry Kevin, just keeping it real.

I just don't understand when someone asks a question about what to do with furniture the person already has and won't be getting rid of, someone sitting on her couch comes in a says "why did you buy that?" "Buy this". If I wanted your advice on what I should replace my furniture with, I would've asked it. I shouldn't have to explain to you that your comments come across as rude. I'm not paying you for advice, and I didn't ask for your opinion on the topic you provided your opinion on. Your question really seems to me to be, "why don't you do what I would've done even though you've already done it because I don't like what you've done." Who goes through the effort to be so obnoxious and then tells the person they've insulted to take a chill pill? I don't feel as though I've wasted any time at all (and its mine to waste, in any event); I have found nearly everyone's comments to be helpful. None managed to be delivered with your gift of disdain, fortunately.