Last winter, I made a ladder to access the loft now that the dinette is gone. It was never meant to be a permanent solution.

As the months have marched on, getting in a permanent, angled, ladder was becoming a more and more pressing matter, but it’s not one I was procrastinating on. It went to the top of the list for inside projects for this summer, however.

So imagine my delight when Jody offered me a ladder from an old bunk bed to try out for size. It was perfect!!!

I left the old ladder for a couple of reasons. The first is that it is super solidly built and installed so securing the new ladder was just a matter of a couple of screws and putting some non-skid stuff under the feet.

The other reason is that should I ever decide to not sleep in the loft any more or, heaven forbid, get rid of the rig, the prototype ladder is much more sleek.

Finally, both ladders are hidden behind a curtain. I was going to paint the straight ladder but ended up not having nearly as much of the brown as I thought I had left.

The angle is going to make it much easier to get in and out of bed, and the step spacing is an improvement. Getting onto the first step of the straight ladder always involved a bit of a hike and the new ladder is just a couple of inches lower. And the worn brown painted finish is perfectly suited for my decor.

This is definitely a case of one person’s clutter being another person’s treasure!