I have started to make a tiny bit of progress in the loft makeover. Looking at this ‘before’ picture of the loft, it seems like such a nice, bright space. But it’s not.

This space is the biggest challenge, and it is of an environmental nature. The loft is damp. The makeover’s first purpose has to be the remove the humidity in that area. I think that the main source of moisture is condensation from the windows.

I also had issues with mould and mildew because of a leak. Thankfully, I was able to fix the leak perfectly and there does not seem to be any further damage from it. There was also a problem with moisture under the original mattress. So, I raised my mattress onto pallets.

Removing the original mattress and adding the pallets made a small difference in the loft’s comfort level. I’m hoping that running a dehumidifier during the day is going to reduce the humidity to a tolerable level. I’m already noticing a difference and dumping about half a bucket of water a day. I had thought to stow the dehumidifier up in the loft and have not given up on that idea; I’m just trying to figure out how I could still make the bucket accessible enough to make dumping it feasible.

Today, I started to remove the window valance brackets in preparation for adding tinted window film to the loft windows. This film will serve two purposes: 1) add privacy and 2) add a small amount of insulation. I looked long and hard for insulated tinted window film, which I know exists, but which was unavailable locally. Research tells me that even regular film will help, so at $18 a roll and needing two rolls only, I thought the experiment would be worthwhile.

One of the things I miss in my RV bedroom is having access to my ‘to be read’ pile of books. I used to keep this pile by the bed in my previous home so that I would always know just how much reading material I’d brought in and hadn’t read. Forget doing this in the loft; anything I’ve left up there turned soggy and mildewy! 🙁 The reduced humidity makes me hopeful that I will be able to store some books up there now. I will be using part of the valances on the side windows to hold books. The tops of these valances are solidly constructed shelves, perfect for holding a few tomes, a box of tissues, an iPod, glasses, etc. I’ve been using them as such since I moved into the rig, but I have to remember to take things down when I move. So one thing on my loft makeover list is to add cup hooks and elastic to make it possible to secure things on these shelves.

Before I can do anything up there, I need to move the mattress and pallets back down, a really daunting task.  I’ll have to clear space in the library for them and move my bedroom into the study temporarily. When the loft is empty, I’ll be able to add the window tinting as well as a mildew-resistant paint. I may splurge on peel ‘n stick tiles for the floor, too.

The pallets have been working out super well, but I am really close to the ceiling. I can gain almost two inches by removing their bottom braces, so I’ll wrangle them outside and get those bottom braces off, which should be entertaining for my neighbours.

Once the pallets and mattress are back in place, it’ll be time to finally make a decision on window coverings since the tinted film won’t be enough. I may cave and just make curtains, but the cats spend so much time in the loft that I really do try to reduce how much fabric is up there. And then, finally, it’ll be time to add my new bedspread and the new privacy curtains.

Getting the loft emptied and moving into the study is so daunting that I’m having a really hard time getting going on this project. But it’ll get done in due time and it’ll be nice to have a healthy and functional sleeping space at last!