Oohh! Ahhhh! WOW!!! A

Can you show a photo of the cabinets open so we can see how it functions?

Nice! It's the least claustrophobia-inducing attic bedroom I've seen (and I sleep in one).

This looks fantastic! I'm totally sold on plywood as flooring. Are there any drawbacks to it, though? Does it wear out more quickly than hardwood or softwood, for example?

I'll probably be murdered for saying this, but I like the "before" better. The "after" is too cold for me, although I am interested in exploring plywood flooring/paneling.

I work in construction so unfortunately plywood floors = unfinished to me. Maybe if they had a higher shine? :(

But with that said I absolutely LOVE the headboard and the nightstands. they look really really geat. a nice custom look

but the burning question is; why is there a To-Do list next to the bed?!?!?!? are there naughty things written on it, you know, "To-Do"? LOL

Not the dry-erase board! I don't understand why it's next to the bed.

I like but what's with the scoreboard?

I love the dry erase board next to the bed. Lying in the dark is where I always remember the 1,001 things I have to do the next day. It's where I come up with my best creative ideas that I never remember in the morning.

That being said, there are so few bedrooms where this would work, and this is certainly one of them.

I like the floor too. I wonder if I would be inclined to paint the wood a beautiful hi-gloss color. I do feel like I'd be all splinters walking on that floor.

I love how bright it is. My bedroom actually has an gabled ceiling like this, and I've been tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to make it look brighter and bigger. This may be the solution...[if I weren't renting].

Love it, though!

Hi Everyone!

The board was included next to the bed keep track of things for our small business... and a few other things ;)

We plan on warming up the room a bit with a small but simple rug and a swiss military blanket as stated on our blog. You can check out our other posts for more details.

They ripped up carpet to put in plywood?
And installed a white board???

I would never want to sleep there - it looks like someone's attic turned into an office!

Love it. Looks very clean and I would never have guessed that was plain ole plywood on the floor. I'm impressed.

I love the artwork and would love to know the source.....please. :)

Well, the "before" is more my style (cozy and vintage, not that it couldn't have used some improvements), but I'm impressed by the after--I'd have never thought you could get such a finished/clean look with plywood. I think adding a nice rug and blanket, and other personal items, will be a good move.

How is the plywood fixed to the subfloor? Screws through the top? Glue?

Nevermind, found the tutorial! Excellent!

where did the wall mounted cabinets come from? they're a perfect fit for the space and seem to have nicely solved the problem that most attic-dwellers have - no real space for storage and usually no closets.

A to-do list next to the bed would stress me out.

Are the skeptics confusing plywood with particle board?

Higher grades of plywood are built to have a "pretty" grain on the side meant to be viewed. It's essentially a veneer, only mass-produced. So it wouldn't be any more splintery -- or ugly -- than a normal wood floor.

If you're looking for a 100-year solution with multiple sandings and refinishings, plywood won't live up to a hardwood floor (you'll sand through the top layer!), but under normal wear, finished plywood should do just as well as hardwood and better than softwood.

one of my favorite lunch restaurants--alas now closed--had a mod interior which featured chipboard/MDF? boards (looks like a crazy quilt of wood chips), which seemed to be wearing well.

Ohh, I love the simplicity. And I love that it's practical for your needs.

I definitely prefer the "After" - how cool! I do think it would look really awesome with a very high-gloss (clear) finish - it would give it extra wow-factor. But it's pretty impressive as is.

Cutting the plywood into "planks" is the way to go -- looks great! In the tutorial they say they nailed it down OVER the carpet -- hmmmm. But it would help with sound insulation.

I wonder if they sanded all the plank edges, and what they used to seal it. I'd polyurethane the @$%& out of it -- we have chipboard down in one room, and the edges are beginning to flake....

i like modern but this is a NO THANK YOU for me. the after honestly looks unfinished to me and i don't think the dry erase board is cute at all... plus it's too big for that wall! the scale of everything is a little off... for me of course! everyone has their opinion. :)

hmmm, this might be an option for our basement playroom...i've seen plywood floors before, but not cut into planks. such a simple step to make such a lovely difference!

Considering how much they spent, it looks pretty freakin' great.

I'd just want to do something to raise the bed off the floor; would look much more finished.

I love the after - so clean and crisp! Anyone familiar with any of the prints that are hanging?

Hey Everyone!

We are currently drawing up some ideas for a DIY platform for the bed that will raise it ever so slightly off the ground for some added dimension. There are still some things we are doing to finish the room up which includes as mentioned earlier a small throw rug, swiss army blanket and a few other small items. This is basically phase one. ;)

The prints are Canadian Inuit prints from the 1960's - 70's. More info is available on our blog. Here is a breakdown of them:

Bird - by Lucy/Luktak "Bird and Flower Composition" stone-cut (1964)
Three Walrus - by Sheowak, "Three Walrus" stencil (1960)
Owls - by Iyola "Snow Owls and Egg" stone cut print (1959)
Igloo - by Kiakshuk "Igloo and Dog Team" stone cut print (1961)
Man/Dog - by Nowyook/Karpik "The Travellers" stencil (1972)

oh wow - thank you!

I recall seeing a DIY show several years ago where someone redesigned their bedroom. They used furniture grade plywood for the flooring and stained it a really great slate blue. I think part of the reason was that they wanted to go with a hardwood floor but couldn't afford it right away and the plywood would be a good intermediate solution. When they could afford the "good stuff" they could just install it over the plywood.

I like the whiteboard idea but not for me personally. I would definitely put this in my teenage son's room.

Hi Again!

Just wanted to clarify a few things about the reno.

1. The type of plywood used was 3/8" thick one good finished side douglas fir plywood.

2. The carpet we went over with the plywood was a very thin type of carpeting which we installed a few years earlier with no under padding. There is virtually no "give" at all when walking on the new flooring and the carpet acts as a perfect cushion and sound insulator and the planks lay perfectly even across the room.

3. There is no tongue and groove. These were straight cuts done by our local hardware store. Done in 8' lengths and 4' lengths to break it up a bit and we alternated when laying them down.

4. The 6 square cabinets were purchased from ikea about a year ago on clearance for $25 each down from $125 each. We installed them to appear as one long unit.

The "after" is gorgeous, but like a few others have said, the "before" is more my style, even with the carpet.

I've recently made the decision to use either plywood or exterior grade OSB as flooring, so I find this extremely interesting. It looks so great it may move me in the direction of the plywood. Thanks so much for sharing this.

what's the brand/name of the white paint?

I like it. It will probably have a very short life - minimalism like this can get old very quickly - but for $200 who cares? The world needs more people who can make drastic but cost-effective changes to their spaces without worrying about whether or not it's going to be the perfect renovation. Kudos to them!

i f*ckn luv it!

fantastic job!!! dream bedroom!!! i love the notice board!! it would def ut me to sleep!!!

This is interesting.

I have carpet that I would love to get rid of for sanitary reasons but don't know what to replace it with. If the subfloor is plywood, I wonder if it would look this good if I just ripped up the carpet, routed some grooves into subfloor, and sealed/stained it.

Anyone done this before? On stairs?

I am most impressed by their gumption to just cover up the ugly carpet! I would have torn my hair out just trying to figure out how to rip the carpet up and then be too overwhelmed by the possibility of messing up to do anything about it.

ay1976

I bought an Inuit art book from ebay or amazon for $15 while in college and it has most these prints in there. Actually, I used to scan them and get them printed so I'm assuming that's what they did too.

Hi Everyone,

cscamp20 - The paint we used is Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore (OC-118).

unabridged - I'm not sure if the stairs would look that good, it depends on how the carpet was attached. It may have too much wear, be uneven and knotted, and even need to be sanded. The plywood we used has one good side so there was very minimal sanding involved and the cuts were free from a local hardware store. But you could always check anyways :)

lovelyrita - the carpet was a very thing cheap one that had been glued to the tiles below so ripping it out was not an option. By leaving it in, it not only insulates and sound-proofs the floor, but lessens the "creaks" and doesn't let the plywood move while walking. Keep in mind this was very thing carpeting underneath with no foam or cushioning under it.

Melissa - one of the pieces of art we have is original from the 1950s, but we searched for prints of our other favorites and yes, used Canadian books as a reference :)

-Valeria

*thing = thin

Thanks much, Hindsvik! For the inspiration and the information.