AromAttic!

I have always loved attic rooms.

They appeal to the well hidden, sensible side of me. After all, growing up in South Africa, I was always advised to not waste the food on my plate, for fear of starving more Biafrans. This prudent counsel must be why I am fixated on getting 2 ply toilet paper ( only the best for Mr Nielson better known as Sid ), at the cheapest price in town! In addition I have a thing about making a weak cup of tea, without sharing the tea-bag! In any event, I digress.

Attic rooms conjour up all kinds of wonderful images for me. Of course, it must be said that my mind can veer off to Mr Rochester, and poor Bertha groaning in her roof-room. Worse still I might consider just for a moment, that irritating Kate Hudson trapped in a circle of satanic fire, between the rafters in The Skeleton Key.

But mostly attic rooms for me, are filled with nostalgia. They make me think of Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and broomsticks (both directed by Robert Stevenson), two of my favourite childhood movies.

Rooms beneath the rafters, can be airy and full of light, with sheer drapes that dance with an early morning breeze.

They can be wall-papered and cosy, ( think Laura Ashley here ) so that you feel held and comforted by the sloping ceilings and dormer windows.

You can squeeze a bathroom into the littlest roof space, and it's a perfect place to make use of a slipper bath from which to gaze out the window while you soak!

Attic rooms can be wonderfully romantic; the low ceilings can provide a kind of built in four poster effect to even the most modest bed. Just add a little chandelier and you've got honeymoon written all over you.

In fact they are perfect to brood in alone, ( hopefully not as miserably as Bertha in Jane Eyre ) or better still to share with a sibling ( think The Railway children here, ) or a best friend.

xxx elle