Attics and lofts have always had a particular place in the imagination. A dusty garret where you can escape to seems the ideal spot for the creative mind. High above the rest of the house with expansive views – lofts can offer a great reflective space. And they don't need to be dusty – loft conversions can transform a room into a sophisticated, expansive, bright space. Loft conversions can even incorporate roof terraces or dramatically large windows – perfect for artists who want to make the most of natural light.
 

If you are undertaking a loft conversion to create a dedicated studio, it's important to incorporate sky lights in your designs to gain strong natural light. George Clarke, architect and presenter of TV's The Home Show says skylights are the best way to get light into a house. On the Channel Four Homes website, his feature on how to stretch space advises: “Top light is always the brightest light and the best. The light that comes in from the roof bounces around a space, while light coming in through windows just lights the space around the window. Putting in a roof windows is relatively easy to get done and it won't waste space - smashing a new window into a wall won't be as effective, and it will lose you wall space.”

 

 

For writers, natural light may not be as crucial as simply having what Virginia Woolf identified: 'a room of one's own'. Woolf wrote her essay A Room of One's Own to highlight her belief that, “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Loft conversions offer the perfect escape for novelists and aspiring writers, offering a secluded, dedicated working space. Writers' rooms have always been a source of fascination for literary junkies. An exhibition of Eamonn McCabe's photographs of famous writers' rooms reveals the inner workings of some famous literary giants, such as the Bronte sisters' writing room in their Haworth house. McCabe's photographs feature weekly in the Guardian Saturday Review section and have been dubbed as 'literary soft-porn' for literary fans offering a tantalizing glimpse into writers' lives.

 

Looking at writers' rooms taps into the ambition and dreams of millions. If everyone has a novel in them, all it takes is some dedicated space and time – Philip Pullman, the hugely successful Northern Lights author, doesn't even have a study or loft conversion, he writes in a shed. Although a loft conversion is closer to Hemingway's wish for 'a clean, well-lighted place'. Not many can afford leather topped desks in reclusive country homes (unless your novels are as successful as JK Rowling's). Writing in the Guardian about writers' room, John Banville says he's envious of those who don't need a dedicated room to write – he needs a desk, a wall and a window as the bare minimum. He writes: “In my time I have had to make do with some strange work-spaces. The one I liked best was a converted maid's room where the ceiling was so low I could not stand upright, but where there was a wonderful little window with geraniums crowding the glass and a smooth green lawn beyond, and where in uterine cosiness I wrote two books and the beginning of a third.”

 

The poet Simon Armitage makes do with a converted office above his garage: “The room isn't exactly a magical attic or atmospheric garret, but it's warm, quiet and connected to broadband,” he writes. For author Liz Jensen, she believes the secret of writing a novel lies in having the right setting. In the Guardian she writes 'a bit of comfort will not kill off the muse'. She believes money, space and time are the three must-haves for writers: “Writing may be one of the most portable activities in the world,” Jensen writes, “but it doesn't stop writers yearning for a private space in which to plumb the depths of their subconscious. The psychologist Martin Lloyd-Elliott, who works with many artists and writers, says that one reason the garret has become central to the mythology of the creative process is because outsiders imbue it with a kind of magic. Literary tourists, he points out, always flock to see The Desk where a great work was penned. Readers will often shyly confess to picturing writers tormented, scribbling in an ivory tower, or holed up in a windswept hotel with a bottle of Scotch.”

 

Loft conversions are the ideal spot for many authors – according to some psychologists some writers only write in upstairs rooms – the idea that the journey somehow represents a move from ordinary space and life to a 'special elevating place in the clouds'. If you do choose to use a converted loft as your writing space, it's important not to let that space get cluttered with remnants from other parts of your life – Jensen believes mental clutter can shatter the mystique a converted attic can create for a writer, she says the modern-day work space isn't a cold, cramped attic but a spacious, comfortable and light room. Loft conversions can be all these things. Jensen says that as well as a dedicated writing space, you also need the right chair so you don't end up a cripple, a sturdy desk and good lighting – dark rooms can bring on eyestrain and headaches. And if the novel doesn't work out – your loft conversion means you have an extra bedroom!