Kid Couped In Kitchen, Sonia's Loft

                                                                                                                                                           

I enter my apartment through an 18 square foot alcove in the kitchen. As the door swings opened, it consumes half of it, leaving 9 square feet of usable space. I used that space for hanging coats and a couple of bicycles for me and Sonia but, I'd always felt that the space had the potential of being put to greater use. Sonia would end up taking a tumble on her bike in traffic. It scarred the hell out of me, filling my head with horrors of what could have been a scenario much worse than her sprained wrist. I didn't want the bikes anymore. That decision led me to the alcove's re-purposing.
 In measuring I realized that the alcove wasn't quite 6' but realized that neither was Sonia and as such, she would fit above the front door, thus taking back the 9 square feet taken when the door swings opened. The rest of the space would end up being taken up by 5 shelves and my dad's old foot locker from the second world war to which I'd fitted a set of rolling casters. The largest shelf would act as her desk to support her computer. Access to the loft
was provided by the creation of a contraption akin to a library ladder that when not in use would slide neatly between the refrigerator and her desk. The ladder itself is a simple construction of 2"x4"s, corner braces, chrome nosings and a couple of fixed rolling casters. I drilled 2 holes at the top of the ladder, through which I slid a length of electrical conduit that would be captured at either end by large screw eyes. When the ladder is rolled into its climbing position, it pulls with it a saffron colored Tibetan silk curtain to offer a modicum of privacy which in and of itself is a valuable commodity in a space that's so small. When Sonia first left home, I would take back her little office space and use it as a small work station for building and finishing small prototypes and use her loft as my guest bed room. When Sonia returned home, she got her loft back but, I've managed to keep the little work station for myself, which when not in use is simply hidden by a window shade.