A: Attic

The attic.

The house I grew up in had the hole cut in the ceiling like the picture. My brother told me it was a secret place where the former homeowners stashed dead bodies.

That theory was unknowingly reinforced by my dad who, when I asked if I could crawl up into the space said, "Oh no. You never know what might be up there."

He meant spiders and yellow jackets.

I imagined the bones of little girls who slept in the room with the hole in the ceiling.

Fortunately, that was my brother's room.

So, what can you do with that space in your house that is only accessible through a hole cut in the ceiling?

A secret sanctuary!!!

Yeah. Right. This isn't that kind of blog.

I have a better chance of getting my husband to go snow skiing in hell than carry his tool box up into the attic for my dream make over.

And I'm not doing it! Remember...the bodies?

Let's keep this real.

Here's an attic tips that really is easy and doable:

This box fan is $16 at Wal Mart 

Can't afford the expensive attic fan system to help lower cooling costs in the summer? 

Our upstairs has very poor cross ventilation, so it's a tough area to cool in the summer. My husband got a regular box fan, like the one above, and set it across the opening. He laid it flat and it fit perfectly, but if your attic opening is too wide, you may need to brace it somehow.

Make sure you have the fan positioned to suck air from the house and blow it into the attic.

He turned the fan to its highest setting. When we want to turn it on and off, we can unplug the cord from the electric outlet.

It works like a charm. It removes the hot air out of the rooms and  pulls the cool air in from the open windows.

*Just be sure to remove the fan and replace the attic cover in the winter, or your heat will literally go through the roof.

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Here's another idea that may be a little more work than easy, but far from impossible...

Attic shelves!

Attic shelving system from Amazon

I should say my husband tells me this isn't a great idea. He says I need to keep the attic space clear, so it properly ventilates or it can cause unwanted molds and can even harm the shingles on the roof.

But...I'm not sure he if really thinks this is a bad idea, or if he just hates the idea of crawling up there with all the dead bodies to build shelves.

                      This was your Really Real A2Z post featuring the letter A. 

photo credits:
Maple St Attic 8Feb2016 Shelves via photopin (license)
 Energy audits are one of the best energy efficiency tools via photopin (license)