Minimal Effort Project with Lots of Impact

Minimal Effort Project with Lots of Impact

Recently, I saw this post on the House of Hepworths blog. Allison removed the ugly pull cord from her attic stairs and replaced it with a sleek eye-bolt and pull hook. (She has the step-by-step details, including a supply list, in her post.) I decided that this looked like just the sort of low-effort, high-impact project that would effectively fill those boring afternoon hours when it is too hot to go outside (I also frequently fill those hours with naps, but I like to have options).

First, I opened the attic stairs and cut the pull cord. Then, I gave the access panel a fresh coat of paint. Once it dried, I realized that the fresh paint on the panel made the trim around it look dingy, so I painted that as well. Then, I inserted the eye bolt into the hole vacated by the pull cord. The eye bolt was a little larger than the hole so I had to drill it out a bit.

Next, I drilled a hole into the end of a 1-inch dowel, and screwed in the hook. The dowel and hook can now be used to open the attic door, rather than standing on tippy-toes to reach the pull cord.

attic pull down

I attached an attractive hanging hook to the wall, right near the attic, but out of the way, on which to hang the dowel and hook when not in use.

attic pull hook

I don’t have any before pictures, but believe me, the fresh paint and eye bolt make this part of the ceiling look 100% better. The whole project only took about 30 minutes, minus the time that the paint was drying, but the new look makes me happy every time I go upstairs. Minimal effort, high impact.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *