Random Thoughts: Insulation Update

After making that post the other day, I stopped in Home Depot and purchased three rolls of R-30. Upon closer inspection, I only need to replace a couple sections of the R-19 that is already there. I still haven't figured out what I will do about the stuff I am storing up there. I really don't have a place to keep baby clothes, Xmas ornaments and a few other miscellaneous things. This would be one of those big detractors to owning a raised ranch house. No basement means no storage.

As a long term idea which would be decades from now, I would like to add on an addition to the garage side of the house. If it were open season on house modifications, I would build as close to the neighbor as possible so that we would have a two-car garage facing the street instead of underneath the house. This would allow me to create a dedicated storage area (aka, basement) between the living area and the garage. My aunt and uncle have something similar and it seems to work really well. As a short term solution, I think I will move things around so that they are all in a blocked off area which I can insulate around. Anyone know the R-value of Xmas ornaments?

A mid-term solution I thought of was to build a raised platform to store stuff while insulating under it. Addition aside, I think I still will do this. You can never have too much storage space. The problem there is designing something that is raised up at least a foot, but is still accessible aperiodically. While I'm at it, I think I might add extra lighting up there. A single, exposed 60 watt bulb isn't the best attic lighting system I could imagine. I have lightly bumped it when working up there and burned it out. I don't know what can take the heat-cold cycling that is experienced in an attic. Maybe I'll go for a low-voltage system. They seem to be cheap enough.