Studio Set Ups

[fernwood]

Ok, after losing some of the cabs and other items I had priced for Fridays exhibition, decided that I need to establish a studio.  A place where I can organize everything, both lapidary materials, jewelry supplies and finished items.  Right now they are taking up about 150 sq feet of my 250 sq feet of living/dining room.  I have nothing for storage, other than boxes/bags.  

It will be tough to do in my tiny house.  The upper level is now not accessible due to floor boards popping next to the access door.  I do have a rather small storage/bedroom on the main level.  Want to eventually hire someone to move most of the items in that 9' by 25' room to the upper level of my house.  Then remove the carpet from that room and replace with vinyl wood look tiles.  Run water from the utility room across the hall.  Have one side be a counter with a sink.  Lots of electric.  Cabinets under the counter. The room already has 4 windows and lots of natural light.  Only has 1 GFI electric outlet and 4 ungrounded outlets.   Those outlets could easily be changed to grounded ones.  They were changed prior to the contractor discovering that the ground wire to my house was disconnected.  He changed all outlets to ungrounded.  Then refused to change them back, after he reconnected the main ground wire, 5 months after the initial work.  Two small closets.  A couple of overhead lights, one with a fan.  Most of one wall now has some open shelves that the previous owners installed.  I would replace those with cabinets.  The room borders my fireplace on one long side, the front entry on another side and the outside on the two others.  The outside walls are not insulated.  There are two heat vents in the room.  

So, do you have a studio type space?  In your house, where you can work on items and store completed items?   Maybe I am dreaming, which I often do.  

Please share your studio spaces, if you would.  Thank you.  

[Rockindad]

There's nothing wrong with dreaming of your ideal setup, you'll have to deal with reality enough when it comes time to pay for and build it. I think the most important thing you can do is prioritize and base your space and funds on that. Someone who wants to get into doing shows on a regular basis will have different needs than somebody just creating for themselves or even someone selling online.

I have an uncle who participates in many shows every year (he is a painter) so he always has his show stuff at the ready. At his old house he could back up to a spot in his garage, load up and be on his way in less than ten minutes. His actual studio space at home was relatively small as he also painted at the shows and in his hotel rooms at night. He would say his portable setup was more important than his home studio. For me it is the opposite. We are in the middle of changing things around in our unfinished basement and building a large workbench that will hold all of the tumblers and eventually cabbing equipment. Plumbing and electrical changes are ongoing and there will be a lot of shelving added to keep everything organized. One of the most important things for me is a dedicated space with great lighting as my eyes are not getting any better. We also added another laundry sink just for cleanouts. It currently just drains into five gallon buckets but the goal is to have a grit separator and pump in place before next winter so I no longer have to do the bucket brigade up the stairs in the winter, that is just one of my dreams

Al