Birth of a Shed turned Studio

[Becky Mason]

I posted a couple of pictures in another thread a few days ago, but rather than hijack that thread with so many pictures, I decided it would be best to start a new thread. I'm posting these pictures so that other people can get some ideas of their own. When I decided to build a studio last year, I got a lot of great ideas from other who had posted info about their studios on WC, so I wanted to reciprocate by showing the birth of my studio in hopes that I might help someone else going down this exciting road.

Becky


This was a site built shed we bought from Home Depot. They sent 1 guy to the house and he put up this entire structure, including cutting and installing the windows, and putting on a shingled roof, all in one day.

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My fabulous husband Rick then went to work insulating, drywalling and putting down ceramic tile. We also installed a front deck ourselves. I helped with the tile and the front deck. They were both really fun jobs.

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I'm going to show pictures before, during and after construction so that you can see the dramatic change from shed to studio, but here is a picture of the outside of the finished studio. Rick added a path from the studio to the house, and a nice landscaped bed in front of the deck for a birdbath, bird feeder and plants. I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

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Here is what the inside looked like before Rick insulated and drywalled. This is the corner where my torching station is located.

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Here is what it looked like after the interior was finished, but before all of my equipment got moved in.

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Here is how that same corner looks today - my torching station. I took this picture today. I have everything within easy reach. My kiln is right behind me so all I do is swivel my chair around and pop my beads into the kiln. Check out my flat screen TV and DVD player. Cool huh?

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Here is the picture of the ventilation system before Rick built a soffit to hide it.

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And here is what it looks like now. The area right over the DVD player is an open mesh screen to allow air to circulate around the motor for the vent fan so that it doesn't get overheated. It also allows us to access the motor easily should something go wrong. We didn't want to have to rip out drywall, so I came up with this idea of a removable screen panel. Pretty smart, huh?

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This is the other end of the studio where the student torch stations are located. I have 2 student torches on a 10 foot long staineless steel table. Each station has its own Oxy Con. The propane tank is outside on the front porch and comes through a small hole I cut in the wall, which is filled in with expandable foam to keep out the creepy crawlies.

Here is the before picture.

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Here is the ventilation for the student torches. They share a 980cfm fan I got from Grainger. We tested it for suction, and it sucked a plastic grocery bag right out of the electrician's hand, so this thing really sucks! We installed the same kind of removable screen panel below the motor to allow for air to circulate. Over the torch stations we used range hoods with all of the guts removed. I stripped everything out - fan, motor, wiring - everything. The electrician ducted the top of the range hood to the squirrel cage blower, which connects to a louver vent on the outside of the studio (you can see the louver vent on the gable side of the roof in the above picture of the finished studio.) When the ventilation fan is running, the louver vents open up to vent out the bad air. When the ventialtion is turned off the louvers close, thus preventing rain from getting in. The fan gets turned on from a wall switch by the door to the studio, which is also where my overhead flourescent lights turn on.

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This is the same area after the interior was finished.

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And here is the finished area for the student torches. I took this picture today.

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This is the area along the back wall where we installed the window unit A/C, cabinets, countertop and sink - before.

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And the after picture of the same area. I took this picture today, so this area is a little messy. The extra storage is so nice. As you can see, I have no wasted space in this little studio. I have shelves on the walls for storing things, and I've used the space below my stainless steel tables to store things. My studio is only 10' x 14', but it is packed from floor to ceiling with bells and whistles, including a DVD player, flat screen TV, CD player and iPod docking station. I don't lack for entertainment in my studio.

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I hope that you've enjoyed looking at the birth of my studio and that it inspires you with your own studio. If you have any questions, please let me know.


Becky

[one-eared pig]

I have SERIOUS studio envy. I am in awe. Congratulations on a wonderful set-up!

[cadia]

OMG!!!!
Cadia

[hannabiggs]

Wow! That is amazing. You are one lucky gal!

[swanseafarm]

Becky...that is fabulous!

Congrats to you and your hubby...what a great job!!

:)

[Wiley]

Wow!! I don't know what else to say!! WOW!

I love your rod storage! What is the blue cabinet-if you don't mind...

[Kristen]

Becky...Wow...just printed this for DH...this is what I want...thanx for the detail.....

[Becky Mason]

Thank you all for all of the nice comments.

Robin - here is a link to an auction on eBay for the storage units. I bought mine over a year ago. They are really nice - very sturdy and spacious.

http://cgi.ebay.com/32-Hole-Metal-Storage-Bin-Unit-Workshop-Garage-Studio_W0QQitemZ200027164242QQihZ010QQcategoryZ570 05QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Each opening is 4" x 4", so I divided up the compartments by using plastic storage tubes I got from JCDanczak. Here is the link to their website.

http://www.jcdanczak.com/our_products/cat_7.html

I have all different sizes to accomodate the various quantities of glass that I have in different colors.

The white storage unit where I have all of my Bullseye is a shoe storage unit I got from HOme Depot.

Becky

[Wiley]

Thanks Becky!!

[Becky Mason]

Kristen,

Wow, I'm flattered. If your DH has any questions, please feel free to PM me. I'm all about sharing. We really do get more when we give more.

Becky

[Kristen]

Thanx so much Becky..I printed this off for hubby when he gets home..may be contacting you thanx......Kristen

[Janine]

Becky, thank you so much for posting all the amazing pictures. We are in the midst of moving, and seeing how to build a great studio makes me think we can do it versus having to buy a house with one already.

It looks fabulous and I love the paint colour!!!

[jazz's glass]

Wow, that is beautiful. I think the only other things you could possibly need would be a fridge and toilet :biggrin:

Janet

[BarbR]

Well done Becky!

What a project - and well thought out too. This is probably one of the nicest small private studios I've seen. I'm showing this to my partner....heh, heh....can we say motivation?

[valerie_folly]

Awesome digs! If i had something that nice, the teenagers would be moving in!

[Becky Mason]

Janet,

If I had a fridge and toliet I would rarely see my husband. How terrible that eating and going potty are two of the few things that will get me into the house.

Becky

[EmbellishYourself]

Thank you so much for sharing. Now I have something to aspire to! Jenny

[villa design]

I'm with the other Melissa, I have serious studio envy! So well organized Becky... I love it!

[Dale M.]

Excellent studio, you have done well.... But I have to ask what was the reasoning for placing vent hoods so high?... The closer to the flame (down about two feet lower) would have made them more effective... Just curious what was criteria for their placement.

Dale

[Moth]

That's the most well thought out studio I've seen and I love SO MUCH that you took so much care with safety issues. I wondered about the high placement of the hoods, but at the Glass Blowing Center where AGI is held...they are all that high. I'm not worried about your ventilation...just wondered about why you put them so high. Mine is high too, and I've been thinking of putting side baffles on them to help focus the 'suck'.

Awesome awesome studio...best one I've ever seen.

~~Mary

[Becky Mason]

The main reason I located the vent where I did was to give me room to have things on my work surface all along the back of the table. I would have lost a lot of this space if I'd moved the range hood down lower. Plus on the student stations, I had windows to contend with, and I didn't want the range hoods in front of the windows. I know that the ventilation systems would have worked better if they'd been lower, but they really work great where they are. I can tell you that I've done all kinds of tests with this system, and it is a great vent system. By increasing the size of the squirrel cage fan assembly, I gave myself the luxury of the additional space I gained by moving the range hood up higher. I have a carbon monoxide detector about 3 feet from my torch and it has NEVER gone off. When I have my vent fan on it is even hard to open the door to my studio, so I know how well it is sucking out the bad air.

I appreciate the fact that you folks are thinking about safety, and believe me, that was one of my main concerns when we built this studio.

For all of the nice comments from everyone, I say a HUGE thanks. I have received such great information from others on WC and LE, and it was my turn to give back.

Becky

[Solana]

OMG! I'm wiping the drool off my chin right now! Absolutely lovely! I wish I was as lucky!!!! Thanks for sharing!

[Raven Wylder]

I'm so jealous! That looks awesome. Can I ask what type of shed you got? I know it's HD but was wondering which one. You and DH did a great job - congratulations on your new studio.

[LadyCrow]

Like Karla, I too am sopping up the drool!!!! It's my dream studio with different color walls (I'd chose lavendar)...lol
My 6'x6' space in my garage is my "temporary" little heaven. Maybe I'll print your photos to look foward to the day.
Great Job...want to addopt a daughter????
Margie :D

[Becky Mason]

Sheryll,

It is by Handy Home Products and my design is called the Somerset. We bolted the left hand door permanently in place and drywalled it on the inside, so from the inside it looks like a wall. The right hand door is the only one that opens now, and that was one of the trickiest parts of finishing the studio. We had to frame the inside of it and install a handle with lock. Neither one of us is a builder, but together we figured out how to do it, and it looks great now.


Becky

[Refined with Fire]

Hi Becky!

That is the EXACT shed I was going to buy! i think it is a 10x16?
i ended up buying a different shed from the same company (handy) that has a higher ceiling and a loft that i can use for storage. it looks like a barn!

and it is finally being worked on! it might even be done by Thanksgiving. (it has been sitting in my yard since January!) i will have to take some pics sometime!

i love the light and airy colors-they refelct your personality well! and i LOVE your little path---not to mention your PYROMANIAC sign!

Lovely workspace, i hope it brings you hours of joy!!!

-Teresa

[laserglass]

SWEET!!!!!

[Darelyn]

That is a terrific shed, Becky! It's a dream studio come true!

[boroburner]

Nice setup=) Looks like alot of work.

It does look like maybe ur only using half the capability of ur fan. A squirel cage fan like he one you have usually will have both sides suck air in. It looks like you only have 1 side with ducting? I have the same style fan in my studio and have it in a box to focus the suck to one hole, making it twice as strong. This will ensure nasty air isnt pushed past ur ventilation (through the hole in the other side of the fan) and back into your studio.
If i got the fan type wrong i apolagize ahead of time.
B

[karenbeads]

Very nice studio! I love how you made the outside look friendly and inviting. Your studio is a big girl playhouse,,,all it needs is a window flower box,, very cool!
I have thought of buying shoe organizers for my glass like you did but I am afraid they won't be able to handle the weight of my glass. Are they sturdy enough to be completely filled with glass and not break under the weight? Also, do you think 20" Boro rods would be ok in a shoe organizer with a bit longer separating tubes?

Karen
Hey,,,where did the summer go?

[Becky Mason]

Teresa - So you recognize the sign, huh? I just couldn't resist putting that somewhere in the studio. I used to have a wall clock hanging there, but it lost out to the Pyrormaniac at Play sign. Very limited wall space left, so something had to go, and the clock lost out.

Mark - THANKS!!!

B - The blowers that I got from Grainger were only open for ducting on one side. I know the type you're talking about, and the ones I bought aren't that style, but thanks for asking.

Karen - the metal storage units I have could probably be filled to capacity and not buckle. Those things are REALLY sturdy. As for the shoe organizer from Home Depot, I noticed that the bottom is starting to sag ever so slightly, so I probably won't put much more glass in it. Since I don't work in boro, I don't have many 20" rods. I have one small box of boro, which is sitting on top of one of my blue storage units, but what I'd worry about with the 20" rods is the ends sticking out really far. I've nicked myself a couple of times (not badly) on longer rods, and my rods are only 12" - 13" long.


Becky

[kentaymom]

Fantastic!!! I love the color and the layout is very well thought out. I'm so jealous!!!!

[Janine]

Becky, what is it sitting on? Did you have to prepare the site or lay a slab down?

[Becky Mason]

Janine,

It is sitting on concrete blocks up off the ground, which is the only thing that sort of creeps me out. There is a 12" space under the studio, which is the idea place for snakes and other rodents to live. I try not to think about that.

Becky

[Janine]

Okay, that is what I thought. Yeah, best not to think about it. We have spiders. Wolf spiders. Think big. I don't LIKE spiders. Therefore there are no spiders anywhere near me. DH promised. ;-)

[lenora]

Becky,
Your studio is incredible, outside and in. I love the little path and the landscaping and the deck! It's just so cute.

I have one question. Where is your makeup air coming from? Do you open a window? I only ask because I am trying to improve upon my makeup air source and I wondered what you were doing. I don't have a window to open...grrrrr.

[karenbeads]

Thank you for the reply Becky. I am going to stick with my original plan and build exactly what I need out of PVC pipes, like the one you have by the windows. I will post a picture of my setup in a few weeks, I am almost done, I am waiting for the DH to install the exhaust and put in more outlets.

Karen
I miss my torch!

[Becky Mason]

Janine - I am such a HUGE arachnaphobic. EWWWWWW!!!!!! We have the big brown wood spiders here - gosh, I'm getting the willies just typing this. I was in my studio about 7 months ago cleaning beads at my sink when out of the corner of my eye I saw one drop down from over the door and scurry under the table where the student torches are. I FREAKED OUT!!! I ran inside and told my husband what had happened and he went out there to see if he could find it. No luck. I told him that as long as I knew it COULD still be in there I couldn't go in there. I had these horrible visons of it.........EEEEWWWW..............crawling across my foot -----OH MY GOD!!!!!......while I'm torching and me burning down my studio knocking things over trying to get away from it.

Soooooo, he decided the best thing was to set off a fumigation bomb. He put down newpaper, set it off and closed the door. We were leaving town for the weekend, so there was plenty of time for it to do the job and then have the fumes diminish enough that I could go in there. Well, we get back in town on Sunday afternoon and we went out there together. We open the door to the studio and there are about 2 million dead ants everywhere :jawdrop:. I have no earthly idea where they came from, but they were in piles EVERYWHERE!!! I had to remove glass rods from their tubes, move piles of books, etc. It took me about 5 hours to clean up that mess. I bet I ended up with about a quart of dead ants in the vacuum cleaner. It looked like a mass ant suicide.

I looked everywhere for that damned wood spider and couldn't find it. Then about 3 days later I looked in the can of water where I drop bits of yucky glass and cool my tools, and there he was. Even though he was dead, I still got sort of freaked about it.

Lenora - regarding makeup air, in the summer I have the A/C running constantly, which provides a constant source of makeup air. It is on the back side of the studio, away from both of the vents, which are on the ends. During the winter I open a small vent that I installed right above the A/C unit. I made it from 2 of those dryer vent covers I used the hoods from both of them so that there was a hood on the inside of the wall and a hood on the outside of the wall. I installed it with the flap opening on the inside wall of the studio. Instead of air blowing the vent open to the outside, as would be the case with a clothes dryer, then shutting when the dryer isn't on, I installed it so that the flap is on the inside of the studio and when the vent fan is on, the flap opens and lets in fresh air in from the outside. When the vent system is off, it shuts to keep out air. I put window screening material on the outside under the hood to keep out bugs and other creatures. We do have those in Florida, you know? The hood on the outside keeps rain from getting in. If you need for me to post pics of this let me know.

Becky

[e. mort]

That is a really cute studio. How big is it? I can't tell by the pics.

[Becky Mason]

Eric - Thanks. It isn't big at all, but is packed full of great things. It is 14' wide and 10' deep.

Becky

[Hope]

I have been lucky enough to take a class at Becky’s Cute Studio. It is just as cute as it can be. Becky made the knobs on the cabinet doors!! Also you can’t see but she put mosaic windowsills in that are so colorful and a nice touch. She is also a very good teacher if anyone lives close enough to take a class with her. You will sure learn a LOT!!! I am usually a lurker but I just couldn’t resist telling you (mostly what a good teacher she is)
Cindy Sexton

[lenora]

Thanks for the info Becky!! You described it very well. I decided to duct from my garage with a 12" duct. I open the garage door when I work and then cap off the duct when I'm done, but it gets hot in there. Being safe is such a pain!!!! Thanks again! Everyone obviously loves your studio!!!

[Becky Mason]

Cindy,

You are such a sweetheart. You do have the distinction of being one of the first 2 students to ever take a class in my studio. That was a really fun day!

Now that the weather is starting to cool off a little, I'm starting to teach again. In fact I'm teaching a private class all day tomorrow.

So good to hear from you, and thanks for coming out of the shadows to post on this thread.

Becky

[Raven Wylder]

Hi Becky,
Thanks for the info. One tip on the spiders - I make my boyfriend spray a bug repellent around the house. I think it's called Home Defense but there's a non-toxic version called Orange Guard that I want to try out. You have to respray Home Defense every 6 months but it really helps with no spiders in the house - I figure it's something you can use for the shed. But remember to spray the entire perimeter of the shed. Anyway, awesome shed.

[Becky Mason]

Raven,

I like the idea of a non-toxic repellent. My studio is in the backyard, which is where our dogs go outside to do their business, and I really don't want them snooping around any poison. Thanks for the suggestion. If it works to keep out spiders (I get the creepies just typing that word), then it is worth a try. Will tell Rick about it and ask him to pick some up at Home Depot.

Becky

[Pop Alexandra]

Great job! Do you still have the design? Would you mind sharing? I've found some shed plans (https://truenorthplans.com/building-plans/garden-shed) online, but yours look way better.