View Single Post
  #1  
Old 2006-09-14, 8:54am
Becky Mason's Avatar
Becky Mason Becky Mason is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 28, 2005
Location: Apopka (near Orlando), FL
Posts: 585
Default Birth of a Shed turned Studio

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.









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.











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!





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




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




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?











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





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?





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.





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.





This is the same area after the interior was finished.





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





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




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.




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
Reply With Quote