Cottage Studio in the Back Yard

[Val Cox]

When my husband asked me a couple weeks ago what I wanted for my 50th birthday, without even thinking, I said, "a little cottage built in the backyard for my flameworking-- with enough room for a couple torches if I had a guest". To my great surprise, he said I should do it!

Of course the town planning has other ideas, and I have to jump through a lot of hoops to see if I can even get permission to do this, but this is the design that I'm thinking.



I like the glass doors and windows and a little porch, and cedar siding. The interior square footage is around 10x14 (or 10x16). (Too small, or too big? Fred says I should make it bigger than I think I need)

I'm thinking this position in the backyard, with the spruce trees behind, will be a nice backdrop and I can make a little stone pathway through the lawn.



In return I need to give up the basement space where I currently have my torch set up and give that to my husband. The basement space I have for my set up is larger in square footage than I can get with this cottage, so I'll need to plan it carefully. I think however I will like the privacy and quiet that the cottage will provide.

I'll be doing some research on my ventilation, as I want it effective, yet I want the ducting unobtrusive, rather hidden and very steamlined.

Of course I need electricity, but do I need water? Do I need a telephone, or just plan on taking my cell phone out there?

It will be a 4-season structure, so I'll have thermal windows, heat and AC. (we need all those things in Pennsylvania for comfort).

To those of you who have small studio structures, did you outgrow them quickly? Do you think Fred is right to push for as large as I can get it, or should I plan to keep it small? (I don't want to waste money on materials, construction or energy)

Thanks for your input! Val

[Karen Hardy]

I outgrew my studio about a month into it.
Yes, definitely - get as large as you are willing to go.

[Fire Mistress]

My feeling is that you should go as large as you can especially if you will be having visitors from time to time. My little studio is about 10X12 and once I put up the shelves for the glass and my bench and Oxycon, etc there was VERY little room to manuver in. If there is anyone in there with me, we have to both stand up and move in a little circle if we want to get something off the shelf or move around. Believe me, you will feel the cramped quarters very soon and it's not fun to have to squeeze into your space. Try to go as large as you possibly can, I think you will be much happier.

[Imaglassgal]

Super exciting! I second the "larger" suggestion. Efficiency is good but so is a little storage and elbow room!

Marina

[Chuckie]

With all the windows in the front of the cottage, you'll lose a bunch of wall space. Wall space is where your equipment like grinders, a cleaning and photo area and storage will be. If you want to keep the base footprint small, you may want to consider a second floor for storage purposes. It's either a second story or more wall space.

Try doing a trial layout in your basement. Move stuff around the way you envision it in the cottage, then measure the area. Just a thought...

[midniteburner]

I love the look of it but it would mean constant cleaning too. You wouldn't want guests to run around your backyard and see it through the windows.

As for size, I would double it. But that's just me.

Sara

[donia]

I like it a lot, especially all the windows in the front. I have to agree that you'd loose storage space with all the windows. If it were in the space in my back yard it would also get the hot afternoon soon shining directly in them. I really like this idea.

I show the pick to my Hubby and asked if I could have one when I turn fifty, I'll be 45 in June. He said, "Sure honey, whatever". Should I get that in writing?

[Elleth]

I built my studio last year it's 12x16 and if I had to do it over again I would have made it bigger! If you can go bigger do it, maybe 20x20 I think that would be a good size.
You can check out my studio by going to my blog in my signature.
Have fun with planning and building your studio...I had a blast building mine!

[pinkcb]

Val the porch is cute but not practical. It does not appear big enough to actually use. You will never ever regret going bigger. Yes, you want water. You will regret not having it. I'm not sure what your long term plans are for your property but in terms of re-sale value H20 is a bigger (a lampworking cottage can easily be converted to a potting shed or simply a backyard cottage). Does your home currently have natural gas? Will you be running a gas line out to it? I love love love the windows. Lots of natural light. But it could present a security issue. Is your neighbourhood prone to break ins? In terms of storage space if you keep the rafters open you can go up-up-up!

Fun project. Hope the town isn't too much of a pain!

[Diane (clarus)]

What a great and timely thread! Val, I think the one you chose is lovely, especially for the space you have. I love the front porch.

My DH wants my "wall" in the garage for his tools, and a couple of months ago he suggested when we can swing it that we should build me a shed in the back yard. He had just seen one of these that just opened at a local shopping mall:

www.moderncabana.com

That's nice, but I have been eyeing the Studio Shed on this site:

www.modern-shed.com

My house is contemporary, so either one would fit well. After analyzing all the stuff that I would want in there I think 10x12 is going to be too small. I appreciate the feedback from everyone else on this topic because it will help sell the idea that I need something bigger. We can do a 10x12 without a permit from the county; I just need to find out what the cost of the permit would be because it's not significantly more to get a 12x16. I would want to have a deck outside with some lounge chairs. We live on a hill and would have to build some kind of flat ground area in any of the places I'm considering.

He knows that I will want to spend a lot of time out there, so the selling point I'm going to use is that if we get a bigger one we can put in a small sofa and TV so he and the kids can hang out with me while I'm working (as long as they respect the fact that I won't always turn around when they say "hey mom - look at this!") A second torch might be nice too.

Val, if you're thinking about setting up a second torch area, I'd definitely go for a larger space. You should check with Summerwood and see if that's available - I think it might be. It's been a while since I've been to their site, but I recall they had lots of options.

Keep the comments coming!

-Diane

[Val Cox]

Thank you for the thoughtful replies, I'm so glad I asked for advice, this gives me a lot to think about and plan for!

Karen--it's very insightful that you 'outgrew' your studio so quickly!

Firemistress--thank you for that advice, 10x12 sounds like plenty of room, but you're right after you add the benches, shelves, kiln and a chair or two, along with a person or two, I imagine it gets cramped very quickly.

Marina--yes, elbow room, lol!

Char--good point about the windows, and loss of usable space. Perhaps I'll do the french doors, but have any side windows smaller and high enough to allow bench room on the interior. I'd planned that the back wall and maybe on side would have no windows, to allow for my torch bench and shelf space.

I love your idea of doing a layout in the basement just to see how it 'looks' and how things would actually lay out!

Sara, thanks for your input! Yes, I think Fred would have me double it too. I'll see how large the town planning dept will allow, and then make a more informed decision.

Doniaduck--yes get it in writing, and you can pull that out in 5 years, lol! Thanks for the thoughts about the windows. For direction, the glass front will face north and the south facing wall, with no windows will be shaded from the trees so I might be ok for summers. I'm also planning to have an efficient A/C unit installed. Likely my bigger issue will be winters, and staying warm.

Maggie--I'm so glad for you comments, I wouldn't have imaged that 12x16 would be small. I'm off to read your blog right now!

Charlene--Yes that porch is so sweet, but you might be right. I'm paying by the footprint, and the porch space might better be served as working space. I'm back to summerwood.com to look over my other favorite choices I was picking through last week.

Ok, good to know about the water need. Of course--cleaning the beads! No natural gas in our neighborhood, strickly tanked propane. As far as resale, we plan to stay here a while, but of course we always consider the resale needs. I would design it in such a way that it would easily be adaptable for a 'workshop' or 'pool house'. No security issues.

The primary issue with the town is because our community is near the Delaware River, and even though we are high above the river, the town is very sensitive to water runoff and flooding. As a result we are allowed only 18% of impenetrable surface area, against our total land. (in otherwords, of the acre of land, no more than 18% can be impenetrable--driveway, house, deck, brick, concrete around pool, this structure, etc). We haven't yet calculated what our current % is to know how large we can go.

Diane--your studio plans sound great. Good luck to you too! Yes, I'll look back on Summerwood to see some other options. There were many designs I liked, and they put me in touch with a contractor in my area that has assembled many of the summerwood structures. I'll follow your links as well. (One benefit to the recession has been the ability to find contractors willing to work!)

Thank you! ~wave~ Val

[JavaGirlBT]

Val, make it as big as you can. My studio in my bead cottage is 16x20 I think. I have some pictures of it on my blog: http://labyrinthbeads.blogspot.com/2...-pictures.html

Your cottage is adorable!

[Chuckie]

Val, I wonder if you can get past the impermeable limitations by raising it up and allowing water to run under it. That way you'll only have the posts making an impermeable footprint.

You can also get by with lots of windows in the front by raising the windows up with wall space below them. You could run a long worktable along the wall under the window with some storage drawers below it.

[Kym]

Chuckie, that's what I was thinking. Does raising it count against the impermeable limits?
Some great ideas in here.

Kym

[beadsoncypress]

I'm with Fred on this....think about glass storage (my racks have 3 times since I started) and my FRIT (ahem!!!) quadrupled!! then there is alway supplies, cleaning, etc, etc,
Once it's up it would be difficult to enlarge! Would they allow a guest house??? Might be easier!

[beadsoncypress]

When thinking about positioning of your torches...you probably want to be able to SEE what is coming! Meaning you do not want your back to the door....Have you ever had someone "sneak" up on you when you are concentrating? Yesterday I jumped about 8" off my chair at work when someone came up behind me.....just a thought!

[ginkgoglass]

I definitely agree with go as big as you possibly can! You never know when you might want to do another medium or get more equipment.

I love the windows! I know they give up valuable work storage, but you could place low work tables against them for working on finished pieces, wrapping, packaging, paperwork, etc. -- kind of like a clean studio area.

Water is a must, dragging bunches of mandrels in the house to clean them will get old.

[cadia]

I would allow enough space for a small display/retail space.

[beadgirl]

Val,
Ditto what has been said about size, go as big as you can.
We built a 10 x 12 shed/ studio to comply with building codes here. I would have liked to go larger but could not.
Like Char said: Love the look of your studio with the front being all glass windows & doors.
You will be giving up valuable wall space there.
MarieAnn

[Karen Hardy]

Don't forget the possibility of getting a shipping container to use.
I priced them out last year, and I could get two containers
for about 4k each, delivered. Put side by side, that would give
me a studio about 40' long, 18' wide and with 9' ceilings.
They also had wood on the floors that could be polished up
to a really nice shine. You can add doors, windows, shingles on
the outside (or just paint it) for a nice look.
So for under about 10k, I'd have a massive, and very green studio
that would never get termites, wood rot, or have any structural
problems.

[Elleth]

What a great idea Karen...I'm almost sorry I already have my studio built!

Originally Posted by Val Cox

Maggie--I'm so glad for you comments, I wouldn't have imaged that 12x16 would be small. I'm off to read your blog right now!

Yeah, I didn’t think 12x16 would be too small either! I should have had a 20x20 studio built (the biggest building the county will allow without a permit).
I really wanted 2 torch stations but the only way to do that would be to take out the futon and then there would be no place to sit or have guests stay. Also I didn’t plan for a photo station, so every time I take photos I have to move stuff and set up my tent and lights, it‘s a pain!.

I would go as big as the county and your budget will allow!

[Val Cox]

Ellen-- I love your blog studio photos, fantastic space you have there. Thanks for sharing those!

Char--Regarding raising the structure to get around the impermeable limitation, no the town makes it clear, that's not a solution, besides, they more than likely will insist on a concrete slab base. Good try however

The storage drawers under the table space at window level is a great idea, thank you!

Susan--you're right about storage, and Fred will be delighted when he learns that the general opinion is that 'he's right' about making it bigger rather than smaller, lol! Regarding the position for the torch, gee, I might need to put a mirror in front of me to see behind me, as I was thinking I would use the back windowless wall for my main torch bench, and I would indeed have my back to the door if I did that. Good ideas, all little things I hadn't considered. Thank you! Good idea about the guest cottage. I imagine that's what the town will suspect I'm doing anyway once they see the design and the request for water.

Lana--thanks for your input, you're so right about not dragging the mandrels in to wash them, lol! I too like the windows, but I might just do the french doors and have the windows smaller and higher. I still have my photo studio in the basement, and it's very large in size. I also have my desk and computer set up with packing space, etc that I won't need to move, so I can dedicate this cottage/workshop just to beadmaking or demos.

Cadia--oh wouldn't that be fun?

MarieAnn--thanks for your input based on your personal experiences with building a shed.

Karen--what a cool design. If I still lived in the desert of Nevada, or in Calif I would absolutely go with one of these contemporary designs. I love it. We're in historic, preserved farmland, revolutionary war country and there's no way our planning dept would let me slip this design by. LOL! Thanks for sharing this!

Maggie--thanks for your insight!

-----

I have a couple more designs here that can be modified to add the french doors and windows. These each allow for more square footage.


(design #2) imagine this one, without the doors on the one side, just a single set of doors. It might fit the landscape nicely, and I could propose it as a pool house structure as well.


(design #3) image this one with french doors and longer, high windows on the sides. (who would take a photo without first removing the broom?, geez!)


(design #4) Again, with french doors, and larger windows.


Here's another view of the yard from a side angle, the spruce trees on the left are the backdrop to the cottage, which is about 1/2 way in the depth of the yard. You can see my nearest neighbor over the fence in this photo (in the center), and the studio will need to be positioned so that it's not an eyesore for them. The pool and part of the house you see to the right, are part of our yard/house.

Thanks or your suggestions, I sure appreciate it! Val

[MerryFool]

That is so neat Val...I love hearing about people building workshop studios...
Gee, I wonder if there's any way your DH might have this done in time for your bday?

[Dasi]

My studio is 16 x 22 and it is way to small. I moved in the new studio last May. I have 2 workstations and a great ventilation system that works for both torches.
I wish I made my studio 20x22 but then I would still be complaining about not having enough space.... funny how that works out?
I put in a vaulted loft above my studio. I use the space for storage and the ventilation system. Makes the fan very quiet.

Go as big as you can. It could be a guest cabin for future buyers of your home.

[CharArvelle]

Yikes, We just built a new garage with an extra torch room of 28x12. Hubby built in room for 2 stations.... Don't tell me that it's too small already... We'll be tiling the countertop this weekend while the Vortex blower is on it's way. Oh, wait! I just checked and it should be delivered today!!! So hubby will be busy this weekend. I'm getting ready for a wholesale show in May so half of the torch room is filled with my booth getting ready.

Thanks to all for all the photos on all the posts. I've had a torch set up in my regular studio for 17 yrs now and I'm so happy that I can have a dedicated shop.

Val, I'll vote for any of those buildings! Bigger is better as my husband found out. I had the contractors build the garage 6 feet longer and told my hubby only after they poured the concrete pad. He's glad that I did that now we have the walls put up.

[laserglass]

you won't grow out of your studio, because you cannot grow out of your studio. after all it is only so big and that is it. so you will develop methods to utilize the same space for multiple things. my lampwork/fused studio doubles as a spare bedroom when we have visitors. i hope they don't mind all of the torches and equipment. but i use the same grinding/polishing stuff for offhand, fused, or lampworked glass. same with my glass cutting station. i use the kilns in my offhand studio for all fused stuff. you may also want to go up vertically with storage to free up your work surface. good luck.

[CharArvelle]

Uh, yeah, you'll grow out of your studio. My fused glass studio is 23x48 with the gallery frontage. I'm running out of room for all the kilns. They're in the basement, main floor, lampworking to be in the garage and I even have 3 at home. I guess that's what I get for marrying a guy that did pottery with his late wife at the shows. We have 13 kilns all together. Three of those are the large ovals, Moe, Larry and Curley. Steve's 2 large ceramic kilns are online in the basement. Never can have to many I say! And he's looking for another larger kiln for me too! Gotta love a guy that works for the utilities. He's got the garage wired up so I can dim the whole town

I'm thrilled to be able to move the torchworking over to the other building. I can concentrate on working and not be interrupted with people coming into the shop.

But I do and will have large window envy like the ones that you've posted. We had to build the garage into the side of the hill so my windows start at waist/ground level.

[laserglass]

check this out. you can have a 26 foot diameter dome for around $6000. make a great studio!!!

http://www.domeincorporated.com/index.html

[Kym]

Karen I can see the first one clearly enough as a shipping container, but the second is amazing! Is that really 4 shipping containers stacked and joined together? That's an artists rendering of an idea or something that has been made?



[/quote]

[Kim V]

Val, I second a lot of what has been said already. I have a 12X20 "shed" in my backyard and would have gone bigger but was limited by the town's rules. I'd LOVE to have water in my studio, but can't without a major expense/hassle. If it's easy for you, then I'd suggest it. As for the phone, for a couple of years I tried to remember to bring the portable phone out with me and hoped that the battery was charged Had enough of that and a few months ago I bought new phones with multiple bases for the house. One of them found its way to the studio. Course, some days, when the phone seems to be ringing constantly, I wish I hadn't done that The only times I miss running downstairs to check the kiln is in the middle of the winter when it's freezing outside or when it's pouring