Major Studio Overhaul and Tour

When we moved to our new home nine years ago we made plans to include a complete studio for our clay.  It has been really good having a separate room in the house just for this with lots of work space and storage.  Over the years, however, we started to outgrow it resulting in some reorganizing to create more room.  Eventually it just wasn't working as well for us anymore and we decided a total overhaul and move to a different room in our home would be the best plan.  Even though this room isn't much bigger than the previous, the space within is more functional.

In the photo below you will see our main clay area all across the back wall which is more than 11 feet long.  We broke up the area so we would have two working heights.  On the right is counter height for standing and on the left is for sitting. 

2 Good Claymates - Overview of studio - front is jewelry making storage

2 Good Claymates - Studio Space - sitting area

At the one end and center of the room is the Ikea glass top table.  I positioned it there so it would be directly across from our lower/sitting counter top.  Since we do a lot of work with messy materials such as mica powders, inks and paints, we prefer to keep them away from the raw clay and a glass work surface is easier for clean-up. 

2 Good Claymates - Sit down area for working

Between the two sitting down areas is my favorite old but super heavy duty file cabinet.  This is such a useful item that we picked up a while ago from a used office furniture store.  I painted it black to give it a more modern look.  It makes the perfect base for one of our work counter tops (1).  Besides the large file drawer at the bottom (2), it has several other drawers that provide easy access to items we use on a regular basis.  The next lower drawer holds all our inks, glazes and specialty paints and tools (4).  The drawer above that shows all our mica and embossing powders for quick and easy color selection (5).  Above that is an additional work space that pulls out (6).  This is so handy when I need a little more work area.

  

Finally, at the bottom (3) is an extra storage drawer unit for storing solvents, glazes, glues, and pan pastels.

Our standing area is where we do all of our clay conditioning and mixing of colors.  The counter tops are a type of Formica and extremely durable so we can work with the clay right on it. 

2 Good Claymates - Standing Counter Height

I reorganized some of the drawers in the Ikea unit in the middle.  All our shape cutters fit in the top for easy access.

Our newest addition for the studio is the heavy duty drawer unit that Dave purchased for my birthday gift.  It is one of those pieces that is for organizing heavy tools in a garage and can hold a lot of weight like 800 pounds.  I needed something to hold the heavy counter top plus better storage for all our clay and this one does it all!  I also love the stainless steel front.  

It has 4 drawers that pull out all the way with a super smooth glide.  The bottom 2 drawers are very deep and hold our entire clay stock.  One drawer is for all the Premo and Souffle and the other holds all the large blocks of Kato and now extra space for our new Fimo Professional.  There isn't much black clay at the moment as more should be arriving from Shades of Clay any day.

The top 2 drawers are not as deep but I love how they keep all my clay color recipes organized.

And finally, in the opposite corner of the room, is our large rack for keeping our snap jewelry supplies organized and a new photo booth area with more storage.

We do have a large patio door that steps out onto our covered deck.  This is handy when I need to step outside to spray our work with the PYM11.

The hot tub is especially nice after a long hard day of claying.

Spring Cleaning and Studio Redo

For the past few months I was feeling like it was time for a change in the studio as we seemed to be outgrowing our space and things were getting a little too messy for me.  I began to make plans to see how things could be arranged for a more efficient work area.  We decided last Monday would be a good day to start.  I had figured that it would be a two day job -- one day to "pull everything apart" and the next day to put it all back.  I thought we would be right back at claying again by Wednesday but I underestimated how much work it would be and five days later, the dust has finally settled and things are pretty much now in their new place.

So here is a little tour of our new and improved, rearranged studio:

We have three work stations, one of which is this Ikea table with the glass top that is my favorite.  This is now our "secondary work space" for working with mica powders, paints, glazing and such. 

Instead of three separate work tables I decided to combine two of them to create a corner space.  The clay work area is on the left and the jewelry making area is on the right.  Any items that is used for both clay and jewelry making is now within reach and not on the opposite side of the room as before.

Corner Work Area

Clay Work Station

Jewelry Making Work Station

This is the "baking area" with extra storage for beads, etc. that is opposite to the clay and jewelry work stations.

And another view of the Ikea table facing the closet .... 

... which is also my sewing area.  I shared here how I created this work space last year.  I can sew any time I want and then close the closet door when done.

Lastly, this little cupboard is actually for shoes but I reclaimed it from our closet to use it here.  I found some bins and boxes to fit into the spaces to help keep items that need working on or finishing a little more organized.

So now our studio is new and freshly arranged, I am ready to go back to "work" and hopefully play a little as well in between.