Another studio design question

[Pantherinae]

My husband and I have decided to finish out a space above our garage for use as my studio and a multipurpose room. Since I'm starting with a blank slate, I'm looking for help in designing the arrangement of lights and furniture that would be best for my work space.

This is the unfinished room and to give you an idea of the space I'm working with, my dedicated work area will be from about the bottom feet of the ladder laying on the floor across to the opposite wall; a pretty decent size. The window faces west. We were thinking track lighting along the hip walls but I'm not sure. I'm an oil painter and scratchboard artist and I'll be using the space to work on both very small projects and will also frequently have large pieces going in the neighborhood of 4'X6'. For furniture, I currently use a drafting table, an easel, a card table, and a bookshelf on which I have a computer and a projector for viewing reference images projected large against the wall.

So, what are your opinions on setting it up to make it work best?

[Homegrown]

In this space I would consider a few things,
1. Insulation, does it get cold?
2. Heat does it get hot, (paint cracking)
3. Do you photograph your work? If so consider a black drop cloth arrangement on one wall
4. DO not block off the rafter supports, use the area for upright storage.

There are a lot of things that can be done here since you are starting form scratch, good luck.

[Pantherinae]

Thanks Homegrown, we are going to be insulating it rather well, since the other side of the room is going to be living space and is directly attached to the rest of the house (right now it's pretty much an attic on the same level as our second story). If I understand what you mean about blocking off the rafter supports that might be a good idea for vertical flat storage of canvases. Thanks for your suggestions.

[Tattau]

Nice space to work with! There’s so much that you could do with it.
I would agree with your idea of track lighting, or even recessed lighting in the hip walls, a perfect use of what would be unusable space. Those side walls might also be convenient areas for built-in flat files or vertical art racks.
For projected images, I’ve found the use of an old retractable projector screen to be invaluable for saving space, as well as being portable around the room.
Don’t forget to allow for ventilation of the space, especially since you work with oils.

[cameronm]

Take advantage of the exposed framing and put some operable skylights in that roof! Particularly if one side of the roof faces North. The advantages are two-fold; natural light and ventilation during warmer months. Velux make a great product that is relatively economical and easy to install.

[Diane Cutter]

Shelves, shelves, shelves... You can never have too much shelving... You can design them to the contour of the roof, deeper ones (to store papers) on the bottom and then narrower ones as you go up. Some of the shelving can have doors for the more unsightly cans, bottles, etc.

I would also install a cleanable flooring, either wood or linoleum (okay, I would prefer some nice bamboo flooring).

Diane

[Pantherinae]

Projector screen - great idea. I would love to install skylights, but unfortunately that is where our budget ends. I was looking at bamboo flooring, largely because the other half of the room is going to have a Japanese/zen garden look to it.

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

[Bronislaus]

Too bad about the skylights, as where I paint has a big north window. Really helps, but I also use swing arm lamps for most of my lighting.

Also don't worry too much about a final, in stone layout; mine keeps changing.

Bron

[Steve Collins]

Yeah, I would skip the fancy flooring & use the savings to install skylights. North light is ideal. One skylight is better than none, but 2 would be better.

You mentioned paintings that are 4'x6' or so? How high is the ceiling? In the photo, it seems a bit low. You will need at least 8', preferably more, unless you plan to paint with the bottom edge uncomfortably close to the floor.

[wcartistsr]

Be sure the room is well sealed off from the garage. You don't want to be breathing carbon monoxide.

Shirley

[Bluefly]

There are a few alternatives to the skylights are solar tubes. you can get one at home depot for around 150.00. Check around there might be one cheaper. They bring in a lot of natural light and are a great source of green energy.

[Diane Cutter]

You might check into deck prisms if you have a window that gets some sun...

Diane

[ddattler]

How exciting Amy! I love Skylights. Don't want to scare you off, but......

Skylights are great, but be forewarned, Skylights are best installed before the roofing (Paper, Shingles etc) is installed. Both sides of my Family own 3 different window companies and I've worked for 2 of them. If installed incorrectly, skylights are notorious for leaking. Make sure the contractor does allot of them and guarantees their work. This is especially important if you are in an area where it snows.

That said, I put a 22x26' Studio upstairs when I built my garage. I installed a Vent-free heater and a woodsove to keep it warm. I installed contractor's grade capetting that wouldn't show messes, and would be cheap to replace. I used opaque shades on the windows and installed track lighting so I could control my light. A cieling fan helps with the heat and cold. My cieling fan actually has 4 pivotting spot lights on it as well. I put a dimmer switch on my track lighting also. I made sure I had plenty of outlets for accessory lighting etc. Putting short doors on your' Kneewalls will provide for storage behind the walls. If you have access to plumbing, do it before you close it all in. It's always nice to have a cheap utility sink for cleanup, unless you don't mind going into the house to do it. I bought a window fan for ventilation. It's especially handy for painting in Oils and venting the solvent odors.

Don Dattler