Converting a garage to a studio- looking for ideas from the hive mind!

[AaronRotchadl]

Hey all- My partner and I are in the process of converting a 2 car garage(24' x 25') with an extra 7' x 12' room off of it. We plan to collaborate some, but we each need our own zone as we each have our own different practices. I'm wondering what fun/functional/budget friendly hacks and ideas folks have come up with to make the most of a small(ish) space? Or things that you wish you'd done sooner?

So far we've ground the concrete smooth and painted it so we can mop it easily, and filled an expansion joint in the concrete with some techy epoxy so we don't dump our work trying to roll a cart over it. We plan to make the extra room a glaze mixing/material storage zone and a homemade spraybooth. We have two skutt 1027 kilns and a small test kiln, slab roller table, extruder, and 2 electric wheels, and we both do a lot of stationary decorating, so we'd like to each have a dedicated "work bench" of sorts where we have easy access to all of our underglazes, washes, brushes, etc. 

We want to install recessed lighting before blowing insulation in the attic, but are unsure of how to space them. We will still use swing arm lamps at the wheel and at our work benches. 

Some things we're interested in are:

• Kiln shelf/furniture storage
• Budget vent hood for glaze mixing
• Budget glaze material storage(currently using plastic ikea "recycling" bins that can be stacked but they don't stack well when heavy and there are small gaps at the hinged lid where other materials could contaminate.
• Compact clay trap ideas? any DIY solution better than the commercial products?

We have lots of tools and a welder, so we're trying to custom build much of our equipment to fit our space and needs in the right way. 

We're open to any and all ideas big or small so please brag about the cool innovations you've incorporated into your studio. Thanks in advance!

[Bill Kielb]

1 hour ago, AaronRotchadl said:

• Kiln shelf/furniture storage
• Budget vent hood for glaze mixing
• Budget glaze material storage(currently using plastic ikea "recycling" bins that can be stacked but they don't stack well when heavy and there are small gaps at the hinged lid where other materials could contaminate.
• Compact clay trap ideas? any DIY solution better than the commercial products?

This is tough, but you will get lots of ideas here.

Best storage I ever made allowed the shelves to be stored vertically in slots. It was pretty well thought out and was minimalist in materials as the drywall wall formed the back for it. The top for kiln furniture of varying sizes.  Anyway a space saver and thought through enough so one could rotate the shelves into the slots easily.

Budget vent for glaze mixing -  There really isn’t one out there, mix outside or if you must a telescopic exhaust and very diligent use along with an appropriate mask. These exhausts need lots of air when then run, so probably 400-600 cfm for a six inch pickup which develops 100 feet per minute air velocity for pickup. If those number do not mean anything, then a home design probably is not gonna really work. Trouble is your space is very small so contaminating it is easy. Mix outdoors. Below I have added a picture of me trying to very, very, very gently remove materials from a commercial glaze table. The picture (laser) shows nearly instantly the materials become very airborne and travel a great distance.

Material storage, I like buckets with lids, maybe on a wheeled cart for wet storage. The  lids can be a pain to open, but they stack and are pretty air tight. For dry materials - anything air tight and maybe bagged with a tie. Again, open bags outside, mix outside.

Best truly hacked trap I ever saw was a 3- 1/2 gallon bucket with sealing lid to which two flexible drain hoses were fitted. Built several and they caught 100 times more clay than any commercial I have ever used. Simple but effective, and very easy to build, connect and disconnect. Even had it down to installing a liner bag and every two months, just remove the bag and tie off for disposal.

It’s pretty much exactly this trap, but home built. Sheffield has them for $80.00.  
 

[oldlady]

would you consider using the extra room as a kiln room?  does it have outside access for venting exhaust?  

there are lots of studio designs if you can pull them out of the stored topics.  a really great one was done not long ago by one of our members.  it is owned by hitchmss and his title was Studio Design.  lots of posts with lots of info.  a dream building.