QotW: Given a new 15 X 20 space for a studio, what would be your first 5 things to do to it?

[Pres]

Hi folks, You know as you get older, sometimes you wonder. . . what if!  You have probably done it at times, and if you had a chance done things differently. .  I know I would, especially when laying out a studio. Over the years, I have done studio layouts three times. Once for home, twice for school, and one of those was from the ground up, and one as you go. Crazy, but the the school ground up was not ceramics, but a combined ceramics and Jewelry and Metalcraft with Art I and Painting all in the same room! It was a large room and a shared room with another Art teacher. We tried to lay it out with everything in its place, built in cabinets, workbench tables, torch area, kiln area, spray booth, enameling kiln and burnout kiln area and lots of storage. Yeah, a mess, especially once the budget cuts went in, and then when the class sizes were enlarged and then more periods of Ceramics and Jewelry and Metalcraft emerged! A mess that eventually pushed Ceramics into a little basement room with workbench tables the kiln in a corner with no ducting, and two motorized kick wheel and an Amaco two speed! About 4 years of politicking got me the bigger room and some budget for furniture and more storage.

QotW: Given a new 15 X 20 space for a studio, what would be your first 5 things to do to it?

best,

Pres

[Kelly in AK]

Outlet/venting for the kiln is tied for first with plumbing a utility sink. Once those two are settled, other things find their place. Clay is close to the door with wedging table nearby. Glaze and all my lovely powders are near the sink.

Once it’s exactly how I want it, I’ll tweak it for for a few months and probably rearrange everything. Next I will somehow run out of space. Haha!

I’ve learned enough about myself to know that anything that can be put on wheels should be (Locking casters, I’m in an earthquake zone).  

[Min]

4 hours ago, Kelly in AK said:

Next I will somehow run out of space. Haha!

100%!!!

So much stuff, so little space. It’s storing pots for future sales that I have the biggest issue with.

[Pres]

I have come to the conclusion that deep shelving is not as good as narrow shelving, free standing between the kiln area and the work area. Good spray booth, well delineated areas for each phase of work flow. Drain in floor for easy washing, with raised grid areas for wheel and other items that create messes.

 

best,

Pres

[Denice]

I would devote more space to the kiln room.   My new L&L  takes up more space than my old big Skutt,   my husband put it on some big casters and I roll it out to the middle of the room to fire it.  I could load a kiln on the other side of the room before while the Skutt was firing,  now I have to wait until the L&L is cool.   Not a big deal, I  am retired and have plenty of time.  I would put a separate heating/aircondition unit,  often it is too hot or cold to work.   Getting rid of a work table that is barely used and installing more shelves,  I have 3 work tables and a large slab roller table.   Install a drawer unit in my sink area,  the only lower cabinet I have doesn't even have shelves,  I end up putting misc stuff in it.   I could probably add another upper cabinet,  we  bought a couple of closeout cabinets for cheap when we put in the sink.   Denice

[Rae Reich]

Heated floors! (I like @Pres’s floor ideas too - combine them! ) @Mark C.’s vacuuming system! Water and ventilation. Multiple electrical outlets at 4’ height with sufficient amperage. 

[Kelly in AK]

I visited David MacDonald’s studio in Syracuse last summer, he said if there was one thing he could change it would be to get in-floor heat.

With forced air it’s a constant battle to keep his giant platters from warping.

The drain in my floor is a lifesaver for cleanup. 

[Min]

17 minutes ago, Kelly in AK said:

With forced air it’s a constant battle to keep his giant platters from warping.

Forced air in a pottery studio? Must be a lot cleaner than my workroom.

[Pres]

My garage heater is a wall unit with fan!

 

Pres

[Russ]

Tear down 1 wall and double the size! Then add a storage room for glaze and clay. Then add a storage room onto that for wares green and finished. Then add another space for a retail sales.

[Min]

And a sauna.

[Mark C.]

1-Make it bigger a lot bigger

2 -add lots of LED 4 foot fixtures and a central vac system

3 -wire in tons of outlets not all at floor level-heck I have a few on low celling inb glazs are for my mixer drills-outlets for electrics or at least one for me 

since I'm a gas guy

4-some key windows next to wheel throwing area

5 -gas kiln area attached to studio can be open ona few sides away from prevailing winds

 

 

[Pres]

plumbing to gather heat off the kiln for the hottub in winter!

Seriously though, I would love to have windows if there is any view. My garage has one window looking onto the deck.so sad.

 

best,

Pres

[Denice]

I have the windows with a view and my outlets are four feet off the floor,  I could use more outlets also.  I don't have a floor drain.  wanted to put one in when I built the studio but we couldn't get the county inspectors to grasp the idea.  They thought I would be polluting the near by creek.  Doubling my space would be nice but I probably would fill it with stuff I should get rid of.   My husband is on a bright  lights rampage,  he put new LED tube lights in my studio that are so bright you need sunglasses.  Fortunately  they are dimmable.    Denice

[Pres]

Less shadows with better lighting, easier to see work flawed or not!  LED's really are unbeatable.

 

best,

Pres

[Denice]

Does anyone out there have baseboard heaters.   I have seen them in homes but not in workshops.  Kansas has had some extremely cold winters lately,  I bought a new electric radiator heater last year.   I thought my studio was so cold because my old heater wasn't working well.   It is colder now with the new heater,  need to come up with a new idea.    Denice

[Min]

I use one of these parabolic heaters, (I have 2 but only need to use 1). It doesn't heat the entire room up but heats me up, I just point it towards where I'm working. 

[Hulk]

We had baseboard heaters in the first house we bought (some thirty years ago). We took them out, added insulation to the overhead, insulated the floor, added cellular blinds, got a more efficient/modern wood stove, and cut lots of firewood. We were trying to keep our electric bill down*.

Any road, with "strip heat" (aka resistant heat, metal that heats up, like our electric kilns) we get out about what is going in, hence, add more watts to get more heat. My guess is the same wattage heaters heat about the same, whether baseboard, portable, etc. The direction/focus of radiant heat, however, that's a comfort factor, as Min points out!

I'm still planning on a heat pump for the new Studio space (we moved this year).
It will cost, up front, however, more efficient in the long run**, does both cooling and heating, and we'll size it to handle the extremes, hence it'll be chugging easy most of the time.
 

**aka "mini-split" - the units move heat, which takes less energy per unit of heat than "generating" heat.
The newer/better units heat well even when it is very cold outside...

*electric where we are has gone up  more, faster, this last year than ever!