My photo studio is located in our third car garage. Here’s a peek at what it looked like as we were in the middle of building the wall.
Here’s the front door. Once upon a time I made a website for Middle Gray Photography. Now I am lazy and just put everything I do under natalme and post about it here.
The door and frame are antiques that actually came from the building that originally housed one of the first newspapers here in town. Or at least that’s what the antique dealer told me to convince me to buy them. Either way, it worked.
When you first walk in I have a craft table on the right side of the room. The table legs are old aluminum sawhorses. The great thing about this table is I can place the table top against the wall, and fold the sawhorses down if I need to have more space in the studio for shooting. I don’t anticipate having to do it often, but I like having the option. See the little desk? That’s Lily’s. It’s loaded with playdough, stickers, and glue sticks. She loves to hang out in there with me and craft. The door in this space will probably not stay. Its future home is still to be determined.
This is the opposite side of the room. (Yup, you can see it’s still a garage.) The wood palette and antique windows are props I shoot with. The architect table is where I paint. I dabble a bit in oil painting, but honestly don’t spend a lot of time doing it right now. One day. It’s something I would like to spend more time learning about.
I paid $40 for this desk at a surplus sale. Steep price for me, but I madly love this piece.
Here’s a close up of the shelves. These hat boxes were originally red. I used three different shades of white spray paint, and an old labeler from the 70′s. I hope I don’t change what’s inside because I am pretty sure they don’t make that kind of label tape anymore.
This is the left side of the room. (The room is long and rectangular.) The left desk belongs to Mr. Wright. He makes his wood boxes in his shed, and finishes them off here. The desk on the right is my sewing desk. The crates hold my sewing notions and acrylic paints. The cool thing about this space is it is hidden when I am shooting. The paper backdrops roll down…
And voila! The craft clutter is hidden.
Here’s an up close shot of the photo display. (The tutorial is here.)
These old soda crates also hold crafting and sewing supplies in the same corner of the room.
When I am not shooting, these architect drawers hang out against the wall. When the paper comes down I just roll it to the back of the room.
And here’s one more look at the whole space. If you standing in the doorway, the left picture is looking left, and the right picture is looking to the right.
Here’s the thing about this space. It’s messy, it’s cluttered, it’s constantly changing. I realized though, it’s much easier to keep the inside of my house clean and organized, if I allow myself to have at least one room where it’s okay to be a mess. So I do. I let myself dump crap here, I don’t alway clean up right away after a project, and I even spray paint in here! (Though Mr. Wright wishes I’d knock it off with the spray paint.)
I love this space. In six months it will probably be completely different, and I love that it’s constantly changing to fit my needs.
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at 11:00 am
Love it! It looks great. I love the aqua backdrop.
Julie recently posted..Wordless Wednesday: Santa Monica
at 7:30 am
Love the space! Great use of colours, antiques and industrial pieces…. where did you find the 2 metal stools that sit in front of the sawhorse table?
at 7:52 am
Hi Linda! The stools were from a surplus auction. They were only $2, but I had to do some minor repairs and give them a new paint job. They were pretty banged up. Thanks for looking!
at 7:51 pm
Digging the yellow bike in the first picture. What brand/make is it?
Nice thing you have going on here. Blog on.
at 10:33 pm
Hi Sam! Our Schwinn beach cruiser bikes were actually purchased at Costco a few years ago. Just goes to show you can buy anything at Costco.
at 8:22 am
WOW! Love it! I look forward to the day I have an old garage/shed/whatever I can transform into my office/studio)!
(Would you mind if I shared these images on my blog frauhaselmayer.com?)
Frau Haselmayer recently posted..12 von 12 / 12 on 12th of February 2012
at 12:39 pm
Hi Natalie, I really love your house, your studio, your work and your blog…
Can I ask you where did you buy the mounted backdrop roller system and what kind of lights do you have at your studio?
Thanks!
Paula
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001422502332
at 8:02 pm
Hi Paula! My lights are made by White Lightning. I have used this brand for years and have been very happy with it. http://www.paulcbuff.com/whitelightning.php They also make a more affordable line called Alien Bees. The background paper mount system was purchased through B&H Photo online. I couldn’t find a link, but it holds three rolls and we paid around $300 for it. Let me know if you have more questions!
at 3:05 pm
Thanks Natalie!
at 6:56 pm
Just wanted to say awesome job on converting your third car garage into a studio. I plan on doing the same thing with my third car garage while my house is being built. The design includes adding a wall in between the larger two-car garage area.
After reading your blog, I feel even more confident in my decision to convert the area into a studio.
Thanks for sharing!!!
at 8:44 am
What an amazing space! Thank you for sharing it.