Having the right space for any art or craft is helpful. When space is limited, a corner in a closet may have to be the place to paint or draw, or if you don’t mind, you can always use the kitchen table like I did for years. The key is to keep things together so you have what you need when you’re ready to use it, and putting it back when you are finished. But finding and maintaining art space is a process that needs occasional reworking.
My husband and I have dabbled with woodworking project most of our marriage of 32 years. We enjoy working with our hands to make things and love spending the time together. We started with hand me down Sears tools in a single car garage. We’ve always been able to make due with the equipment and space we had available because my husband has a good handle on the versatility of basic tools. The Internet has been an important place to find out what you need to know from others who have walked the path before us. So we decided it was time to convert our small two-car garage into a wood shop. We were tired of moving cars and shifting tools when we wanted to make something and then putting it all back so one car could be put in the garage.
I don’t know about others, but we have kids and our garage space is more than car space. It held bikes, sports equipment, paint, camping, fishing and hunting stuff. We had home repair paraphernalia, and a host of miscellaneous odds and ends taking up space. We were not quite ready to part with most of the stuff, but it left little space for a wood shop. Between my husband, my close friend, and myself we began the job of making space for a wood shop. Joe and I decided the investment of a decent sized shed would help, and that some things definitely needed to find a new home. It took a number of weeks to decided what to keep, what to let go of, what could survive the Houston summer heat out in the shed or in the attic, and getting the kids to let go of their stuff, but finally we were well on our way to making space for our wood shop.
When the shed was installed, we found that we had a trustworthy electrician who could help us with the much needed power outlets for our equipment. My husband found a great pattern for a garage sized lazy Susan with multiple shelves to store liquids and automotive stuff. He built a rolling plywood rack that fit snuggly against one wall, and installed a lumber rack above. Mind you, this was a process that took about 6 months. We invested about $1000 for the shed, electricity, and storage racks for the space, money well spent.
Now came time to really focus on organizing our tools into a workable space. We had purchased a new table saw, band saw and scroll saw over the last 2 years. Can I just tell you that organizing any space is a process? We were well on our way to having a great wood shop, but there was and is always room for improvement. For the most part, the larger tools found a home and remain there. Our table saw is on wheels, and we move it out of the workshop onto the driveway to work with larger pieces of lumber and plywood. It’s the little stuff that has been the hardest to organized most efficiently. A pegboard is great for hand tools, but small power tools and clamps have been the most challenging. Fortunately, we found clamp racks (although we haven’t picked one yet) and our workbench has ample space for the small power tools like the sanders, drills, and saws. An air compressor has been a great addition to the shop when it comes time to clean up. Blowing off the small nooks and crannies has been just the ticket.
We spent a lot more time in our wood shop making furniture and I learned to use a scroll saw – one of my favorite tools to date. We really enjoyed making scroll saw bowls, intarsia projects and my husband turns pens. We thought we had it all figured out. Boy, were we wrong!
We placed the sanding equipment towards the back of the garage, and although we were using eye protection and disposable face masks, the sawdust was overwhelming. I ended up getting sick from it. We had to come up with a solution for keeping our space clean. So we purchased respirators with disposable filters, better eye protection and moved the sanding equipment to the front of the garage. It has helped immensely, but much can still be done to control the dust. This year we hope to invest in a dust collection system to help contain the dust. I love it that my husband has been flexible and open to changes in our artistic space.
Don’t let lack of space or resources keep you from having an artistic hobby. You may not have a space big enough for your own art studio or wood shop, but you can probably carve out a niche in some room to be creative. The key is containment and organization with the space and resources you have. Look for bargains – garage sales, Craigslist, and thrift stores. You’d be surprised how much you can save purchasing items people are no longer using. And be open to reevaluating where and how you organize the space. Life changes such as children moving out, or parents moving in means that flexibility is a must.