Sorry, if this belongs in the General thread instead of here.

We are getting ready to tackle a huge job, cleaning out the upstairs of the garage.  12+ years of accumulated junk.   Taking a look at the space a few weeks ago I realized it would make a great place for my practice studio :) 

It is such a pain to move all my furniture, the dogs, etc to get everything set up, then move it all back again.  I am the one with the older than the hills Novatron lighting system that practicaly takes a weightlifter to lug around, so it would be great to get them up, and leave them up, w/o having to move a housefull of furniture around.

 Anyways, I am unsure what to do with the space.  It is an odd size, a 14x42, one large area.  At the moment it is just bare bones.  Stud walls, and exposed ceiling rafters.   Very little natural light is available upstairs.  There are 4 windows, 2 on each end of the room.  1 door with an outside, separate entrance so that is a plus.

Any ideas on what do do with the space?  We will be putting up sheetrock, and hardwood flooring (Thankfully we have plenty of both already here as we are always building and remodeling) 

The only problem that I seen with the situation was there is no heat or air upstairs.  BUT, we just replaced our heating/cooling system last week, and our old unit will be used for the area.

Any ideas, advice, anything at all is welcome.  

I'm excited!!  Mainly because I can leave everythign as is and not have to play muscleman and move the furniture and lighting everytime I want to take a picture!  LOL 

That sounds like an awsome adventure. Good for you!!!

I don't have any good ideas but I'm sure there are some on here that could build a studio design.

and many of us can tell you what we wish for=)

For me I dream of a:  Bathroom (mine is 2 stories up) Dressing room with space to hang clothes and a light up vanity mirror with a table area.  And a sitting area for proofing.

 I'm going to suggest you find a local architect to help you with the design, especially if you are doing this as a business. You need to think about building codes and stuff. The first thing that came to my mind was handicapped access, for example.

Congrats!

Dave

I am not an official business.  I would like to be, someday, but as for now it's just mainly hobby, favors for friends, and occasionally a wedding or senior here or there.     My location is not the best for a REAL buisness.  I live on a one lane, dirt road, about 35-40 miles from the nearest town.   As I said, this is mainly for me to practice/play.    The work will be done regardless if it is turned into a studio or not (drywall, flooring, etc)  A studio would be much better use of the space than using it as a junk room as it is now...LOL 

I had not even thought of the handicap access.  It is not handicap accessible at the moment.

I live so far out in the middle of nowhere, we have no building codes and such.  That's one great thing about living in BFE.  If you own the property you can do whatever you want, however you want.  :)   No need for an architect.  We designed and built our home ...really...the original house plans was sketched out on construction paper..LOL   Hubby also built the garage.  There really isn't anything to design other than maybe adding a changing/bathroom.      

 How tall will the space be? The taller, the better!

Sounds like you've got lots of options!

If I was doing it I'd want to have:

Small changing room with full length mirror, bench and hooks to hang stuff on.

Small bathroom with sink

small, well lit make up area

comfortable office/kitchenette space to talk to clients in

area with ability to hang rolls of paper and muslin backdrops as main studio this would be probably 20+ feet deep so I could get my subject 8 feet off the backdrop, at a minimum

optional extras

Area to set up furniture in to look like living room or bedroom to shoot in

Area with a wall of north facing windows for natural light

Dave