the ideal Shedio - gimme your thoughts :)

[flaming beads]

I'm actually tidying the house this week and probably next...since finding my obsession for glass the house has become a real mess and as for my bead room!!...well..i'm actually in the process of working my way to that one! Everything will have to come out and i have been mulling over for months about what would work best for me...i've come to the conclusion that a wrap around countertop surface would be the best for accomodating the varying stages of things, right down to the packaging.

My room is south facing, but it's the winter sun that's the worst...so blinds will be a must..just want to get it right and feel restfull, not on edge because i've let things get sooo messy and waste time trying to find things all the time because of it!

 

[SueP]

I'd go for the high bench as well as I do it standing up  I just have a stool to perch on if tired I would sort out the torch position re draughts and lighting and let the rest follow that - for storage those IKEA plywood little drawer units are good 

[amareargentum]

I'd go for the higher bench too. Mine's kitchen worktop height - mainly because I bought a run of ex-demo designer kitchen units really cheaply on Ebay  . Run them round the corner and curve the edge of the worktop so that you get a cut out like a jeweller's bench. Good for resting your elbows. And if you torch mostly in the evening, like I do, plant some night scented plants outside - just heavenly to sit making beads with the perfume wafting in the windows.

[SilverGems89]

SilverGems89  If you put the mirror to one side and angle it a bit then it would work.  Mines a little mirror tile.  when it's out it's to the right of my computer to see just over my shoulder

I think i would be too engrossed to ever look at it!

[mirri marie]

I'd go for the higher bench too. Mine's kitchen worktop height - mainly because I bought a run of ex-demo designer kitchen units really cheaply on Ebay  . Run them round the corner and curve the edge of the worktop so that you get a cut out like a jeweller's bench. Good for resting your elbows. And if you torch mostly in the evening, like I do, plant some night scented plants outside - just heavenly to sit making beads with the perfume wafting in the windows.

What a wonderful idea about the night scented flowers  , I don't bead ( ) but try to make wall space for a fabulous array of pictures of your beads for inspiration and pride! 

[dinah46]

This thread is fabulous, thanks everyone for all the thought that you're putting into it   I love the idea of the night scented plants.

I have been thinking about the height issue as I work a lot at my kitchen counter and find that a really good height for jewellery making but not too sure about beadmaking.  At present in the garage I'm working on quite a low table with an old office chair which is quite easy to beat a hasty retreat from if I drop any hot glass   I think I may have to try out the different heights before I commit myself.

[julieHB]

I have to benches, in an L shape, one at standing height (initially planned for cutting glass, working with a vice etc.), and the other at sitting height. The space in the corner between the two benches is used to store boxes with silver findings etc.

I torch mostly standing, which I find is best for the back, as it keep me keep moving. Also, the angle of shoulders and elbows is a lot less taxing, I find. So I prefer to have the torch on the high bench. When I feel like it I pull up my drummer's chair and sit down, mostly for detailed work where a steady hand is required.

At the low bench I do all the jewellery making etc.

Congrats on a new shedio, by the way 

[turnedlight]

I have a long bench built in down the side, with an angled piece across the corner, and my torch points into the corner, so there's more room behind the flame,, also this means I'm sitting at an angle to the window and can see who's coming

[Krysia@No98]

SilverGems89  If you put the mirror to one side and angle it a bit then it would work.  Mines a little mirror tile.  when it's out it's to the right of my computer to see just over my shoulder

I think i would be too engrossed to ever look at it!

You don't have to look in it.  honestly I just found myself catching the movement in the corner of my eye.  My ventilation unit is shiny and every now and then when my screen saver come on on the computer that is behind me I can see it going black and then coming back up again as it goes into bubble mode.  I'm not looking for it but I do catch it because it's a change in front of me.

Honestly just give it a go, Ah... go on, go on, go on, go on.... 

[squirsygirl]

I had an old CD blu-tacked to the pc screen at work to see a particular manager who crept up on me with alarming regularity!

They make quite good 'mirrors'!

A good chair is a must - I've just bought a fabbo one from argos:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6179131/Trail/searchtext%3EOFFICE+CHAIR.htm

it's nice and wide for my goddess-like bottom.

a radio, and good set of shelves.

And insurance. 

Kirsty

[Redkite]

I agree with the suggestions about having at least one window that opens, black-out blinds, halogen spot strip in the ceiling (you can adjust the position of the lights). I also managed to get a stable door for my shed, and a back door (because the shed is the width of the garden and traps a triangular section bhind it which we need access to) which helps with air flow on hot sticky nights. Twice as many sockets as you think you'll need. Great idea about putting kiln away from your torching position if possible: I do get hot with a flame in front and kiln to my right, but sadly have no other option.

I have a kitchen unit height table for jewellery and dining table height for torching, plus height-adjusting chair on castors to zip between them. If I'd have had room, I'd definitely have had a bench that runs around the corner and torch on the diagonal.

The one thing I wish I had (and it may happen eventually) is one of those wireless doorbells, so I can hear and answer the door from the shed, cause it's annoying to come in from a morning torching to find a clutch of red postcards on the mat!! (I already have a baby monitor to keep an ear out for DD when I'm on my own in the shed.)

Oh, and someone posted a picture of a shed with a fabulous name plate - I want one of those!

[jammie]

great ideas on here. Thanks to you  Diane for starting this thread as I changed  around ny workspace so the kiln was to my right and  I have 3 lights  and the ceiling one now, what a difference torching tonight. It is strange how I never thought to do this before!  Your space looks really good  what fun to plan it out from the beginning! 

[amareargentum]

I got my chair from the little shop area at the local tip. A perfect typists chair on wheels for a fiver!! 

This whole thread has got me looking at my layout again. I haven't got a huge amount of flexibility and have to sit next to the kiln, but I am going to try and clear the worktop a bit!

[Blue Box Studio]

I am adapting the original workshop (extra strong shed) - I have another 2 x the size for textiles - from silver work to glass work so there are some excellent ideas here that I'll incorporate into the revamp.  I work off kitchen units so a bar stool is necessary.  I use a mirror in my other workshop so i can see who's coming in the gate behind me (or jumping up and waving if i forget to unlock it, my postie is quite tall).  My little workshop is only 7ft x 9ft so siting anything away from something else, getting up more shelves etc is not easy; finding the right place for the carbon monoxide alarm was a challenge as the room was not large enough to be that far from windows, that far from the floor.  I need more lights, I only have 2 striplights above me but someone suggested Ikea .... not sure how I will store my glass, still too much of a newbie to have got that far in my plans.  Working with sea glass in the same area, there is limited worktop space and the shelves are right inside the door so anything there can't protrude more than 8".  Perhaps I'll have to use every rod to 8" before I can store it on shelves.

Some great ideas.

[dinah46]

  Perhaps I'll have to use every rod to 8" before I can store it on shelves.

 
Maybe what you need is something like magazine wall storage adapted for glass rods so that they lie closer to the wall like this


I hasten to add that I just grabbed this off google, it's definitely not my choice of magazines