studio cabinets before by Johnna M. Gale

studio cabinet before painting

We moved into a house three years ago that had a standing structure. The agreement, convert the space into a studio.

It had been a garage, an apartment, and a workspace for a plumber. I took the initiative, and once we had access, began transforming this garage into a space where we could create. This required ripping out cabinets, tearing out shelving, disassembling existing structures to make room for our vision, what we needed.

There was a really amazing work table, most likely handmade by the former occupant. It has a vice mounted to it. The floor cabinet with drawers is from one of our high schools. It’s dated 1959.

We wanted more storage space (after ripping out the rickety shelving). A friend of mine had one of those big metal shelving racks you find in kitchens and warehouses. I purchased it for a nominal fee.

Artists need a water source. I went and found one of those plastic sinks, the kind you really don’t care about. The kind that can take paint and stuff. Getting the sink was easy, installing it was not. I spent the better part of week trekking to the local hardware store for both information and supplies. I finally got the damn pipes in. It was all about the angles, really.

Now we have a workspace. It’s not perfect, and there still isn’t enough storage space, especially after I retrieved my mom’s art supplies. But there are work tables and decent lighting, and it’s functional.

It was a lot of work, but worth it to have a place to retreat to think, paint, create, and be.

Below is a video I made early on in the process to give you an idea of the full space. There are more “in progress” photos on the Studios page.