In August 2020 I placed the order for my little Studio. At this point, let’s be honest it was more a little shed that I ordered. A 10×12 foot little barn. It was supposed to arrive in October. It did arrive in early November. I was excited like a little kid and so nervous that something would go wrong. Could it fit down our narrow driveway? Could they drop it off right where I wanted it? Will it look as cute as I hoped it would? Here is how they brought the little barn:
It took all but 22 minutes! As you can see we had to trench across the yard to run the electricity from the house to the studio – so the plan was to set the studio right where the trench ended: SUCCESS! It was fascinating to watch how the guy was able to drop the building using a little remote control! He was a pro and it went off with out a hitch.
I must admit that I was a little surprised how tiny the studio looked ( on the lot it had looked so much bigger) and that the color was not right – it looked way more baby-blue than grey but that was an easy fix. Next we had to fill in the trench – a great workout but OH! so messy – and build a deck around it. Since the weather was supposed to turn ( November in Oregon… not so lovely) I decided to hire someone to build the deck so I could focus my time on the inside.
FIRST STEPS
Next came the electricians. They ran the lines from the house to the studio, installed outlets and lights inside and out. After we got the OK from the county inspector it was time to start painting and installing the shiplap I had decided to install. I should mention at this point that I had NEVER used an electric tablesaw or even a jigsaw and I spent hours on youtube researching the best way to do this.
Since our household is not one with lots of useful tools I spent A LOT of time running between our local hardware stores. At HOME DEPOT I got sheets of 1/4 inch plywood, glue and stick flooring ( WHAT AN AMAZING INVENTION THAT IS!) and nails and at my local PARKROSE HARDWARE store I rented a sweet portable tablesaw and I invested in a fancy new cordless brushless compact Drill/Driver. The guys at Parkrose were SO kind and spent a lot of time explaining the advantages of some tools over others and how to use the tablesaw. They seemed quite worried that I would return with a few less fingers – but I managed to learn how to rip sheets ( I didn’t even know what that meant before!!) and I must admit I am kinda addicted!!
First I laid the floors. It was easy to cut the pieces and I learned not to stack the pieces but to run them at different beginnings and it really took me less than 5 hours to get the whole floor done. They pieces are easily cut with a carpenter knife but it is important that you use a speed square ( a triangle ruler ) for level cuts .
Here is video proof that I cut all that plywood into 7 inch strips which then were attached to the the studs. Ready for a HINDSIGHT moment: I did decide NOT to put insolation into the walls. That was a mistake and will have to be remedied at one point. It get COLD inside my little studio and I grateful that I made the decision to have radiator installed inside by the electricians.
I loved the pine look but decided early on that I was going to paint it white. I did leave the top of the barn like roof and some cut outs because I like the raw look and it gave me an cute way to decorate the walls with these inlays.
PAINTING
Important note – when painting untreated wood in white use a paint that has a primer already in it. That way you reduce the number of coats that need to be applied. I used VALSPAR and really loved the quality and color. For the ceiling I used a paintsprayer I bought on Amazon ( please wear OLD clothes and a HAT should you try this 🙂 and for the walls I used both a roller and an angled short handle paint brush for the corners. Thankfully I had my sweet friend Lisa help me paint the inside after I had already painted the outside. I do love painting but there was A LOT of painting! For the outside I went with the same color as our house – a very dark grey that I still love very much.
studiogreywestlinn.com 