~Sneaks in and goes.....BOOGIE, BOOGIE, BOOGIE!!~

[Candle Kitty]

Hi guys, I'm back!!

Yes, I know it's been a while, but there was good reason. I finally got settled into my new house!! WOO HOO, I'M HAPPY DANCING!

And now that I'm settled, a new task is at hand for me this weekend and I would seriously LOVE some ideas, feedback, whatever you want to post. I've been monitoring my basement for possible candle work down there and I do believe that I've struck gold. I've attached only one photo of the area that I am working on, only because my dern batteries went dead on me. Before you take a look, there's a couple of things to bear in mind.

Number one, the gal that originally lived here, was in essence, a slob and actually used the area that I'm going to use for candlemaking as a make-shift green house for marijuana. :lipsrseal

Number two, while this IS a rental house, the landlady I have now has told me that whatever I wish to do to it, is fine with her. 'This is YOUR house, the only difference is, my name is on the title', her words exactly. I don't want to rip out what is already there and start over, that's too much of a daunting task considering my handiman lives an hour from me and getting him here for a weekend project like this is hard at best.

Number three, it looks as if not only was it a workspace, but either a canning area or something different, I'm not sure. The arrow in the pic points to a built-in box, roughly two feet in depth, measures roughly three feet by three feet and carpeted. There are also two outlets and a switch just above the box, though none of it works as of yet. The landlady's handiman is planning on changing that, but there IS an outlet about six feet from there and I have heavy extension cords.

With those said, I've monitored the temperature down there for the past week and it averages roughly 65-70*, with no humidity, regardless of my washer/dryer, furnace and hot water heater. I'm sure that will change during the winter months and I have a small space heater that I can use at a distance. I've already taken into consideration that I need more light and yes, there WILL be a stereo with CD/cassette player and my Doors collection at hand's reach

Any ideas???

TIA

CK

[Georgia]

Oh, the possibilities! What the heck is with the carpeted box, though? Enamel paint would brighten, clean it up bunches...cheap route, butcher paper. I see wax and jar storage on the right, FO and accessories on the left. Milk crates on their side make great stands for prestos and pour pot and scale store in the crate for added workspace. I wouldn't put them under the stairs as going up and down may cause dust and debri to fall in your wax. Maybe a narrow short shelf there for supplies... It is sort of how mine is layed out, except for a carpeted box, I have a CD player in the corner!

[cindym]

Ah you have indeed struck gold, the possibilitie are unlimited storage for fo's underneath, shelves above, wax storage underneathe, a nice big shelf for finished product, a little paint light , a couple of presto posts Georgia has some great ideas.

[gottabt]

I see tons of possibitlities. The first is to add some color with paint. Even white. I would suggest the following:

Contact paper on all surfaces. This is easy to clean and adds color

Paint all the wood white or a light color. It would help seeing what is where.

Build up - vertical space is very important - I will attach a pic of my space with fo's arranged in a storage tower I laid on it's side and attached to the wall.

I used shoe racks under my presto pots - Since these have a shelf they are great to organize additives, tools, and little things at eye level.

The space above the worksurface - I added corkboard - this is great for keeping special instructions on index cards. I also put up inspriration photos of projects I want to try.

Do not forget floor covering. I use this huge puzzle piece foam mats for the floor. Standing on concrete will really hurt your back.

Hope these help getting the creative juices flowing - the space is great!

[Candle Kitty]

I'm not sure what that carpeted box is for, I'm hoping maybe one of our men can jump on this and tell us what it's for, I was actually thinking of maybe using that for a cold water bath station, when I put my bucket that I use for it inside the box, it's almost a perfect fit! I've got sheets of plastic that I can loosely hang over the candle to protect it while it's setting up.

I know what you're talking about on the dust and debris falling into the wax, that's why I was thinking about just using that area under the stairs as storage more than anything and then use the long bench for a work area, right next to the box and then farther down away from the steps as a place for allowing my candles to set up.

Great idea on the contact paper, I've got some left over when I lined my cabinets and enough I could probably do the entire work area!! White paint I've still got some from when the house was being redone, I've actually got several colors to choose from, will have to play the match game on the contact paper and see what I can come up with.

Thanks for reminding me about the concrete floor, I think I'm going to get one of those area rugs that's indoor/outdoor and throw down, it would cover the entire area that I'm working in, thanks for that idea too!!!

Something I forgot to mention in the first post that I'm mentioning now is that there is actually a 'wall' per sa above the long bench. Anybody that knows the name of this stuff, please don't laugh because I can't for the life of me, remember what it's called, but there are holes in the wood that you can hang just about anything on, like long hooks. Most of my shelves I'm thinking about putting there, along with the hooks for my heat gun and other tools when I'm not using them.

The great thing about this place to is that I've got an attic fan that's so unbelievably powerful, that it actually slams the door leading to the basement shut. I'm using a bungee cord to keep the door open and when I'm standing in that space, I've got a great breeze.

Thanks for the great ideas guys, please keep them coming, it's going to be at least a week before I can get myself set up and start making candles again, the itch is driving me hard!!

[Fire and Ice]

The carpeted box sounds like a whelping box for a dog that deliver pups in it. Did she have a female dog? The dog probably delivered pups!

[MuskokaMom]

I am hoping that, that is a no to the whelping box theory. Crammed up in the corner like that in a basement. Makes me want to cry. I can see lots of possibilities though for a great candle room. How lucky that all your work space is already there waiting for you.

[Candle Kitty]

Asked a male friend of mine what that box could be for, other than temporary storage, that's all I got out of him. And I know what you mean about the whelping box, that would be absolutely horrid!! Although the scary part is that I've got plans for it and now my mom cat has discovered it and likes to lounge in it. She's petite, but not THAT petite and she fits in there decent. Considering that the earlier gal was a slob, I'm planning on seeing what I can do to rip that carpet out, I don't want my girl wollering around in something that I'm just not sure about. Not to mention, I have to make this cat friendly, mama likes to help me out a lot when I'm making candles. She's already discovered another lounge spot under the steps!

I did some checking because I'm in an old sub-division just on the outskirts of Kansas City, Kansas, most of the houses has the same layout and my younger sister, who lives next door also has a workspace by her steps, but not like mine. She has the solid work bench, but nothing directly underneath the stairs so I'm not wondering if this is a late add-on or something.

Things are going great guns down there, I am so unbelievably excited! My original thought of being ready by the coming weekend is off, I could be ready as early as Thursday! I have one more full day off from work before I go back for a couple of days, so it works out. I've cleaned off the wood really well, already have the contact paper ready to go and my plan this morning is to start painting. And it's pegboard, I remembered that last night when I was at Wal-Mart, go figure! So I bought a pegboard organizing kit and played around with how I'm setting up most of the night (if anyone is interested, it's in the hardware section, I paid eight bucks for it and it comes with 43 pieces). I've already got two shelves hung, with two more getting set this morning, also a wire organizing shelf unit and then it's paint city!!

[Bev]

What a wonderful discovery!! I can't wait until I one day have a candle workshop!! Be sure to post pics when you have it all set up. Very exciting! Congratulations on your new work space!