theoldehearth Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 My husband has finally decided he is kicking me & my candle supplies out of the house......to the garage, lol. No actually we've been working on this plan for quite some time so we had a huge shed built behind our house and are converting our garage to a workshop area. Now that we've sorted through 15-20 years of crap piled up in our garage, stored some in our new shed & hauled the rest to the salvation army and the dump (it's a real wonder how we put up with the junk), we are left with a clean slate! I can't tell you how excited I am to be doing this! This is a major step as I also invested in a new wax melter which is on the way so I need to know what is your ideal layout of the workshop. I pretty much have an idea but because we're building a wall to separate the workshop from a display area, I'd like to do it right. The workshop is about 10 ft wide x 15 ft long. The wax melter will be placed in the farthest corner (back wall) for safety issue.So tell me all the do's and don'ts and what you would have done or how your workshop works for you.I can finally have my kitchen back :smiley2:... and my dining room .. my living room .. oh lets not forget the storage rooms downstairs that have been taken over and jam packed to the rims by the never ending candle supplies. I can actually hear myself think now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mparadise Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The best thing we did when designing my workshop is to include LOTS of shelving. I have shelves on one entire wall, floor to ceiling, as well as above and below my workbench. Take a long hard look at what supplies you will need every day and make sure those are easily within reach of your main workspace. I have mine set up so my FO's are above the workbench (but far enough away from the melter so they don't heat up) so I can easily grab what I need, my flake wax is in/on a rolling bin under my workbench to make it easy to pull out when it is full and my colors are in little rubbermaid drawers under the area where I mix my batches so they are handy and some jars and little drawers that organize my wicks are on the end of the bench where I do my pouring. I don't want to really think about how much I have spent in rubbermaid containers or the metal closet shelving to get the workshop to where it is now but it definitely makes it work smarter rather than harder for me. Your layout really will depend on how you plan to use the space. It's kind of like designing a kitchen...you need to figure out the main components (melter, pour area, packaging area) and decide how you want to flow between them. Once you do the rest should fall into place. Just remember to try to plan for growth and leave yourself room for it (make counters longer than you might need them now to leave room for larger pouring jobs that will come up in the future or at the very least leave space to put out a folding table that you can use in a pinch (I set mine up in front of my wall of shelves when I need more tabletop space for larger projects and use it as my packaging area since it isn't as level as my workbenches for pouring.) HTH! Have fun with the design. I hope you come up with the workshop of your dreams when you are done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietgirl2004 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I would love to set up my garage to do this but you would have to have a furnace in garage wouldnt you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldehearth Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 The best thing we did when designing my workshop is to include LOTS of shelving. I have shelves on one entire wall, floor to ceiling, as well as above and below my workbench. Take a long hard look at what supplies you will need every day and make sure those are easily within reach of your main workspace. I have mine set up so my FO's are above the workbench (but far enough away from the melter so they don't heat up) so I can easily grab what I need, my flake wax is in/on a rolling bin under my workbench to make it easy to pull out when it is full and my colors are in little rubbermaid drawers under the area where I mix my batches so they are handy and some jars and little drawers that organize my wicks are on the end of the bench where I do my pouring. I don't want to really think about how much I have spent in rubbermaid containers or the metal closet shelving to get the workshop to where it is now but it definitely makes it work smarter rather than harder for me. Your layout really will depend on how you plan to use the space. It's kind of like designing a kitchen...you need to figure out the main components (melter, pour area, packaging area) and decide how you want to flow between them. Once you do the rest should fall into place. Just remember to try to plan for growth and leave yourself room for it (make counters longer than you might need them now to leave room for larger pouring jobs that will come up in the future or at the very least leave space to put out a folding table that you can use in a pinch (I set mine up in front of my wall of shelves when I need more tabletop space for larger projects and use it as my packaging area since it isn't as level as my workbenches for pouring.) HTH! Have fun with the design. I hope you come up with the workshop of your dreams when you are done!Thanks MParadise,I did plan lots of shelving and counter space but you've given me new ideas such as pull out rolling bins (clever!) & colors in drawers. Sounds like you really got your ducks in a row.Thanks for your handy tips!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldehearth Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 I would love to set up my garage to do this but you would have to have a furnace in garage wouldnt you?Although our garage is not heated (I wish), we will be insulating the walls & ceilings once we frame them in and will have a energy efficient portable heater or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietgirl2004 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Will you be storing your candles out there or inside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mparadise Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Thanks MParadise,I did plan lots of shelving and counter space but you've given me new ideas such as pull out rolling bins (clever!) & colors in drawers. Sounds like you really got your ducks in a row.Thanks for your handy tips!!No problem! I don't know about all my ducks in a row but I had to do something to organize a little bit because I was wasting precious time looking for things rather than making products, this was what I came up with after a desperate trip to Walmart & Home Depot "to see what I could find" to make life easier. Don't ask me what I spent!! Let's just say it is a good thing I have a BIG truck!For my wax I just used big dog food bins that we already had but weren't using anymore. I had DH put multi-directional wheels from the hardware store on a piece of thick plywood to put them on to make them easier to move when full. I just added big dog food scoops that I found inexpensively in the pet department at Target to make it easier to scoop out my flakes/pellets of wax. You could do this just as easily with big rubbermaid bins on a wheeled platform, I just wanted the wax in plasstic because my workshop is in the basement and my candle area does get damp once in a great while from really bad storms. No need for me to worry about it because of the plastic to protect the wax and most of my other supplies (I really should have stock in Rubbermaid with as much of it as there is in my house!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustpuuppy Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Pegboard.http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-install-a-pegboard/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
number2of7 Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 My ideal workshop?? Don't care about size as long as it's fully stocked with elves who have a severe case of insomnia and feel the need to continuously pour candles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 (edited) Right now, this time of year, my ideal shop would be one with workers in it!!! LOLSeriously!!! Where are those little elves when you need them!!!santa coolI am so with ya number2of7, the more elves the better!!! Edited October 31, 2009 by islandgirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candlelady Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 islandgirl....when I saw this post, the 1st thing I thought, was "a shop full of workers" and me (nowhere in site!).....I have a dream... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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