franu61 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 okay mostly venting here..I just finished a large (at least for me) order of candles. I started at 9:30 this a.m., and what with only three metal pour pots and a couple glass measuring cups it takes a while....The only place I have to make candles is the kitchen, and there was literally not an empty counter while the candles were cooling. My "home from college" sons got all pissy cuz they could not fix anything to eat. Blah blah.. I wish I had my own workroom...some place that my candles could cool without SOMEONE coming in and moving them...before they are ready to move. Any one else still working in the kitchen? How do you all cope when having to share space? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbrook Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I feel your pain. The only time I can do candles is on the weekend when no one else is in the kitchen trying to make supper after work. I am in the process of slowly setting up a shop in the basement but it is coming slowly as I can afford it. Just bought the countertops last weekend and the next step is to get some 2x4s to build the supports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb426 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 My shop is in my basement so I'm very lucky. Is it possible for you to do just your pouring in another room, even the bedroom? You could just set up some temporary tables, like you do at a craft show, and pour in there. You could still use the kitchen for heating, mixing, etc., but just pour somewhere else so the candles can set up without being disturbed or disturbing anyone else. Get some of those cheap plastic table cloths to cover the floor under the pour table just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 My shop is in my basement so I'm very lucky. Is it possible for you to do just your pouring in another room, even the bedroom? You could just set up some temporary tables, like you do at a craft show, and pour in there. You could still use the kitchen for heating, mixing, etc., but just pour somewhere else so the candles can set up without being disturbed or disturbing anyone else. Get some of those cheap plastic table cloths to cover the floor under the pour table just in case.That is a good idea Deb. I could use MY portable table and the rest of my family would not need to touch them. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenscandlebakery Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Unfortunately, I don't have a work space either My boyfriend and I live together in a fairly small one bedroom apartment. I melt the wax in the kitchen, use the desk as a drying station, and store finished items in a storage cabinet in my bedroom. My boyfriend is a neat freak and he gets very annoyed with me that I "clutter" the desk with my candles. I'm sure it will continue to be a source of conflict until we buy a house. I will make sure I have my own workspace in our next home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn624 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I've commandeered the dining room for curing/storage/etc...but have to actually create a lot of it in the kitchen (soaps, candles, etc). I'm always coming up missing scissors, tape, supplies...they seem to wander away from the "soap room", not enough room in there for all my crafty junk and curing soap either, and everyone always seems to get super hungry when I'm trying a difficult swirl or pouring candles in the kitchen... I love my family, but if I don't get a dedicated creation space soon, someone might be mortally wounded. I'm trying to save up for a building, but... y'know how that goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I love my family, but if I don't get a dedicated creation space soon, someone might be mortally wounded. .That's exactly how I felt today, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAgirl89 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I melt, mix, pour and cure candles and soap in my kitchen. My 5 bedroom house has 1 functional bedroom, the other 4 are storage rooms and the one bedroom looks like a UPS store. At the moment the living room is set up for a home show I had yesterday. Good thing I live alone with just a dog, she doesn't much mind the candle/soap clutter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chefmom Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I started in my kitchen, melting on the stove and pouring on the dining room table. Naturally we no longer got to use the table because I always had candles or soap in various stages.I am now in the basement. Our house is blessed with a lovely basement (house built by a tall man !) and now I have, what I call........."Meggggaa Deskkk". Several years ago we went to an auction at the local university. We picked up several old wooden desks, office chairs and filing cabinets for a song. This desk is huge and takes four people to lift!! It had the deep drawers for lots of doo-dads. I have one wire shelf, the $100 one from Lowes that has the boxes and tubs of molds, wax, wicks and jars (filled and empty) and now I have added a little wick station from a cast off mini-desk from my son. A family member (painting artist) gave me an artist's trolley and I'm now adding that next to the wick station.At the wick station I keep my fragrance samples and the wicks I use the most. I have empty jars and my hot glue gun. It's placement is mostly because it's next to an outlet for the glue gun. I have an old wooden office chair on wheels so I can sit down, go through the fragrances and set my wicks then spin around, across the way to "Meggga-Deskkk" where I keep everything else. I have all my colors in one drawer, bags and paperwork in another, bags of additives and the most used molds in another etc. My little Presto pot sits in the corner (next to a plug) with the pots and the never ending supply of paper towels. I keep an empty feed sack next to the pot on the floor for the used paper towels to be burned.I actually don't take up a lot of space and I'm getting more organized, I can fit 4 cases of wax under the desk in the back of the "leg area". It was a great buy at $10!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I started in my kitchen, melting on the stove and pouring on the dining room table. Naturally we no longer got to use the table because I always had candles or soap in various stages.I am now in the basement. Our house is blessed with a lovely basement (house built by a tall man !) and now I have, what I call........."Meggggaa Deskkk". Several years ago we went to an auction at the local university. We picked up several old wooden desks, office chairs and filing cabinets for a song. This desk is huge and takes four people to lift!! It had the deep drawers for lots of doo-dads. I have one wire shelf, the $100 one from Lowes that has the boxes and tubs of molds, wax, wicks and jars (filled and empty) and now I have added a little wick station from a cast off mini-desk from my son. A family member (painting artist) gave me an artist's trolley and I'm now adding that next to the wick station.At the wick station I keep my fragrance samples and the wicks I use the most. I have empty jars and my hot glue gun. It's placement is mostly because it's next to an outlet for the glue gun. I have an old wooden office chair on wheels so I can sit down, go through the fragrances and set my wicks then spin around, across the way to "Meggga-Deskkk" where I keep everything else. I have all my colors in one drawer, bags and paperwork in another, bags of additives and the most used molds in another etc. My little Presto pot sits in the corner (next to a plug) with the pots and the never ending supply of paper towels. I keep an empty feed sack next to the pot on the floor for the used paper towels to be burned.I actually don't take up a lot of space and I'm getting more organized, I can fit 4 cases of wax under the desk in the back of the "leg area". It was a great buy at $10!!!Sounds like my dream work area..how bout posting a picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksranch Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I too am fortunate to have a basement workshop. Luckily, when my DH started building it he didn't listen when I said, oh no - this is all the room I'll need. By now I've taken over 3/4 of the whole basement!! lol But he was also insightful and made my 'counters' out of metal - it works SO perfect! Never have to worry about spilling wax because when I do it pops right off once cooled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chefmom Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Here goes......The desk is five feet long and three feet deep, so it's a large surface to work on. I did 9 testers yesterday, so they are still laying out. I have a pizza box in the center to catch loose wax and wick droppings etc. I still need a good place for larger production. I think I'll add another wire shelf (on the other side of the basement room) for more final storage.I have space under the mini desk, but the cat always lays under there when I'm working, so I just haven't put anything under there. Although the cases of my jars would fit.Everything is placed on the side of the basement that is my future canning kitchen/bakery so it will have to be moved over. My husband has loaned a large chunk of space to his mother for quite a large number of boxes. It's an issue and soon those boxes will leave one way or another. I need the space!!!It is nice to have a dedicated space, and I can sit down (I have foot issues) and roll back and forth. I have paper taped to the wall above the mini desk to scribble things on (especially color formulas). I also think I may add another presto pot or a hot plate for another burner. If you look behind the glue gun you see a funny pipe. That is actually a gas line. I believe the builders of the house had a canning kitchen with a stove right there. This space is directly below my kitchen so it makes sense.Gotta love Meegggaaa Dessskkkk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redraider Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I am very lucky. When my sister and I started doing this our father and my husband built us a room in my father's barn which is actually a large metal building. It is insulated, we have a window unit ac/heater a ceiling fan and a small desk in the corner. 3 walls have mid torso high countertops that go all around shaped like a horseshoe. We keep our melter in 1 corner and on that same end is all the dye, additives, spoons, measuring cups etc. Right next to the melter I have a toaster oven that I put my pouring jars in to heat up. next to the toaster oven is the wicking station. On this same side of the horseshoe is where I keep "stuff" wicks, sample scents, notebooks, office supplies etc. The other side of the horseshoe is where we do all the pouring. We can if needed pour about 200 candles on that side and leave the to cure. Underneath our counter tops is open but we do have a bottom shelf all the way around. We put all our empty jars, extra wicks, lids, unused supplies on one side. The other side we put all our finished candles that we have made for stock and any overflow unused supplies. I have a 4 shelf metal stand on the open end of the room with no counter tops. Top shelf has items for shows, second has all the warmers I have in stock, 3rd and 4th shelves we use for staging for orders going out. Up against the wall just outside the door we store the rest of the empty jars and cases of wax. We are able to do that since our shop is inside another building. Of course we overflow at times into the rest of my dads shop much to his disappointment. He also built us a cart that rolls that is the same height as our counter tops. When we wick jars we put them on top of the cart and can just roll them to where we need them. We also have a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chefmom Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 LOVE that long counter!! For me to do real production I have to add a similar structure for pouring. What I have is great for testing, but production really needs a long, level workspace like that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Lee Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Everyone workspace sounds great. I love the pictures. ThanksI'm just starting to make candles so I use me kitchen counter and put the supplies in a kitchen cupboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 I DO love meegga desk! i can totally see that working for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Beautiful redraider! I used to wish for my dream home..now I just want a dream workspace, lol Edited June 27, 2012 by franu61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 I too am fortunate to have a basement workshop. Luckily, when my DH started building it he didn't listen when I said, oh no - this is all the room I'll need. By now I've taken over 3/4 of the whole basement!! lol But he was also insightful and made my 'counters' out of metal - it works SO perfect! Never have to worry about spilling wax because when I do it pops right off once cooled!Great idea about the metal counter..I'll add that to my wish list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scifichik Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Our mother passed away three years ago and left us her mortgage free home which is still fully furnished (minus beds). We use the kitchen to store wax, color and scents. We have several presto pots on the counter, mix in our our pots there. We move to dining room with a 12 person table where we pour and cure. One bedroom is the office/print shop for labels, flyers, etc. the other bedroom is storage for containers and finished product. This was our childhood home. We feel that our mother would approve of the way we've made use of it as she asked us to not sell it, as it would be a safety net in this economy to know there would always be a place for us to live if something should happen between us and our husbands or someone's household income being lost due to illness/accident. It's also just a peaceful escape from chaos and a nice place to take a nap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redraider Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Thanks so much. Of course will all spaces there are things I would do different but for the most part it works well. Just wish it were bigger and had a bigger air conditioner, lol.I for to add that I line the table tops with kraft paper and then just rip that off and replace to get it clean.Beautiful redraider! I used to wish for my dream home..now I just want a dream workspace, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safetysue Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 OK - I'm spoiled but just happened. When we purchased the house it had an old canning kitchen in the basement. My neighbor remodeled their kitchen and gave us the old cabinets so we remodeled our basement kitchen. We used this kitchen as our main kitchen when we remodeled the upstairs kitchen. Now it has racks along the end wall filled with valuables. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetsCandles Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I have dedicated the work bench in the garage to a heating/pouring station. I let the candles skin off enough that they won't slosh and then bring them in the house to cool off. I have my living room as a storage facility, and my kitchen serves as a soaping area. Sometimes I have to use the table for cooling. I also have a wicking station set up on a plastic table just behind my computers here in the "Other" room. I posted a picture of my garage workspace the other day (when it was so darn hot) but haven't taken pictures of the other areas, mostly because I don't seem to stop long enough to de-clutter everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracey_04 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 What a great thread! I had the option to either make my workshop in the basement, or the garage. I chose the garage, and every day I wonder if I made the wrong decision! The garage is great because it's nice and big. I don't worry about any wax messes, for the most part, if it happens to drop on the floor. My basement has brand new white-ish carpet in it...which I would have to replace with tile or something of the sort. However, my candle shop has no AC. Today it literally hit 120 degrees outside, needless to say, I was trying to stay as far away from my shop as possible! I've begged my hubby to install a window so I can at least have a window air conditioner in there. Hopefully he does that for me soon! The winters are great because I just use my space heaters, which work very well!Anyone that has their workshop in their basements think it's too cold for the candles? I've tried SO hard to get rid of wet spots. I really think that making them in the cold basement would really bring them out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetsCandles Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 You could always get a portable AC unit. I know Sam's Club and Lowe's both carry them. All you have to have is a small vent to the outside, about the size of a dryer vent hole. That's what we have in our garage for my shop, it works decently except on the very hottest days, but still makes it tolerable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 [ATTACH=CONFIG]24502[/ATTACH]OK - I'm spoiled but just happened. When we purchased the house it had an old canning kitchen in the basement. My neighbor remodeled their kitchen and gave us the old cabinets so we remodeled our basement kitchen. We used this kitchen as our main kitchen when we remodeled the upstairs kitchen. Now it has racks along the end wall filled with valuables. LOL I'm drooling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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