Nicolas and I have always preferred to have our studio space integrated with our home. In our last apartment, we set up our own studios in two separate rooms, but we found that we would always migrate into the same room and ended up happily sharing one very cramped space. When we found our new home, there was no question that the large front room would be our shared studio space.
There is a wall of southern-facing windows which provides tremendous light. We wished to maintain access to all the windows, so we set up our workbenches three feet back. We have a rolling cart with a homemade light box that we can move around for photoshoots. Between the workbenches we have our printers and computers, which are very much integrated into our workday. Our workbenches were set up so that they can be worked at from three different sides and used standing or perched on stools.
Sitting at desks has always been very uncomfortable for me and this arrangement has worked very well for long workdays. We set up two individual work benches supported by shelving and sawhorses that are used to hold all of our tools and materials. It is important that they can be broken down and moved around if necessary. We've found that our studio is constantly evolving, depending on what project we are working on. We also have a small room in back devoted to shipping and storage.
On the west wall there is a set of shelves for our finished work, a kitchen island that has been converted into a table for conditioning polymer, a set of drawers on wheels, and a large calendar and corkboard to keep track of projects. I have an easel set up behind my workbench for drawing and painting. On the east wall is our sofa, alternately piled with pillows and blankets, guitars, books and our cat. It is the heart of our home and where we begin and end our workday.
