4/25/2012

Inside the Artisan's Studio: Nicolas and Sofie

As artisans, we are constantly looking for inspiration, and where better to find it than in our own workspaces? Today, two of our team members, Nicolas and Sofie, have been kind enough to give us a mini tour of their beautifully sun-filled studio where they create gorgeous miniatures which can be found in their shops  BewilderandPine and BonjourPoupette.


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.


10 comments:

ira said...

Oh wow, lucky you two have a spacious studio:)))
My hubby loves to work with his hands too at home, he is a product designer and use our guest room as his work place at home. While I have a studio outside, I use our dining room as my work place at home and our daughter use our living room as an her inside playground! Just imagine our home look like!!! Certainly not like your beautiful studio:)

IKABAGS said...

Looks beautiful :))

I love tons of windows too , yes really busy working space :)

You are lucky , you have big place for your handmade work.

Love it :)

Lauren said...

Love love love your space- and I SOOO need a rolling cart for my homemade light box- as the commercial one is too fancy for my liking-haha! Thanks for the brilliant idea and the peek inside your beautiful home studio!
Ira- my dining room table is filled with my creative mess all the time- so I can totally imagine our houses being quite similar - hehe!

Sofie said...

Thank you so much for the feature! We both feel very grateful to have found this place and spent many years looking for just the right space. The studio is where the living/dining room would normally go, so we don't actually have a proper living room or dining room (but that's okay with us). Most of our studio furniture is straight from IKEA - they have some great rolling carts!

Elena Rosenberg Wearable Fiber Art said...

Fascinating and inspiring, thank you for sharing a glimpse into your world!

Jahje Ives said...

Wow, I now have complete studio envy. What a spacious airy room to share.

steinschmuckdesign said...

The light must be stunning in there and you are so well organized :)

Celia / TheSlyFox said...

What a beautiful studio! Let's trade ;)

Genevieve said...

Great space and I love all the natural light!

Decorate the Diva said...

Amazing space with all the windows! I love both of your shops too! I could spend all day looking at your animal people… they are so alive with personality!!! Fun!!! I'm glad to see couples still like to be together.;)