Home Studio Sneak Peek
Here is a little sneak peek into our home studio! It's being featured in the April issue of Professional Photographer so I won't give all of our secrets away just yet ... haha. We were a little worried at first about combining home and studio, but I will be honest - WE LOVE IT! When we first saw this house for sale we were instantly drawn to the dark hardwood floors and the fact that it's around 100 years old and totally restored!We have committed the front three rooms entirely to business, and the upstairs is our office / workroom. We've even installed speakers throughout the house, you know, as a business expense ;) If any of you have questions about making a home studio work, just leave it in the comments and we'd be happy to answer them! Visit our blog for more photos + details.
we even create fun sets for our clients! ;)
Meghan & Matt, your studio looks fantastic! I really like the sales room where you painted the floors the same as the wall.
Wow! The studio looks amazing!
Thanks guys!! Painting floors is fun! ;)
So proud of you guys - this looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Can you tell people the square footage you are using for business?
You ROCK :)
A
hmmm the house itself is 1600 sq ft. Upstairs work area is about 300, downstairs rooms probably total 600. So somewhere around 900 sq ft for business.
i am so looking forward to this issue... i have a home studio and struggle with it. we have about 1600 sq. ft. AND three, yes, three boys 6 and under. to say the least, it is very difficult getting the house ready for clients. any recommendations/suggestions especially ones on a very tight budget!?? i love working from home mostly, but it's what i have to do for now. when the house is ready, it looks great, but it is difficult to give that "experience" that i so long to give my clients.
thanks again for sharing!
suzy,
well, we don't have any kids, just a cute puppy (whose pic is on the wall hehe) so from that aspect I really have no authority to give advice. ;) I would just try to keep their toys and messy stuff contained to their rooms or playroom. Easier said than done, right? :)
For us it was difficult at first making sure that the house was clean and ready to go, but it's become a discipline now. Each night I try to make sure everything is picked up, wiped off, dusted, etc. Also, something that helps us out a lot are wallflowers from Bath and Body Works. We use the Vanilla Sugar Scent, and there's something about a really nice smelling studio that makes it feel cleaner. ;) I am sure that would help with the boys hehe.
Also, I buy fresh flowers at the grocery store - usually we can get calla lilies, tulips and other interesting flowers that I don't know the name of for about $5/bunch. I would like to have a florist create awesome funky arrangements, but that's not in our budget. CB2.com is a great resource for cheap decor that looks modern - they have good sales, too. We've gotten a lot of vases, candle holders and other things this way. Lately we've been morphing our accessories slightly more vintage so I've been buying things at the thrift store and snagging old cameras and stuff from my dad's collection. ;) Our big rug is from West Elm, which is also comparatively cheap. We provide drinks and snacks for our clients which we buy in bulk at Sam's, and it makes it more affordable. Matt bought projection screen material on ebay for cheap and stretched it around a wooden frame he built himself and then we framed it with a GW frame - so not super cheap but great impact for the money. We are pretty tight budget people - sometimes I do splurge on things, but normally I keep it in check and look for sales.
I think that cleanliness is super important to a professional space, but also being comfortable and happy with what you have has helped us. Your clients will feel more comfortable when you're giving off a comfortable vibe. And yes, there will be times when you're flustered cause there sure were times for us when I'd accidently leave a basket of (thankfully clean) laundry in the client bathroom or something, but you'll find your groove. ;)
thanks meghan! one more thing... i visited your blog for more pics and read about your paint! i am about to paint my office and gray is the color i want. i am in process of my new branding and my colors are grays, whites, and browns... would you care to share the color :))
yes! I need to look up the exact color b/c I don't remember, but I know it is in the Laura Ashley collection at Lowe's.
Wow, great home studio. Wishing mine looked that organized. Suzy, I have a two year old and gave up on the home studio, it was just too crazy. If there is someway to block off that section of your house and have a separate entrance to your studio, that helps tremendously, but we could never find a space that we could keep separate.
sweet reception desk. looks like something archimania (the firm I work for) would do.
thanks! it's part of a closet storage system from ikea hehe
This is A-mazing! I'm in the very early stages of converting my detached garage into a studio space. This is just the inspiration I need!
@jenni it IS way crazy and i hope to have a studio sometime in the near future! the way our house is set up, we can't really separate either. @kate i would LOVE to see the progress! we have a garage that seems like a waste of space. we don't park in there 'cause the storage here stinks especially with 3 boys!!!!! would love to hear/see what you are doing!
It looks AWESOME! I wish I had a studio! ha!
Thanks for sharing these pics! We are in the process of purchasing a home that we are converting into a studio and home space, though the studio is a dedicated space. The home we purchased is 3 stories, with the first story studio only, and our residence on the 2nd and 3rd stories. Being in a commercial space has some great points, though for me I would rather be investing that $$ into something of our own instead. I'm very glad to see your images, thanks for sharing!