Workshop
Our list of nice-to-haves for a new home included a backyard shed or small workspace that I could use for a pottery wheel and maybe a kiln. We weren’t dreaming of 800 square feet complete with built-in work tables and shelves.
the workshop we didn’t know we needed
It’s good storage space and along one wall (not pictured) there’s a lot of bee keeping equipment. It’s even better project space. I’ve already used it to make some tea candles out of beeswax. If we decide to install one, the new wood-burning fireplace would go above the corner on the right side of the far wall, which currently has a L-shaped table and a stainless steel bowl. The heavy fireplace would require more support and so we would lose some of that space. Also, it would be expensive and perhaps involve removing that corner of the house.
Next to the large open room, there’s a smaller room (pictured below) that might be good for a pottery wheel. Making pottery is messy and creates lots of dust, especially throwing and trimming. I’d rather contain that dust to this corner than to dirty the larger room. Our renovation plans would have the long leg of our new stairs going down through the desk/workbench over across the room, but there’s still plenty of space and even some natural light.
new pottery-making space?
On the right side of the photo above there are a couple of plastic pipes for hot and cold water to the outdoor shower. Maybe these could get repurposed for a sink.
Renovation update
We’ve received one ballpark bid with just a bottom line number and no detail. Based on that number we’ll probably trim our ambitions at least some. An even heavier consideration is the timeline. One of the other contractors working on a bid says he’ll have it to us on November 24th. The other contractor is out of town for a family emergency and hasn’t given us an ETA for a bid. If it takes more than two months to get a rough estimate of the cost, how long is actually doing the work going to take? Doubts about doing any serious renovation to the inside of the house are stirring.