Studio Selby Update

Our basement is a full footprint basement with almost the same square footage as the house. In December 06, my beautiful wife and I decided it was time to put the finishing touches on our basement studios. Her clay, glass, sewing, painting, and general craft area takes up about half the space. My photography studio takes up about a quarter of the basement, and the bar/playroom, bathroom, and mechanics take up the rest of the basement.

Our plan was to finish it out in January 07. Well that got delayed and delayed and delayed. Finally, in January 08, we committed to finishing things. The plan:

• Finish the bathroom - making it a full bath with a make up counter for my model and portrait clients.
• Make part of the mechanics area into a closet for my studio accessories.
• Add a work sink, counter and storage space to her clay/glass studio.
• Put walls over the bare support studs in her space.
• Install a drop ceiling in her space.
• Add walls to the bare support studs in my space.
• Make the back part of my studio into a "room" set.
• Install a flush ceiling in my studio.
• Lay a hardwood floor in the back part of my space.
• Install doors to separate spaces.
• Paint.

I can say with confidence that we are more than half way done with all the work, thanks in no small part to my wife's father. A lifetime as a general contractor and builder have made him a valuable (and cheap!) resource for this project.

Work that still needs completion:

• Ceilings in both studios
• Window trim in both studios
• Bathroom
• Floor in my studio
• Painting!

We're almost done - just a few more weekend visits from my father-in-law, and another dozen or so hours on weeknights.

In the meantime, I am open for business, albeit a bit messy and disorganized - but I can still shoot!