Warehouse turned
dream Art Studio.
⌁
All of 2022 was spent searching for real estate to lease - WHY?
A new baby (3 kids) - started to make the backyard office feel a little too close to home. Also, as much as I love the standalone office, it is exactly what it is. In other words, no room to grow, only room to shift things around....a tiny bit. 2022 year was a big financial triumph for me, and therefore justified investing in a space that felt lived up to the growth of that year, but also could accommodate future growth and new creative ventures.
A Warehouse was not the ultimate goal, but ended up being the most appropriate option after months of searching, planning, designing, and ideating.
I wasn't overly excited about being public-facing - retail-locked. I had no need or energy to accommodate potential passersby's with questions or accidental barge-ins. Felt unnecessary. Secondly, I wanted to be able to skate in the office. In an ideal world - a whole skatepark in the office, but that didn't end up unfolding exactly as planned originally. My next office, mark my words.
So with those size/traffic challenges to overcome, it leaves a few oddball spaces that would even consider my vision. There were more than a few 'tours' with traditional real estate agents who had no idea what I was trying to do, what my business does, or why I was even looking. Not that that matters, but definitely shifts your frame of mind when you are charging forward with nothing but naive and blind excitement. Turns out, you need people who own the buildings to sign off on your ideas. OR, own the building. Next time...
Nearing November of 2022, there were a few spaces that kept popping up, I had visited both and mapped in my head how I might tackle the build-out as best I could. These are MASSIVE spaces, in comparison to my previous experience with the shipping container build-out. That was exciting, but difficult to try and plan, and ultimately commit to.
No team of designers, or interior specialists. No construction crew, or endless pit of petty-cash to dive into. I had a healthy budget by my standards, but had to still be smart about how to achieve my goal without going way overboard - considering the amount of space to fill. Worst case, lease a warehouse and leave it looking like a warehouse, no shame but for my purposes, that felt pointless. So, how to do this efficiently while still prioritizing design? I know, I'm not curing cancer or solving complex mathematical equations here - but this was a big exciting challenge. As I described in my BOX office article, I was consumed by the idea, and couldn't sleep comfortably without thinking through everything, every night.
Eventually, after much careful thought, I pulled the trigger, signed the lease, and was ready to do the work. The stupidest part of this whole thing, I ordered all the furnishings and equipment online, before having the keys to the space...I knew and trusted most of the vendors before doing so - but there's always high risk in doing it this way. That said, it's what made sense. All the items started to arrive around Dec 2022, and I had to store all the boxes in my garage at home, somehow we were able to fit everything in there for about a month - Probably 100+ large boxes, some of which came on oblong palettes. It was an ordeal. I did not plan that part very thoughtfully, so it ended up being lucky that everything fit if we are all being honest with ourselves.
The Build-out. 🔨
Eventually, the time did come to start making progress in the space. Difficult to know exactly where to start, but my wife made that an easy decision as she missed parking her car in the garage dearly, she's not fond of the cold. I'd even suggest it's her mortal enemy in this life.
1.
There was so much stuff I knew even renting a truck DIY would not suffice for transporting it to the warehouse, so hiring a moving company was the way. Simple right? No complications there you might think. NO, some of these palettes were incompatible with the standard palette jack, and therefore took some very creative solutions to even get them down the driveway and on the truck. Wood snapping and cracking the whole way there you woulda thought we were lighting off fireworks. But we made it happen, and we did it with smiles on our faces. Pizza's on me boys, kidding, I didn't buy any.
2.
Next came paint. The space started as a big white empty box from hell. That's hyperbole of course, but to be honest I've never understood the widespread fear of dark spaces. This was another whole ordeal with the painting vendor....'you sure..?'. "Oh, all black?....' 'Never heard of that before'.... "ooooookay..". "Can I ask, why all the black?".
Even went as far as to send me a video, mid-painting, of them walking the space while shouting "Here we are in the haunted house!"...now I like jokes as much as the next guy, but this just went too far. Okay It was actually pretty funny.
Jokes aside, it stands as another example of being firm on a vision. I couldn't count on one hand how many people were sent to entirely alternate dimensions with the sheer confusion in the face of some of my decisions, paint color, and the like.
I will say, that same painter came back after the space was finished - and he said it was one of, if not the coolest shop he'd seen. Stick with your gut ladies and gents, don't sway to folks that don't understand. Black isn't scary, I promise. High fives.
3.
The paint was dry, the movers hauled out, the boxes were stacked, and It was time to actually do the work. Lots of work.
The usual, home depot trips a plenty, multiple uhal trucks full of cardboard to recycle, endless stacks of tools, and lots of love poured into the space. I won't bore you with abundant details, but it was about 2 months of daily work - and not actually just myself. My parents live close, and were out here with me day and night. Some really sweet memories looking back, and in the end a beautiful space full of creative inspiration that I can come and do all sorts of work. Endlessly thankful and hopefully I can be lucky enough to live with the space for many more years.
I've said it before and I will say it again → invest in yourself!