Designing a Studio with Becca

As I sit here writing January's blog for Cotton Cuts, I feel so incredibly blessed to be in a *almost* finished Studio in our new home that was literally designed from the ground up to meet my needs. For the past 6-ish months, I've been sewing out of boxes in transition - and haven't really had a chance to fully un pack. While I feel blessed to have been able to keep my machine out during the entire journey (I know some of my friends out there can't even do that much) - it was a far cry from what I had in our old home.

The journey to get here has been interesting - and there were lots of decisions that needed to be made along the way. I've heard a few folks talking about she-sheds they're planning to build, or garage conversions they're taking on in the near future - and today, I want to share those big decisions that you may need to consider, and give a bit of information about the decision I chose, and why I went that way.

To Be Attached or Not Attached?

Ultimately, we decided to go with attached! We renovated our 2-car garage into a Quilting Studio. We designed a Studio attached to the home with it's own dedicated entrance so that visitors could come & go without disrupting my family's day-to-day. Additionally, since the Studio is attached to the home - I feel like I'm not abandoning my family for a shed somewhere else on the property. I'm right off the breakfast nook, and fully accessible.

Let There Be Light!

A Quilter's best friend is light...in fact, *day light*...and I wanted a lot of it in my Studio. We put in *lots* of windows (well, technically, we put in an order for them - and are hoping for delivery in February!) - but, since I can't control the sun - I needed lighting that would keep the Studio brightly lit even at night. We've added a total of 8 6" recessed lights with 5200 daylight light bulbs and will relocate a very beautiful (and bright!) chandelier from our breakfast nook into the space. The Studio is extremely well lit - and it's only going to get better once the windows & punch list for construction are done!

I Have the Power!!

So, let's talk electricity. As a Quilter and a YouTuber, I run a lot of Equipment - and the last thing I want is for the Studio to not be able to handle all the things. I have a longarm, at least one iron, camera equipment, sewing machine, computer, and a mini split - at a minimum - to power. And honestly - I want to be able to run *all* of it at the same time. So, we chose to put in three separate circuits into the space - one dedicated for the mini split (a ductless HVAC system), one for the longarm and a couple of other outlets, and a dedicate circuit for my sewing table. Since we were starting from scratch, I also got to choose where my outlets would be placed. I knew I'd be using the 8' tall Billy Bookcases from Ikea - and I didn't want to lose outlets on my fabric wall - so I made a strategic decision to place outlets on my fabric wall and my design wall about 9' up (so I can still use it later!). And...no one wants to trip over cords. I knew I wanted my sewing desk to be floating and facing the windows - so we put a outlet on the floor under my desk. Smart move, highly recommend.

From the Windows to the Walls...

The windows are still pending delivery (sigh, everything is delayed these days) - but the drywall & flooring have long been finished. We made the decision to go with the premium sound dampening drywall to help minimize the sound bleed between the Studio and the home. Honestly, I can run my longarm at top speed and my husband (who's office is LITERALLY on the other side of the wall) can't really hear anything. That's amazing! For flooring, I chose a nice berber carpet - but that's really because I want the carpet to help with acoustics in my videos. If I wasn't doing the YouTube thing, I'd have gone with tile or LVP.

I'm mostly unpacked - but still have some things to put away. The big things are up and running, though! I'm looking forward to having the windows installed next month and sharing a full studio tour with you!