Urban Patina: Authentically Crafted Home + Gift: Onward and UPward: The New Studio

Whoa! It's been awhile since I've posted something. But I have a good reason for the hiatus...over the course of 6 weeks we built a new studio to work out of! For the last three years we have been operating out of our garage. It's impossible for me to articulate just how cramped the space was in the garage, but try to imagine not being able to bend over and pick something up without your rear end bumping into another project! It was a very cozy work area to put it nicely. With the encouragement and support of our parents, we knew we needed to take the next step...time to build a bigger workshop.

When acting as the project manager on something like this, I learned so much. Here are my top three take-aways:

1. The project will cost more than estimated.

2. Don't get frazzled when things don't happen exactly like you had planned; be flexible.

3. It will rain when you don't want it to.

Taking a hiatus from projects this past month has been hard for me. I've been dying to get into the new space and get creating, my list of ideas is long and it's time to get busy! {but, I may have also spent hours dreaming of how nice it will be to park our cars in the garage this winter...a perk many take for granted in Minnesota!}

All things considered, the project went really pretty well. We selected some amazing companies to work with and they exceeded our expectations with the fit, finish and customer service.

We moved into the studio this past week and have been busy trying to organize everything while trying to get some landscaping done all at the same time. So. Much. To. Do. It will all take time, but the hard part is over now and the fun part is about to begin.

Here are some photos of the progress from start to finish. I promise to get posting some projects very soon!

This is the space pre-construction