Getting our Tool Time On

Waay back in the summer just after we wrapped up the basement reno, we also finished off another space, our workshop!

With the clean-up of the whole house underway we realized establishing a space for all our DIY and other household items to go was instrumental in re-claiming our house.

So, our workshop space got kitted out, tout de suite.  When we bought the house there was a workshop directly off of our carport. 

The bones were good with double entry doors, and even forced air heating (woopwoop!), but the layout and storage options in the existing space was poor, so we knew with a little thought it could go from good to great.

As you can see from those inspection day pictures, the room itself was "drywalled" when we bought it (by drywalled I mean they used a million little leftover scraps  of drywall on the walls and ceiling!).  With our basement reno we stole some space from this room to create our new shared laundry space (check out the floor plan before and after here and the whole basement reno story here).  With the electrical, plumbing, and insulation going in the neighbouring space needing to carry over somewhat into this space due to the layout changes, we took the opportunity to pump up this indoor/outdoor space with more insulation for those winter projects, as well as brighter cleaner walls to make a cheerier workspace you actually wanna hang out in. 

By bumping the laundry room wall into the workshop space we were a bit worried about the loss of space in the workshop, but in the end a series of serendipitous events meant that we've got a pretty custom looking workshop for not a lot of money.  So, sit back and grab a coffee and I'll show you around our new and improved workshop.  As you enter, to the right you get a sneak peek at H's little pet summer project....

 

Yup, that's a giant blue fridge.  This baby has been in my family longer than I have, in it's former life it was kerosene fridge at my parent's cabin.   It was there when my parents bought the place ~35 years ago and was used every summer to keep our food and bevies cold.  When it was finally retired last summer (when we upgraded to mini fridges powered by solar power) , it was destined for the dump.  H on the other hand had another vision for it so we toted it home on the back of the boat and then in the back of our Matrix, so he could work his magic.

 

H envisioned it in our living room as a storage unit..... I was not too thrilled by this prospect on a few levels- both aesthetic and safety based.  So I persuaded him that the workshop or carport was a better/safer option.  So, we stripped it of it's "guts", kept all the original shelving and used several cans of spray paint later to take this big beast from white/rust/chrome to royal blue & chrome.  With a little bit of elbow grease we now have a fun custom shelving unit.

 

 

Serendipity #1 was that the fridge just happened to fit perfectly in the nook left from the laundry room creation, with only about an inch to spare!  It's almost like it had chosen it's own new home.

Serendipity #2 was finding a desk on the side of the road by our house.... a desk that fit along the wall to the left of the doors.

By adding some extensions to the desk legs, it is now at counter height, perfect for working on small projects.

Next up we wanted to address the rest of the room by maximising storage while minimizing loss of floor space, so we went vertical by recycling the old shelving system, and ran it in a L shape along two walls.

A little organization later, and we have all our tools and DIY supplies tucked away safely in our workshop, ready for our next project.

We still have a few other small ideas for this space, like pegboard under the lowest shelf for setting out screwdrivers etc.  as well as a hanging system for garden tools etc.  But until next summer we are calling it done.... unless we decide that there's no time like the present.