For those of you who wonder where I create my miniatures and imagine perhaps that I have a spacious workshop far away from everyday distractions, with an ample drawing board and a plethera of hi-tech tools, this article will give you an idea of how and where I work.
My small London flat has the dimensions of a good sized living room in the average family home, so you can forget the purpose built workshop and the garden shed-converted-to-workshop, the space in the attic or the spare bedroom, MY workshop is also my sitting room, dining room, bedroom, office, store room and computer station, TV room and even the spare bedroom!
You might say that my entire life is lived in miniature! Living and working in such a small area means that every inch of space must be utilised to the full, and to this end I have built most of the furniture myself using IKEA flat-pack units!
My main workbench is a kitchen worktop that runs right along one wall under the window. To either side of the window are bookcases that house my files, records and reference sources. A series of doors beneath the worktop conceal the contents while the room is in “sitting room mode” but behind those doors are the raw materials that I use to create my furniture.
I’ve used a mixture of kitchen and wardrobe units to create purpose built storage. Wide wardrobe drawers are perfect for timber, and kitchen pan-drawers house plastics, metals, laminates, paints, glues, mirrors, sinks - and the saw when it’s not in use! Kitchen storage boxes fit perfectly in the pan drawers, making excellent use of all the available space.
On the opposite side of the room is my bed, built on yet more kitchen units. Cupboards at either end support the slatted bed frame leaving a large enclosed storage area in the middle. Here are the displays I use at Fairs, and yet more supplies. There are even cupboards above the bed – these are also kitchen units, this time fan cabinets, painted to match the walls – this little trick makes them “disappear” and means they don’t make the room feel claustrophobic.
Nearby is my computer – a laptop (no room for a desktop!) on which I do a lot of the designing for the fitted kitchens and bathrooms and process the orders from my website.
The “real” work is done amidst chaos on the table. At one time this was a proper table – a folding table that could be pulled out and seat six....But as my business grew I began to run out of office space and so the shelf unit made its appearance - and that made it difficult to move the table. Then I needed room for kit components and another kitchen cupboard took the place of the table legs! Now if we have more than three to eat, it’s finger food only – or eat out!
Everything is a little topsy turvy in my flat. The bed is built on kitchen units, but at the entrance to the kitchen I’ve used shallow bathroom units! And even here living and working are combined beacause along with the drinks and the cat food, the breakfast cereal and the bisuits, are the spray paints and adhesives.
I share my workspace with our cat Pud whose entire life is dedicated to sleep . She does occasionally wake up and watch what’s going on outside the window...but it’s soon back to sleep again!
In the summer the view from my window almost resembles a tropical forest. Although I live within 15 mins of the centre of London and one of the main roads out of the city passes within 100 yards of my flat, large Victorian houses muffle all sounds from the road and I live in a little oasis of peace. There is no traffic, just the sound of birds and the breeze in the trees., and because I face south, the sun streams in – highlighting the inevitable dust that covers every surface! I usually have a big clear-up when I come to the end of a project, but in between whiles the dust accumulates and fragments of wood and scraps of paper litter the floor. If I stopped to clean up every five minutes – and believe me, with the electric saw in regular use, the room is rarely sawdust-free - I’d never get any work done and I’d spend a lifetime vacuum cleaning, so I content myself with the old adage that “a tidy house is the sign of a wasted life” and my own belief that there are better things to do in life than housework!
Of course there are disadvantages to living and working in the same space. It’s all too easy to sit down with the morning cup of coffee – espresso in my case - and once I’ve dealt with the morning emails, start on the day’s work without a second thought. I have countless T shirts and even nightshirts spattered with paint! It can also be difficult to stop working; I can’t simply close the door and put it all behind me as work is everywhere, a constant invitation to “just finish that” or “see if this works”.
However, there are advantages too. I don’t have to go elsewhere to answer the phone, or check my emails. My files and order books are always to hand, and I can cook the meals and deal with the washing without having to desert my workshop.
As summer turns to winter and the cold weather arrives and those with outdoor workshops retreat indoors struggling to keep warm, and wondering when they will be able to get back to work, I can relax and appreciate the benefits of living and working in the same space. And just occasionally, I do clear the decks, and simply sit down and relax!
Copyright on all text and photos in this article are the property of Elizabeth LePla
