If you follow me on social media or my blog, you may already know that I am finally going to have a design studio where I can create in a dedicated space that I can call my own. This studio is going to be the brick and mortar home of Jaxsology and I’m crazy excited.

The building is actually a two-story garage. My design studio will be on the second level, and from the looks of it now it’s going to be pretty spacious. This has been a dream of mine for quite some time. I started putting it into the universe about two years ago. Now the dream is finally coming true. 

For the past several years, my make-shift “craft room” in what is supposed to be a guest bedroom, started closing in on me. The motivation, spontaneity and willingness to create became stifled in this space, and all I could do was walk into the room and instantly feel paralyzed. Time for an upgrade, not to mention that it’s high time I reclaim the space in my house. 

The main reason this space is so important to me is because whenever I am in creative mode, I have to go with what I’m feeling in the moment. That’s when I do my best work. However, in a limited work space it’s a hassle pulling out a bunch of stuff needed for one project, only to shift gears mid-project and have to put everything away and pull out more stuff for another project. I started running out of storage space, and admittedly, I did not have the energy to be part of it any longer. I almost lost my mojo in the process!

Ultimately, I believe it is going to be therapeutic for my creative soul and I wanted to share this journey right here where Jaxsology was actually born. Waxing too poetic? Anyway, the whole process of this building going up was a journey in itself, and I am going to share the process step by step in a series. 

Hubs and I worked on the specs of the two-story garage and then purchased from a great couple, Fred and Sue of Backyard Sheds. It was immediately clear that anything was possible in the design process, so we were able to customize to our liking. They then referred us to another great guy, aptly named Guy, who prepped our site and poured the concrete pad.  

When we brought our property and built our house we soon learned that for some odd reason, people up here will go to the trouble to place an ad in the local papers for all types of construction work, but then they never show up or follow through. Therefore, we were well aware that the referrals were going to be extremely important to get this job completed.  

Scheduling work and obtaining permits, thankfully, was easy breezy. It was a first for me to obtain a building permit. Imagine me, acting like a semi general contractor on this one (smiling). 

Once the building arrived all the way from PA, three absolutely wonderful and hard-working young Amish and Mennonite men worked from sun up to sun down, erecting this building in 4 days – five if you count clean up and finishing touches on the final day.

Lucky enough to watch them work all week long, only breaking for a half hour lunch each day, I was in complete awe.  The way they worked together in this captivating choreographed construction performance was really a sight to see. I would check in on the progress every now and again, taking video and pictures throughout the days. They were really nice guys and it was fun talking and learning about each other in the process. 

The weather for the entire week was nothing short of stellar.  Perfect conditions, not too hot, not too humid – simply perfect. They started on Monday and by Friday it was a wrap. 

On day five I realized that this was one of the most efficient construction projects I had ever witnessed. Every detail was covered, and a few extras as well. The quality and workmanship became unquestionably apparent when we started preliminary measuring for closets and flooring. Every single angle of this building is 100% square!  This is going to make things like flooring, custom cabinetry, drywall installation and others much easier. This is definitely more than a backyard shed!

Do you have any creative design ideas? What features would your dream workspace include? Got any great storage tips? Let’s discuss in the comments below.  I’m dying to hear your thoughts!