Shopkeeper's Diary #1 - Workin' on the Workshop Room

by Sean Johnson

 

Hey there, it's Sean, checking in with our new shopkeeper's diary series. Shopkeeper's diary is a behind-the-scenes series that takes you through some of the work that went into making the shop AND some of our day-to-day activities.

For this first diary, I wanted to show you the efforts we've made to get workshops up and running. That's right; we're now hosting workshops and other events. Some will even be hosted by yours truly. You can see more details at neworigin.shop. 

For now, let's take a look at how things came together.

So the first thing we needed was a space for you guys to come and relax when you visit us for workshops. The space we inherited had a room that was perfect for hosting. The only problem? It was completely devoid of light. That's because it used to be a photographer's darkroom.

So the first step? Let there be light!

New Origin Shop Workshop Room Before

Ok, a little better. Even though black IS my favorite color, it may not suit our workshop room. So, it's time to lighten the place up even more with a fresh coat of paint. I used the same colors you've seen around the rest of the store. I even reincorporated the shapes that we used in the front.

Sean painting New Origin Shop's workshop room

You can see I mapped out things with some painter's tape. That big rectangle is where our pegboard is going to go.

New Origin Shop Workshop Room In Progress

Alright, after painting and carefully peeling away painter's tape, things were looking pretty good. It's starting to look like the New Origin Shop we know and love.

Although, we still need to make it more functional and dress it up with some decor and furniture.

So here's where I landed. There are still some odds and ends to bring in, but I think it's a cozy and functional workshop room, don't you?

New Origin Shop Workshop Room Finished

You can see that we installed a few of these pegboards for the walls. That way, we can add a bunch of storage containers for small jewelry pieces and hold a bunch of our crafting tools.

I brought in this dresser for additional storage, and we'll probably add more storage later, like a small cart or something. 

Of course, we needed a table and some chairs for our artists and guests to sit and work. I also brought in a small lamp because working under ceiling lights can feel a little oppressive after a while—especially in a room without windows like this one.

We brought in some greenery to liven up the place and add visual variety. I made this small macrame piece hanging above the table to fill in some negative space and add texture.

New Origin Shop Workshop Room Macrame Center Piece

And we've added some other decor elements here and there to keep things visually interesting and spark creativity—with the plan to add more as we go along.

The opposite side of the room hosts all of our photography equipment. We'll use this area for product photos, and guests can even take pictures of their creations after completing a workshop.

New Origin Shop Workshop Room Photo Equipment

But that's it for this diary entry. If you're curious about taking one of our workshops, check out our calendar of events on our website. I host some of our crafting classes, but we teach all sorts of things, from jewelry-making to crochet—and we're even looking to invite some guest instructors to cover some subjects that we don't teach. 

Well, there's always something to do around here—so I'll be back with another shopkeeper's diary in the future. Thanks for checking in with us, and we hope to see you soon!

Want to see more? Follow us on Instagram: @neworiginshop

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