In Which I Begin to Decorate

After the initial excitement of collecting the keys to my studio space, it was time to think about how to prepare the unit for business. A trip to a local DIY store was top of the ‘to do’ list. One lengthy shopping trip later, I was stocked up with items such as paint, brushes, rollers, trays, plastic sheets, masking tape, an extra door lock, and a couple of large rolls of paper towels. Unloading the equipment into the studio, and taping the plastic sheeting down was done the night before work started. It felt good to prepare the room for decorating and meant I could get in and get going straight away the following morning.

I’d set aside a couple of days to complete the painting but when it came to it, a day was all that was required. The unit was in great condition already so only really needed a bit of tidying up. Those who know me will understand when I say that the most time and attention was taken over rescuing spiders from their various outposts around the walls. Painting spiders into the stonework was definitely NOT on the ‘to do’ list. I put them all outside safely, placing each spider carefully at a different spot in the greenery surrounding the building. Hopefully it didn’t take them long to set up new homes, but they will always be welcome to settle back into the studio once it’s operating.

Day two (which had been allocated to painting) was instead set aside to install a couple of cables across the width of the room, in order to hang backdrops for different shoots. One cable directly in front of the large window so I can use the natural light as back light, the other cable set further away from the window so that I can work with the natural light falling from behind me and onto the subject.

The next step will be to have some flooring laid, and install a bit of furniture. After that, the studio will be ready to receive its first customers.

As well as the practical element of preparing for studio work, I’ve signed up for a series of free webinars run by HMRC. I attended the first lesson today. Titled “Self Employment and HMRC – What You Need To Know”, I found it extremely helpful. The combination of clear presentation and interactive question and answer session provided guidance and reassurance that the team were there to support small business owners rather than catch them out. I’m looking forward to the next webinar “Record Keeping For The Self-Employed”. I recommend these webinars very highly – you can find more information here if interested.

And so to the weekend and perhaps a bit of a break. Perhaps.