How to build a home pottery studio in your back garden - 1) the building

It's coming up to a year since I had a tiny thought about having a pottery wheel at home... I was going through a voluntary redundancy process from my University job, and due to caring responsibilities it was increasingly difficult to get out to the studio I had a membership at.

The tiny thought grew pretty rapidly and I was soon measuring the space in my garden (with a bit of help from my friend and his surveying poles!), designing layouts for a wheel and wedging table, and obsessing over sheds online. While I have an adequately sized garden at the back of my Victorian terraced house, I didn't want to take the whole garden over, or to spend too much on this project. I'm sure other people will be having similar thoughts, so I am writing a blog series on how to build a home pottery studio in your back garden!

a back garden with surveyors poles

Looking at sheds meant weighing up cost, reviews, sizes and shapes, and windows and doors... While I was quite tempted by this children's shed that we went to see, my options were really either a 3ft wide shed which would fit in the garden without extending over my kitchen window, or a shed that was 4ft wide which would potentially block the window.

a large lady sits in a children's summer house

a close up of a large lady sitting in a children's summer house

There weren't a huge range of options for a 3ft wide shed, so I decided not to worry too much about the window (I'd clearly be spending all my time either in my shed, or enjoying looking out at it) and went for 4ft width. This was the right choice because it means that I can fit some narrow shelves alongside my wheel so I'm not always twisting to put my pots behind me. I‘ll be writing about fitting my studio out in a future blog.

I knew I wanted light in my shed so I went for an 8x4 custom configured shed from Tiger Sheds which had full size glass doors on 3 of the 4 sides of the shed. I was quite worried about the heat/cold and whether these doors would be sensible because I wouldn't be able to insulate them, but my desire for light was the deciding factor, so I went for it!

I've been in the shed in all 4 seasons now and am sure I made the right choice. During the winter I benefitted from any winter sun that there was and used a little oil filled radiator to make the shed warm enough to work in. During the summer it is too hot to be in the shed in the afternoon when in full sun, but it’s glorious in the morning and the evening - and when the doors are open it feels like I’m fully in the garden. I have invested in a parasol to give some shade.

a colourful parasol sits outside a shed with a pottery wheel in it

some beautiful poppies are in the foreground, a pottery shed is in the background

I ordered the shed and started doing the prep to the patio (there were a few trips to the tip to get rid of the various bits and bobs that had accumulated). It was delivered to the roadside on a pallet on a very hot day last July. I got it inside on my own and it sat in the kitchen for a day or so, and then my brilliant friend Chris came and took charge with the assembly. This was definitely a 2 person job. Chris is super handy and confident with this kind of project so it went up fairly quickly. And so was born the shed of dreams!

a flat pack shed sits on a pallet on the street

the pottery shed is up but still needs some work

I’m planning to write about fitting the studio out, and my kiln shed in future blog posts, but do let me know what you’d like to read about via the comments below.

Jen x