How to Make a Workshop in a One Bedroom Apartment

Identify and carve out useable space within your 1-bedroom apartment. This could take maneuvering to start your project, so be ruthless when it comes to clearing out, consolidating and throwing out possessions that are cluttering up both of your rooms. Next, clean up the area earmarked for your workshop so you start the renovation from the ground up, knowing exactly where light sockets, wall outlets, heating vents and other room features are located.

Gather the equipment you’ll install in the space, since the largest and most important items must be dealt with first. Take the measurements of each piece of equipment, as well those of the space within your one bedroom apartment you’ll devote to your workshop. Include walls abutting the perimeter.

Draw -- using paper and pencil or a computer draw program -- a floor plan to indicate where each piece of equipment plus items like a worktable, desk, shelves, bookcases, etc. are to be situated. If you’re purchasing new equipment, look for models that come with casters or wheels, especially equipment that can be wall-mounted, like a Murphy bed, to conserve floor space.

Address the flooring issue. Your workshop may be devoted to sculpting, woodwork or another activity that’s guaranteed to play havoc with your floor. Laying down a linoleum-type flooring within the workshop area of your one bedroom apartment can save time, money and aggravation. Install underlayment before the tiles or sheets of flooring go down as an extra measure of protection.

Hang everything. Walls are your biggest asset when building a workshop in a one bedroom apartment so start the build-out by placing bookcases, storage cabinets or by hanging shelves to accommodate your tools, supplies and materials. All it takes is a ladder to get to the supplies you rarely use, so you may not need one too often. Nail pegboard sheets to the walls without shelves for more hanging space.

Get creative. Follow the lead of Seattle-area furniture maker Curtis Erpelding who hung his worktable with fold-up legs high up on a workshop wall, using a clever pulley and rope system to lower it to the floor when the table is needed. Build a table saw into an extension table so the unit does double duty or turn stair steps into a supply drawer system if you have stairs. If these ideas don’t spur more creative thoughts for making an efficient workshop in your one bedroom apartment, maybe you should look for a larger place.