Garage to Newborn Photography Studio Transformation!

Have you been dreaming of converting your garage into a newborn photography studio space…well this is your sign to get moving! This was a lot of work, but when it’s your passion, it doesn’t feel like work does it? The full conversion of my garage into a newborn studio took about two months from start to shooting, but it was SO worth it and I am loving it so much! I continue to add and improve, no renovation is ever complete! Check out all the things I did to get there!

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STEP ONE: CLEAR OUT ALL THE STUFF!

Luckily I have a standing crawl space under my house so this wasn’t too hard to do for me. Lots of shelves and bins were purchased, so now all of my holiday, camping, tools, bikes, etc. live in the crawl space behind my garage which gave me a clean slate to get started! If you don’t have this option, a shed can be a great option, Costo, Home Depot, and Lowe’s have great options.

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STEP TWO: THE FLOORS

Epoxy the floors or install flooring. We actually wound up doing both. This gives you a clean, sealed base. You can either leave this as your flooring or install above it. There were many steps with scrubbing, sanding, acid washing, filling cracks, and painting, but the result was great! After the gray epoxy and then for a wood look, rolled vinyl flooring on top of it and I love it. It has just the right amount of cushion so if things are dropped it isn’t loud, it is a beautiful color that I can use as a photo flooring option in photos, and it is very easy to clean.

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STEP THREE: THE GARAGE DOOR

If money was no object, I might have considered a frosted glass door and done a natural light studio, but that wasn’t in the cards, so I knew I didn’t want to get rid of the garage door. I really really didn’t want the big ugly belt track on the ceiling though, so when a friend’s hubby mentioned this mounted beauty, I knew it was the perfect solution. It was really pretty easy to install, I think it took me about 2 hours from start to finish to remove the belt from the ceiling, mount this one, and follow the steps for programming. This is so nice because it is hidden and the door is still completely functional. I still have the tracks for the door on the ceiling but I painted them white so they would fade away and they are just something I have to live with. To be honest, with all the cute props and other pretty things, no one notices at all.

I bought insulation panels from Home Depot to line the back of the garage door, because mine wasn’t insulated and this really helps with keeping the outside temperature from penetrating the door so much.

To top it off, I wound up getting curtain rods and buying white curtains to hang all the way down the wall to cover the back of the garage door, it looks very clean and elegant and you wouldn’t even know the door was back there. I also chose to put the client lounge couch with its back to the garage door, so they really do forget that it is there when they are in the space.

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STEP FOUR: WALL PAINT

I went with Pure White by Sherwin Williams at Lowes. It seems simple, but be careful with white, there are lots of color casts, hues, and tones that you don’t want bouncing around your studio. White will bounce a ton of neutral light around, be easy to touch up, and present a fresh clean space to my clients. White walls will also make any art you hang pop off the walls so your clients can’t miss your beautiful creations and any wall art that you might be trying to sell.

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STEP FIVE: WALLS AS BACKDROPS

I really wanted to have at least 3 walls to use as background options and I love how they turned out. First was a molding wall, which I call my San Francisco wall. This was very easy to do with molding strips from Lowes and a chop saw. I LOVE some chop saw action! Lol!

The urban wall was created by simply deciding to keep the brick in the lower part of the wall and drywall upper. I really love this one, it is casual and clean and very versatile.

For the last wall, I wired LED panels together for a really great light wall. I got these panels from Amazon and wired them in vertical sections to plugs and then put curtains in front of them. I love the backlit shots I get from these!

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STEP SIX: ELECTRICAL

I highly recommend wiring electrical into the ceiling of your studio if you have the option. I have my light plugged into the ceiling which is so nice because it eliminates the tripping factor for myself and my clients. Having multiple plugs around the studio is also handy for plugging in space heaters to keep babies warm.

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STEP SEVEN: CLIMATE CONTROL

When I first thought about climate control, I was convinced that a standing unit would be a great option so I bought one. I quickly realized I would be way more comfortable and confident with keeping the temperature steady with a wall mini-split. I purchased this one through Lowe’s and so far it is fantastic. This was a pretty large purchase considering it cost $2000 just to install it. It definitely is worth the peace of mind though and the studio always feels great!

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STEP EIGHT: SHELVING

Shelving was crucial! I needed something that would look great, be functional and hold up really well. After lots of research and price comparison, I went with 4 stacking cubby units for my textiles and a large 3 section unit for my props. I got them all from IKEA in white. So far they are holding up well and I love them just as much as the day we installed them.

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STEP NINE: WORK TABLE AND WRAP DISPLAY

I inherited this husky work table and was actually just using it as a surface in the garage. When I went to clear everything out, I realized this could be very handy. I wound up painting the black legs white to blend in with the white studio walls. Since I am a hybrid photographer, I don’t have all of the clothes for my sessions hung up, this gives me a great place to lay them out. To make the table even more functional, I screwed a curtain rod into the bottom front of the table and hung wraps from it. This makes a really pretty pop of color and a focal point in the studio.

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STEP TEN: BACKDROP STORAGE

I have been putting my backdrops on PVC pipe and storing them in these carts for years, they are awesome. It prevents wrinkles and takes up relatively little space. I recently spray-painted the ones that I have because some were different colors and it makes for a very cohesive look.