Austin Kleon - Building my dream studio
Hey y’all, This is a free-for-everybody edition of the Tuesday newsletter. I wanted to tell all y’all about my year-long dream project: Building a brand-new poolside studio in my backyard! Before I get started, heads up that tomorrow, Dec. 7 is the last day to order one of my books signed and personalized from Bookpeople in time for Dec. 25. I’ll be signing everything this weekend and will sign as many of my books as you buy! Buy a whole stack for the office if you want to and we’ll get you covered. In the past dozen years or so, I’ve worked in spare bedrooms, garages, attics, and lofts. Curiously, I’ve found that almost nothing beats the kitchen table: But I like being married and I want to stay married, so my mess needs a dedicated space. This is the first chance I’ve had to actually build the space I work in from the ground up. For years, I prided myself on being fairly unfussy about my workspace. (I love how after Marc Maron hit big, he stayed in his garage.) I’m very influenced by what Steward Brand calls “low road” buildings: simple structures that are flexible and can change over time with the occupants’ needs. Here’s a garage I worked in while writing Keep Going: This space and many of my previous studios were inspired by the shipping container featured in Brand’s wonderful book, How Buildings Learn: lots of horizontal space for working and walls for storing books and tacking up images and pages. I rarely work on anything larger than a letter-sized sheet of paper, so what I do could be done anywhere. But what I really love is kind of an odd combo: I like high ceilings but not too big of a footprint. I like to be right up under a window with a view and tons of natural light but I also like to be tucked in and surrounded by my stuff. Sort of like a cockpit in an airplane. Of course, when you’re thinking about building a building, you are constrained by the building site. Real estate in Austin is completely insane — when we bought our current house, we were looking for a small bungalow on a big lot so we could have some fun in the back and put in a pool and a studio. (You can swim at least half the year in here Austin, Texas and the pool makes living here in the summer 200% more tolerable. I also do a ton of reading in the pool.) Here’s my notebook from 2 years ago: As we were looking for a place, I eased my nerves by starting a series of tape and magazine collages called “A House for Meg.” One of the collages was A House for Me: It is really spooky to me now how close that collage conjured what we ended up with. (See the image above.) It was good to have that vision on paper, because the pool took over six months and the studio took 14 months. (Pandemic. Freak ice storms and rainy seasons. Labor and supply shortages. Etc.) Now is probably a good point to tell you that my wife Meghan has a master’s degree in architecture? So there was a lot of sketching involved. We went with a box around 200 square feet, with windows on 3 sides, most of them facing north for the good light. Here’s a picture of me right after the subflooring went in": Building is very much like any other creative project: the structure looks really awesome after it’s framed because it’s rough but it exists and you get to imagine what it’s going to turn into. I loved this phase — the kids and I went in with sharpies and drew all over the paneling that we knew was going to get covered in insulation and dry-wall. Then, like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly, things get sort of ugly and weird and you start to get nervous. What if it’s not as good as you imagined? One of my favorite moments was after the crew blew in insulation and you could really start feeling what the room was going to be like. I love the photo I took of Meg at this stage: Here’s that same view months and months later finished out: I’m running out of room in this email, so I’m going to stop there for now. If you have questions about the construction I didn’t cover, just ask in the comments. We used a local builder who specializes in backyard offices, but a good book about building a space with your own hands is Michael Pollan’s A Place of My Own. Next week is part two: a look inside my studio and how I use it. Part two will be just for paid subscribers, so if you haven’t already, please consider subscribing: xoxo, Austin PS. Here’s a peak of the studio at night: You're currently a free subscriber to Austin Kleon. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Key phrases
Older messages
Riding or writing
Friday, December 2, 2022
10 things worth sharing this week
Imagineering
Friday, November 25, 2022
10 things worth sharing this week + California adventures
A portal to lost loot
Friday, November 18, 2022
10 things worth sharing this week
Drawing at the skate park
Friday, November 11, 2022
10 things worth sharing this week
Travel selfie
Friday, November 4, 2022
10 things worth sharing this week + Eastern Pennsylvania adventures
You Might Also Like
Cindy Crawford’s Airport Pants Are The *Best* Alternative To Sweats
Friday, March 29, 2024
Iconic.
My Top 3: Regular Little Indulgences
Friday, March 29, 2024
Witty subhead ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Google Wants You to Use AI for Your Next Vacation 🤔
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Don't Trust These 'Reset Password' Pop-ups on Your Apple Devices. Google has released several new ways you can use AI and other tools to help plan your next vacation, including the
GOP congresswoman blames Green New Deal for bridge collapse
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Green New Deal, for the record, does not technically exist. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Your Zodiac Sign Should Prepare For Love Affairs In April
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Plus, Lili Reinhart's peach glam look, Bustle's beauty awards are here, & more.
PunchTok Rattles New York Women
Thursday, March 28, 2024
What's new today on the Cut — covering style, self, culture, and power, plus interviews, profiles, columns, and commentary from our editors. Brand Logo THURSDAY, MARCH 28 WAIT WHAT IS HAPPENING ON
The worst mug in your kitchen has an important purpose
Thursday, March 28, 2024
This is the hottest new restaurant trend in LA
Ye Olde Sign Shoppe: Gran Canaria’s Tomás Prieto Gálvez
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Adventures in life, family, and sign painting with Tomás Prieto Gálvez in the Canary Islands. BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & Culture BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign
Coffee & tooth damage? We asked an expert
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Your health Qs, answered. Stay informed & stay well with theSkimm theSkimm Read in browser Skimm Well We've Skimm'd the news for you... Now it's time to simplify health and wellness.
That Damned Elusive Parking Spot
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Also a coffee shop bathroom, and not knowing what we really want ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏