I’ve got a lot of home repair projects in my immediate future and I’ve noticed, from experience, that when my workshop is usable and organized those projects tend to go a lot more smoothly. In the past few months I’ve decided to focus on making my tiny workshop both useful and pleasant. The challenge has been that our 1920s garage is tiny–sized for two Model-Ts–and must also accommodate our Honda Fit. At the risk of seeming like I’ve come down from the mountaintop with stone tablets, permit me to share a few things I’ve learned about tiny workshop design:

• Put everything on wheels. Get some locking wheels at the hardware store and the workshop will be infinitely re-configurable. You can even roll everything outside when needed to work on large pieces or to deal with dust issues.
• Use Sketchup to figure out the best configuration. Most tools, cars and cabinets have been modeled for you by the Sketchup community. All you have to do is make a quick sketch of your work space and download the components.
• Make all tools and workbenches the same height. When you do this every surface is a potential out-feed table for a table saw, miter saw etc.
• Use chalkboard paint to label cabinets and drawers.
• Clean as you work. I don’t always live up to this principle in the workshop or in the kitchen, but when you don’t have a lot of room you’ve got to put stuff back and get rid of scraps otherwise things get ugly and dangerous.
• Thou shalt not store crap in thy workshop. A clean and organized workshop is inspiring. Banish the crap and you’ll make space for creativity. I even hosted a cocktail party in the workshop on Halloween.

And to the dolt who recently suggested closing libraries, let me note that the inspiration for the layout of my workshop came from a book I stumbled on while browsing the stacks of the library, Great Workshops From Fine Woodworking. When it comes to home repair and woodworking information I seek out Taunton Press books when at the library.

When it comes to code bending home repairs, I like to remember to the late artist Chris Burden’s mega-shed project, “Small Skyscraper.” Burden discovered an odd loophole in the City of Los Angeles’ building code which allowed anyone to build a shed no more than 400 square feet but, oddly, 35 feet tall. So, back in 2003, Burden built a 35 foot tall shed/skyscraper. Embarrassed city officials soon closed the loophole.

Burden was probably best known for having himself shot and crucified in the name of performance art, but I remember him for making it impossible to build the backyard tower I’ve always wanted.

One of the more successful projects around the Root Simple compound was making our own chalkboard paint and using it to label all of the cabinets in our garage workshop. In the past month, inspired by a visit from über-maker Federico Tobon, I’ve taken up the task of pimping out the workshop with a proper workbench and table saw. I’ll blog about Workshop 2.0 when I’m finished with the renovation, but the chalkboard paint hack is worth a repeat mention.

Thanks to the chalkboard paint, when I want to find a tool I can just glance up at the cabinets and know immediately where it is. The recipe I used is:

1 cup latex paint
1 tablespoon cool water
2 tablespoons unsanded grout

Making your own chalkboard paint is a lot cheaper than buying the pre-made stuff. Plus you can use any color of latex paint. The paint has stood up to repeated erasing and re-chalking.

Eric of Garden Fork just did a video where he made a chalkboard/pallet wood frame. In the video he uses an adhesive chalkboard film.

Our workshop/garage is right on the sidewalk and on Halloween it doubles as a candy and (for the adults) cocktail dispensing venue. Should you find yourself in #HaFoSaFo, drop on by. Rumor has it that the adults will be served a Penicilina “enhanced” with MDF dust.

A few years ago I had the great privilege of teaching bread classes in the Greystone mansion for the Institute of Domestic Technology. The mansion, located in Beverly Hills, was the most expensive home built in the 1920s. It was a gift from oil bazillionaire Edward Doheny to his son Ned Doheny. To put it mildly, things life did not go well for the family. The Doheny family almost brought down president Harding through their involvement in the Teapot Dome bribery scandal and Ned’s life ended in a mysterious murder/suicide in the house.

The grounds of the Doheny mansion are open to the public and well worth visiting. The interior is, mostly, off limits but a friendly guard gave me a tour after a bread class. The feature of the mansion that most struck me was the elaborate prohibition era hidden liquor accommodations. Ned was a notorious alcoholic and fitted out almost every room with small cabinets tucked into the walls. He even had his own bowling alley in the basement adjacent to a speakeasy cleverly hidden behind a roll up wall. Both were restored for the film There Will Be Blood.

Prohibition sparked a lot of creativity in the 1920s even among those with fewer resources than Ned Doheny. I sometimes wonder if the trend for built in ironing boards and breakfast nook benches in 1920s era homes had a dual purpose? I also wonder if we’ll see another hidden cabinet trend if marijuana prohibition returns.

In case that happens, here’s just a few clever hacks from the 1920s:

“I’m just carrying a load of bricks officer.”

Too bad everyone listens to mp3s these days.

Then there’s the flask, small and . . .

party sized.

Should you wish to make your own secret hiding places there’s a book by Charles Robinson The Construction of Secret Hiding Places that you can download for free. There’s also an Instructable showing how to turn a spray paint can into a hidden safe.

Alas, none of these ideas will foil the “hooch hound:”

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The Futility Closet podcast had an interesting episode a few weeks back that told the story of the creation of what many consider to be the most beautiful font ever designed: Doves type. In 1913 the type’s creator, Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, threw the typeface into the Thames rather than let it fall into the hands of his unscrupulous business partner.

Designer Robert Green spent years attempting to recreate the font. Unsatisfied with the results, he went to the bridge that Cobden-Sanderson had stood on while pitching tons of typeface. Over one hundred years later in the shallow, muddy waters at the base of the bridge, Green found enough Doves typeface to perfect his digital recreation. You can now purchase Doves font through Green’s website.

Something should also be said for Cobden-Sanderson’s bookbinding skills.

William Morris made some equally impressive printing achievements with his Kelmscott Press, a last ditch effort to hold back the tides of industrialized mediocrity. I found a list of Kelmscott Press facsimiles that you can view online including John Ruskin’s The Nature of Gothic : A Chapter of The stones of Venice.

Call me fuddy-duddy, but I think the Cobden-Sanderson/Morris Arts and Crafts posse have a few things left to tell us about the importance of beauty in our lives.