Front face aesthetics- The Wonky Donkey Woorkshop. Your opinion pls.

[Cabinetman]

Just to refresh your memory, this is being built inside a barn and the area under the microscope today is the front wall and entrance door.
The plywood floor extends out past the front wall by about 15” and the door will open outwards. ( not really sure why I extended the floor tbh).
Pics at end showing a drawing to scale of the front wall, it touches barn interior walls on both sides and the roof above. Plus a general pic of the area showing the big brown horizontal piece of wood that is on the drawing.
I have acquired a blue door but it can be painted. The brown bits on the drawing are old barnwood which have a lovely old patina and colour
And a pic of the cladding I’m almost sure I will be using, comes in 8x4 sheets with T&g edges, probably will be painted but it might look good in its original rustic form?
Questions.
The door I’m fairly sure needs to be in the middle of the width to allow long bits of wood to be cut etc, but isn’t actually critical, does the wall need a window aesthetically? It won’t contribute any light. If a window would improve the overall look which side should it go? Does the door need to move a bit sideways to accommodate this?
And finally if I were to paint the siding, what with and what colour I’m thinking whitewash? with maybe a trace of colour added, maybe to match the existing L/H wall in the pic which is a washed out pale blue.
Thanks for your input, all suggestions and input very much appreciated !
Ian

 

[Doug]

I’d go for a door in the middle, corners are handy for storage unless you are going to have a saw etc near the entrance then it could be handy to have the door to one side or the other, then you could open it to feed timber through, it really depends on your proposed shop layout.
If you want natural daylight I’d cut the two top panels out of the door & replace them with laminate glass, saves the expense of a window & laminate glass is a bugger to break through. Plus it’s handy to see if someone wants to come in to the workshop.

 

[Planeiron]

I think I missed the purpose of the build but think maybe it's a work area? Will the door open in or out which could influence position? I'm generally in favour of having windows but again depends on intended use. Doug's point about corners is a good one.

 

[Planeiron]

I think a window is nice to have though and if putting in would place to the right to the shorter side as this would be more balanced but entirely up to you. Translucent glass could be good as you can see someone there but your equipment will be obscured. I generally avoid painting building exteriors as they need redone again but as it's protected from the weather it'll be fine. Light colour/white for me.

Other thing to consider is getting another door and making a double door opening for even better access. Just a thought

 

[Malc2098]

I was going to suggest a double door, too, but I've found have an asymmetrical double door helpful in that I only need to open the normal size door for me going in and out, but the extra small size door opens to for moving larger items out of the workshop when they're finished.

 

[JamesHow]

This is my one recycling cladding apart from the beams!

 

[duke]

If you are assembling large pieces inside your workshop a double door would work well Ian. As Doug mentioned remove the top panels.
The ply cladding looks good , I have used the same material on the exterior of garages and sheds.

 

[Jonathan]

another vote for double doors, a simple task like carrying an 8x4 is soo much easier with double doors.
Also if the mini max ever needs to go out a single door would be problematic

 

[Cabinetman]

another vote for double doors, a simple task like carrying an 8x4 is soo much easier with double doors.
Also if the mini max ever needs to go out a single door would be problematic

No, single door is what I want folks, thank you, and the mc goes through easily.
Security and sealing air gaps is so much easier on a single.

 

[Woodbloke]

No, single door is what I want folks, thank you, and the mc goes through easily.
Security and sealing air gaps is so much easier on a single.

In my 'shop that you came into a couple of years ago, you'd have noticed a single door. All kit in the 'shop (large Ax industrial bandsaw, Jet 260 p/t, UJK ci router table etc, all the timber came in through that door. All the projects I've made have also exited by it so I've never seen the necessity for anything wider - Rob

 

[Cabinetman]

In my 'shop that you came into a couple of years ago, you'd have noticed a single door. All kit in the 'shop (large Ax industrial bandsaw, Jet 260 p/t, UJK ci router table etc, all the timber came in through that door. All the projects I've made have also exited by it so I've never seen the necessity for anything wider - Rob

Yes remember it well. And in my last workshop I had a single front door, plus two humongous back doors that took me and Ben a week to build insulate and make secure, never opened them again in 12? years.

 

[Mike G]

If this door is to be the only access into the workshop, then I suggest you reconsider and make it a double. A double of two smallish doors giving an opening of 1350 to 1500 would be my suggestion. If you insist on a single, then make it as big as you possibly can. As to where you put the door/s........that depends on your internal arrangements, only. Work out where your tools, bench/es, machines etc are going, and then plonk the door in place to suit them. I'm not sure I'd ever put a window in a workshop just for aesthetics. Wall space is just too valuable.

 

[Cabinetman]

If this door is to be the only access into the workshop, then I suggest you reconsider and make it a double. A double of two smallish doors giving an opening of 1350 to 1500 would be my suggestion. If you insist on a single, then make it as big as you possibly can. As to where you put the door/s........that depends on your internal arrangements, only. Work out where your tools, bench/es, machines etc are going, and then plonk the door in place to suit them. I'm not sure I'd ever put a window in a workshop just for aesthetics. Wall space is just too valuable.

Ok, understand all that thanks. Nothing will ever go in or be built that won’t go through the single and I’m fine with that, a foot or two movement of the door left or right won’t impinge on the workings of the interior either.
The question was purely the aesthetics - the look of the wall. The window, as it looks out into a dingy barn isn’t for light and won’t even go all the way through the wall actually. So just the prettiness of it all.
It all looks a bit tall and thin to me.

 

[Cabinetman]

I did forget to draw on the wall, and to mention that there is going to be a largish hatch on the front wall top left, this is for me to get timber in and out. But when closed it shouldn’t be visible. I have two very large Ash trees that are dead and it would be silly to waste all that good wood.
Thanks for all your comments. Ian

 

[duke]

Ian, I would paint/stain the exterior of your shop to what you like. Give it some colour to put a smile on your face when going in to have fun.

 

[Doug]

No, single door is what I want folks, thank you, and the mc goes through easily.
Security and sealing air gaps is so much easier on a single.

I’ve a double glazed sliding patio door behind the main workshop doors to keep the heat in & stop the noise getting out, it gives me around an 800mm wide opening so basically a single sized door opening & I’ve never had a problem getting machines in & projects out in the 20+ years I’ve had the workshop.

The idea behind it other than insulating the workshop was that I could open the outer doors & let lots of natural light in but with daylight light fittings I’ve probably only opened both doors a dozen times in all those years

 

[Cabinetman]

Ian, I would paint/stain the exterior of your shop to what you like. Give it some colour to put a smile on your face when going in to have fun.

Thanks Scott, yes that’s what I was hoping for, out with the dingy and in with my new brass door knocker, sign (when it arrives) maybe even seasonal wreaths?
I would have liked the floor section outside to have been veranda depth with a rocking chair but it wouldn’t fit!

 

[Accipiter]

If you think the sight of windows on the outside of the wall would be more aesthetically pleasing then put in 'false' ones - ie, blocked off on the inside if you don't have daylight. It depends if you feel you've got the room to have 'proper' windows - moved more towards the door rather than central of the door. That way, depending on the width of that wall, you may have room to put units on the side walls... a bit like I've done looking towards the back storage room


I don't have windows in the wall where the door is - because I don't/didn't feel I'd got the room with putting my door partly to one side... the door is about 1mt wide including the frame. Here's a couple of photo of inside


and outside view.

Excuse the mess please - inside and out.

Mine is a narrow 'shop, as I've realised with doing the ceiling cladding, so I need the wall space to put stuff that windows would remove - I've got a 6ft wide window in the long wall anyway.

Paint to match as close as possible... you're the main one that'll spend time there

 

[duke]

Like your signs.

 

[Accipiter]

Thank you

"Sawdust is Man Glitter" was a little present from the LOML from a little shop down in Cornwall where we holiday for a week in the summer every year. They get quite a number of different little signs.... some quite comical: "LOST WIFE AND DOG... REWARD FOR DOG" being one. A variant is to replace "HUSBAND" for wife... but still ends "reward for dog"

The "no admittance except on party business" (from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings") was brought back as another present by my daughter and son-in-law (and grandson) from their (delayed because of covid) honeymoon in New Zealand.

 

[Cabinetman]

If you think the sight of windows on the outside of the wall would be more aesthetically pleasing then put in 'false' ones - ie, blocked off on the inside if you don't have daylight. It depends if you feel you've got the room to have 'proper' windows - moved more towards the door rather than central of the door. That way, depending on the width of that wall, you may have room to put units on the side walls... a bit like I've done looking towards the back storage room
View attachment 38436

I don't have windows in the wall where the door is - because I don't/didn't feel I'd got the room with putting my door partly to one side... the door is about 1mt wide including the frame. Here's a couple of photo of inside
View attachment 38435

and outside view.
View attachment 38434
Excuse the mess please - inside and out.

Mine is a narrow 'shop, as I've realised with doing the ceiling cladding, so I need the wall space to put stuff that windows would remove - I've got a 6ft wide window in the long wall anyway.

Paint to match as close as possible... you're the main one that'll spend time there

Yes, thanks that’s pretty much the conclusion I was coming to about the one sided window. True I shall be spending a fair bit of time in there, but I’m not good with colours (ask my wife lol) but looking at yours bright white is about right for me.

 

[Accipiter]

Yes, thanks that’s pretty much the conclusion I was coming to about the one sided window. True I shall be spending a fair bit of time in there, but I’m not good with colours (ask my wife lol) but looking at yours bright white is about right for me.

Possibly you should pose the question of colour to the LOYL Ian . That said... you can't go far wrong with white

 

[GaryR]

Skip the window, but a shed roof over the door would look nice and be functional.

 

[Cabinetman]

Skip the window, but a shed roof over the door would look nice and be functional.

Like a porch? Yes that would break up the flatness of it all nicely, not too functional though lol, as It’s indoors!

 

[GaryR]

Ah, I completely missed that this was the view from inside!

 

[Cabinetman]

Ah, I completely missed that this was the view from inside!

Actually it depends, this is the outer wall of the workshop but it’s inside the barn.
Well anyway it gave me a laugh thanks.

 

[NickM]

I think an internal window would look good. It reminds me of the sort of window you'd see in a foreman's office in a factory for example.

It would also allow someone to see what you're doing before they come in and disturb you. A well trained visitor might not interrupt you if you're using a machine for example.

 

[Cabinetman]

I think an internal window would look good. It reminds me of the sort of window you'd see in a foreman's office in a factory for example.

It would also allow someone to see what you're doing before they come in and disturb you. A well trained visitor might not interrupt you if you're using a machine for example.

That’s a very good point Nick, but it would also mean that I might be conscious that someone might be looking in at me, same sort of thing when you get an impression of movement out of the corner of your eye, a little disturbing.

 

[AndyP]

I cant quite picture the barn that the workshop sits in. Is it open sided? If not than no point of window, if it does give you a view of the outside world then a window would be nice , i’d feel claustrophobic without a window. I have a venetian blind which I drop down when I am not in the workshop to stop prying eyes.
As for colour I would be inclined to finish the outside the same as the inside of the barn and the inside of the workshop white.

 

[Accipiter]

That’s a very good point Nick, but it would also mean that I might be conscious that someone might be looking in at me, same sort of thing when you get an impression of movement out of the corner of your eye, a little disturbing.

Although I feel like that it's difficult for me as I've the glass panel in the door as well as a 6ft wide window in one side wall. It's disturbing for sure...

 

[Cabinetman]

I cant quite picture the barn that the workshop sits in. Is it open sided? If not than no point of window, if it does give you a view of the outside world then a window would be nice , i’d feel claustrophobic without a window. I have a venetian blind which I drop down when I am not in the workshop to stop prying eyes.
As for colour I would be inclined to finish the outside the same as the inside of the barn and the inside of the workshop white.

Hi @AndyP this is one of the only pics showing it’s place within the barn, it’s an early photo, the workshop takes up the area under the ceiling.
So the window would be indoors and just there for aesthetic reasons. The barn red would I think look pretty dingy in the internal half light but certainly white for the inside.