I am a wife to my high school sweetheart, Ian, and together we renovated our rundown, detached garage into a photography studio! We learned a lot in this process… As in, we spent almost our entire life savings in the process and did a lot of the work ourselves. Over the course of the 10 months it took to renovate our studio, we learned a lot, fought a little, and cried a TON (primarily Brooke).

As with any renovation comes stress and unforeseeable costs, and that’s why I am here!

Because I’ve been there: wanting to make a change in your creative-driven career, looking for passive income but not knowing where to start, grinding and hustling to make this dream a reality.

Then both Ian and I realized that our renovation journey, and the things we learned along the way, and after a few years of running a successful studio rental business could be useful for others looking to pursue this next chapter in their business.

Ian and I say all the time how this studio is the best thing to have ever happened to us. Even after all the hurdles we went through to get to where we are now, we’d still choose to do it again! This studio is now a fundamental part of our story. After 10 months of renovating our space, Ian proposed in the studio shortly after our grand opening, and we had our private wedding ceremony in the same space. What was once a rundown garage is now a beautiful natural-light studio that is home to memories we will cherish forever.

So let’s get into it!

What we started with to turn our garage into a photography studio

Ian and I closed on our home in December 2021, and we began demo-ing our 600 sq ft. detached garage in January 2022. To be clear, we also have an attached garage so deciding to turn the extra outbuilding into a studio was pretty easy. We were young, we didn’t need the extra storage, and this had always been a dream of mine. The state of the detached garage was well…very DIY. By DIY, I mean nothing would pass an inspection, and upon further examination, we were equally shocked and impressed that the unit hadn’t burned down.

The prior owner had used the garage as an auto body shop. Electricity was already running out to the building; however, the inner workings of it needed to be remapped, a poorly capped chimney was causing water damage, and the garage door was from the 70s. There was no heat, one light bulb, and two tiny windows. Essentially, everything but the studs had to go!

We consider ourselves and our family members pretty handy (Ian’s dad in particular was very knowledgeable and we owe a lot of the money we saved to him!) so we decided to do most of the work ourselves to save money. However, this cost us in time…and a little bit (ok, maybe a lot) of sanity! Had we hired more out to contractors, it would have been done faster but the costs were higher than we were willing or able to spend. There’s also some level of pride we take in knowing we did the majority of the work ourselves!

---

Want to keep learning about our journey, and get a behind-the-scenes, deep-dive look at the exact we took to create and maintain a successful studio rental business…

INSIDE OF THE PHOTO STUDIO SYSTEM!!!

Because I used to be totally overwhelmed, researching studio items and making lists of things we need to get all throughout the night, saving inspiration off Pinterest, and feeling the pressure of creating something others would want to use. 

The hard work paid off, and within months of opening the doors to our studio, we made our money back, and nearly doubled our monthly income! 

Crazy right?!

Now I’m going to show YOU how to do the same!! The Photo Studio System is a self-paced digital guide that walks you through everything we did in the studio and why, including exact links to what we got!! 

I WISH we had something like this to refer back to when we were creating our space!!

This could be the thing you’ve been waiting for!! A step-by-step guide that takes the guesswork out of this shift in your business, and gives you the knowledge and tools you need to create your dream photography studio.

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE PHOTO STUDIO SYSTEM EBOOK:

01 – Where we started and what our journey looked like with our exact blueprints

02 – Finances and everything you need to consider when creating your studio

03 – Target audience research

04 – Studio Considerations and what amenities you want to include

05 – Marketing and everything we do to run a successful business

06 – All of our client communication including links to our exact products, furniture, and tools we used, as well as access to our email templates and studio signage!

07 – And SO MUCH MORE

You’ll come away with a clear framework of how to achieve this next step in your business, and have confidence knowing you are doing it RIGHT! Learn from our mistakes and create that space you’ve been dreaming of. Because you are a part of this community I have a surprise discount for you! Mention code: SYSTEM to get $5 off your very own copy of The Photo Studio System!

So click the link HERE to get your copy and use code: SYSTEM at checkout, before the price goes up!

Here’s to you and your dream space!

Click here to learn more about the Photo Studio System and more tips on how to turn your garage into a photography studio!