Ellie smiling in the doorway of her finished garden studio, holding a mug
New for 2026 · The studio

A studio at the bottom of the garden.

This year the wheel finally got a home of its own. Here's how an empty corner of the garden became the Elliebells studio, one stage at a time.

See how it was built
The bottom of the garden before the build, with flowering shrubs and an old fence
Before The bottom of the garden
The finished sage-green garden studio with cream double doors, framed by flowering shrubs
After The Elliebells studio
The build

Stage by stage

  1. A cleared, levelled patch of ground in front of a pale rendered wall
    01

    Clearing the ground

    Out went the old bits and pieces, and the ground was levelled. Just a blank wall and a lot of possibility.

  2. A new timber base laid on the levelled ground
    02

    Laying the base

    A solid, level timber base went down first. It's the part nobody sees, and everything else depends on it.

  3. The sage-green studio shell standing, with two windows and an open doorway
    03

    Walls go up

    Sage-green cladding, two windows and a doorway. Suddenly it started to look like a studio.

  4. A builder working on the roof of the green studio, with the double doors fitted
    04

    Roof on, doors in

    The roof went on and the double doors were fitted. Watertight at last.

  5. Inside the studio: timber stud framing over a white membrane, with a window Inside the studio: wall framing and the first cable runs
    05

    Framing the inside

    Inside, a timber frame went up over the walls, ready for insulation, cables and the inner lining.

  6. Rolls of insulation stacked on the garden path, with the studio under a gazebo behind Insulation packed between the wall studs, with a pine ceiling above
    06

    Insulation

    Roll after roll of it, carried down the garden path and packed into every gap, so the studio is comfortable to work in all year round.

  7. The inside lined with pale pine boards, with new sockets on the wall
    07

    Lined and wired

    Pale pine boards on the walls and ceiling, with sockets and lights in. It smelled wonderful.

  8. The finished sage-green studio with cream double doors at the end of the garden
    08

    Finished

    Doors painted, the garden tidied back around it, and ready to move in.

Ellie in a pink glaze-splashed apron, smiling in the open doorway of her new studio with a mug in hand
Moving in

Doors open, kettle on.

Having a proper space changes everything. There's room for the wheel by the window, shelves for pots at every stage, and my glazes are all within reach. No more packing everything away at the end of the day.

It's where every piece on this site will be made from now on. If you'd like to see what's coming out of it, Instagram is the place to look.

Ellie Maker · Elliebells Pottery
Inside the studio

A place for everything

Inside the pine-lined studio: green shelving full of pots, a clock, and the potter's wheel by the wall
Shelves for greenware and bisque, the glazes, and the wheel by the window
A pine workbench in the corner of the studio with a banding wheel, a freshly thrown pot and trimming tools, beside a stool and shelving
The workbench, for trimming and finishing
Ellie standing in the doorway of the sage-green studio, seen from the lawn
Say hello

Made in the studio, just for you.

Commissions, matching sets, or a piece you've spotted on the work page: drop me an email and we'll talk it through.

Get in touch