A tattoo artist has forked out £9,000 to build a 'dream studio' in his back garden - so he could work from home and spend more quality time with his dogs.
Ross Moore has been inking clients for more than 12 years and decided to make his dream a reality in early 2021.
Inspired to spend more time with his dogs and prioritise one-on-one time with customers, the 39-year-old spent months transforming his garden and built a sleek wooden tattoo parlour.
In a video that has racked up more than 150,000 views, Ross showed the three-month-long transformation of his garden as paving and Astroturf were added alongside the kitted-out studio.
Since sharing the process on TikTok, Ross has received messages from ink lovers all over the UK willing to drive hundreds of miles to get artwork done by him.
Ross, from Kilmarnock, Scotland, said: "Up until before the first lockdown, I had my own studio and I was under a lot of pressure trying to run the place.
"I decided to start working at a friend's shop for a while, but I was always used to working for myself.
"But when I came out of the last lockdown, I'd put all my savings into building a studio. I made a plan, got it organised and went for it. It's been the best thing I've ever done.
"It was my two dogs, Mila and Minnie, who were probably my inspiration to do it.
"The lockdown had a crappy effect on me and my mental health, so I decided to just go for it and be at home more with the dogs.
"I have quite a large following so I knew the clientele would never be an issue.
"It was just a great opportunity to be at home working on my mental health, being with the dogs and working on my craft."
Hard-working Ross said that choosing to work from his garden means he can spend quality time with his pooches in between giving clients his undivided attention during inking sessions.
Ross said: "The response I've gotten has been great. People see it from my perspective where I get to be at home with the dogs, I can work better hours and work at times more suitable for clients.
"I don't mind working seven days a week until 10pm.
"Customers love it, this studio makes it more private and one-to-one.
"Doing work in my garden studio is like night and day. I can focus on each client individually, people can't walk into the studio unannounced and increase the risk of spreading COVID.
"It's safer for me and my clients, it's more peace of mind.
"I must be the only person in Scotland, that I know of, who's built a studio in their back garden.
"I've got people contacting me from all over - even from Wales. I can't tell you where they're coming from, but they're saying they'd be willing to travel up to me.
"For me, being a local guy used to tattooing local people, it's crazy for me. It absolutely shows the power of TikTok."
Over the past two years, Ross has had periods where he wasn't working at all due to lockdown rules.
But now things have opened up again, he's determined to make the most of it in as safe an environment as possible for him and his clients.
Ross said: "Over the first lockdown, for about four months, I wasn't allowed to work at all.
"I was in the house constantly and it was driving me insane.
"By the time I got back into the studio there were a lot of things in place that stopped me from working to my full potential.
"People had to bring in lateral flow tests, there were a lot of restrictions even though we were back open.
"I was trying to figure out in my head how I could work around it, if it were to happen again.
"At first, I thought how hard it must be to get licensed.
"You need to jump through so many hoops to get a tattoo licence - you have to go through Environmental Health, Business Standards, all of these things you need to check.
"So right from the get-go I needed to be sure it was something that would pass.
"I had to make sure it'd be clinical, so that a client coming here would feel safe.
"They'll feel more peace of mind coming here and I can concentrate on giving them the best tattoos.
"With planning permission, it had to be within a certain distance from the house and have drainage and ventilation. It also needed a quality check from electricians.
"I also need to work within a certain time period, I can't be doing a tattoo at 2am for example.
"I've got neighbours on either side of the house and I had to run it past them, to let them know that there'd be footfall.
"They had a 30-day period to put any objections to the council."
After enlisting the help of several labourer and joiner pals, Ross spent around £9,000 transforming his garden into a work-from-home paradise in just three months.
Ross said: "I like my DIY work. When I drew up a plan for the garden, I contacted some friends who do groundwork so I got a bit of help for that.
"I had a layout in mind for my studio and I had some help from a couple of joiners as well.
"From start to finish, it took about three months. I had to wait a bit for the best price for the timber and the windows.
"Thankfully, the guys who helped build it love tattoos. So instead of me paying a fortune for the labour, we kept the cost down so I can do tattoos for them.
"At first I was told the whole project would cost about £4,500, but it was about double that when we finished."
TikTok users took to the comments section of the video to praise Ross for making his dream a reality.
One user wrote: "Dreams always work out with determination and a lot of hard work! Well done."
Another said: "Gosh you have worked so hard, but what an amazing transformation and now you have your own studio…brilliant, all the best."
