If you’re a creative type and need a place to express yourself, look no further than your own home. Transforming an area of your home into a home art studio is a convenient way to embrace your creativity and productivity, and you don’t need a big, elaborate space to make your studio come to life.
Here’s what you should consider when making your home art studio:
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Claim Your Space
If you have a shed or garage, you can clear it out and rebuild it into your dream studio. But if you lack in space, you can divide a room or convert a corner or closet into your creative area by easily adding a drop cloth to define the boundaries of your creative nook. You don’t have to have a big room to designate as your studio — just make sure there’s plenty of ventilation if your artwork produces any fumes.
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The only requirement when it comes to your art studio is that you have a big enough work area and the appropriate storage space. Whether you have a desk, an easel or a pottery wheel, you have to have enough space for it while not allowing it to bombard the space completely — you still need room to maneuver, store supplies and be inspired.
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Think About Lighting
Proper lighting is important for artists, particularly painters, to work in. The general consensus is that natural lighting is best for illuminating colors accurately. So if it’s possible, make sure your studio allows plenty of natural light to filter in. It’s best to have a north-facing source of natural light, called a “North Light.” As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, this indirect natural light produces more subtle changes and is less harsh than a western or eastern light source, giving you greater control over color nuances in your artwork.
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However, for night owl artists or windowless workspaces, you can light your space to achieve a natural light effect. The color rendering index (CRI) is a scale from 0 to 100 that indicates how accurately the light source illuminates color accurately. The sun has a CRI of 100, so using bulbs with a CRI between 80 and 100 will give you the “truest” color.
You also need to make sure the bulb has a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 5500, which is reminiscent of the midday sun. This CCT scale measures how cool or warm a light is — if it’s too warm, the light will produce an orange color. If it’s too cool, a blue hue will shine through.
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Organize Your Supplies
When it comes to organizing your home art studio, it’s all about being able to locate your supplies easily and quickly — you don’t want to have your inspiration interrupted because you’re digging through a mess of brushes or markers and can’t find the one you need. Try making everything easily visible while using as little space as possible, and get creative with your storage — place your paints on an old cake rack, store your markers or pens on a wine rack, or store your fabric on coat hangers.
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Add Inspiration
What’s a creative space good for if it lacks inspiration? You certainly won’t get any work done in a barren studio. Decorate your art studio with items, quotes, photos or artworks that inspire you to create. There is no right or wrong way to go about this — simply add what speaks to you. This is also the perfect place to store and display your own artwork. Hang some of your paintings, tack up a sketch or decorate shelves with pieces of your pottery to make the space your own and achieve your dream aesthetic.
