So you’ve decided to dedicate a room, garage, attic, shed, basement or section of your house to your creative pursuits. . . Now what?
Craft Rom by JDS Designs via Houzz
What should you include in your creative space?
That question should be followed by–what do you plan on doing in the space?
In the live/work studio I used to live in in Vancouver, one of my neighbors for a time, was a tap dancer–so his studio had a floating wood tap floor installed. I can’t begin to tell you how annoying this was because the tapping on the floating floor made the loudest, most awful noise for both studios next door. Anyway, having a long desk and storage for rolls of wrapping paper wouldn’t have made any sense for this guy.
Do you want a space where you can work on multiple creative pursuits together, or do you have a model-making hobby that requires all the room?
I love the IKEA white drawers for laying paper flat, in this studio via Houzz.
Make a list of what you’d like to do in your creative space.
Here’s mine:
-sew
-create linocuts and wood block prints
-make jewelry
-paint
-take photos (more for taking photos of products or projects for my blog than anything else)
-graphic design
Think of all the things you’ll need and want for each of those creative pursuits.
For sewing, for instance, you’ll need a closet or shelf to store your fabric, notions, patterns, and somewhere to hang in-progress pieces. You’ll also need a nice, long table to spread fabric out, a good task light, as well as general lighting, place to put the sewing machine, and possibly the serger. For me, I doubt that I’ll be creating much with a sewing machine (actually, Greg does all of the sewing, I don’t have the head for it), but simple projects like making curtains and throw cushions, and hemming/mending clothing, still require space planning.
For painting, here are a few things I’d love to have:
-a sink
-storage for canvases
-storage for paint and brushes
-painting easel or two
-table with tabletop easel for smaller pieces
-stool
-small table to put painting supplies near easel
What practical things, or fun things would you like to have?
You’ll need a desk or table, surely, and a comfortable desk chair, but what about a place to collect your thought? I would like to have a small conversation area with 2 comfy chairs and a cocktail table so that Greg and I can sit and discuss, chat and bounce ideas off each other. This area would also be great for short food or snack breaks, or getting inspiration from magazines or books.
I’d want a tv that I could watch Netflix, movies and tv shows on. . . HGTV and otherwise. I like to relax and watch something while I’m creating. I’d also want a good stereo, a laptop or iPad station, a kettle and tea/coffee station, and that sink I mentioned earlier.
What would you include to inspire you?
-pin boards/cork boards
-magazines and books
-flowers or plants
-window-view
-your favorite quotes
Don’t forget to think about storage for all the supplies you’ll need. I’ll be sharing more ideas on putting together your craft room or studio in the rest of the series.
I am curious to know–what are your creative pursuits? Do you currently have a space to pursue creativity in your home?
we are doing construction at the moment- so some quiet would inspire me (haha)
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I love the wall vinyl art and think that would inspire me as well as a grand shopping spree at Ikea 🙂
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I'm totally writing up my plan right now! Thanks for the inspiration.
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Ohmyheck – that first room is so dreamy! So clean, so pretty. I had to pin it to my craft organization dream board – I cannot WAIT until I get the house fixed up and am able to have my own dedicated room for crafty creating again 🙂
I love the use of pegboard in a craft room. Someday I'll get my crafts organized!
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I would love to have a space for myself. I would use it for crafting.
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love the organization! I think I would have to go with something other than white, though…I am not a NEAT crafter!
What lovely ideas! I don't have a craft room but I would like to!
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This is such a good article I am so excited that in a few months once my daughter moves out I will be taking her bedroom and turning that into my studio. Finally I will have a dedicated work space besides that dinning room. I work on multiple things mixed media artwork, jewelry, and home decor so I will need different tables for different things and I like to work on multiple things at one time. I may be working on artwork and jewelry all at the same time and I like it that way I don't get bored with one project. I have three tables that I know I'm going to put in there and have one of the walls left blank and setup to take my pictures on and it will be so good to not have to set things up every time I want to take pictures of an item and I will also have a rack with shelves on it to display all of my paint and I have cork boards with all of my inspirational pictures and sayings on it. It will be so good just to have everything in one room and not have to dig for stuff. I'm so excited and I can't wait this article is very helpful and so inspiring. Thanks for all of the great tips and I love the pictures of the different craft rooms/studio.
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Hi Debra,
Thank you for your comments – I'm so glad you were able to find inspiration from my suggestions!
this is amazing, my dream craft room !!! Def pinned it! Thanks for the inspiration!
-Lauren http://realhousewifeofnova.blogspot.com
Thank you for your comment Lauren! and for pinning!