How To Set Up The Perfect Home Art Studio
August 11, 2021
Lifestyle
The pandemic has been a powerful reminder of the importance home and all its four walls hold. In recent months, our homes have served us as offices, classrooms, gyms, and so much more. Moving forward, the events of 2020 might just serve as an important reminder that it's time to re-envision how we use our spaces to nurture our passions and hobbies — including a love of art and crafting.
Creating a beautiful, inspiring home art studio may seem like an intimidating project, but with just a few simple steps, almost any space in your home can be transformed into the perfect area for letting your artistic impulses run free.
Looking for a little inspiration to get started? Here are four key ideas for setting up the home art studio that will let you be your most creative and productive self:
1.) Choose Your Space Carefully
The great thing about a home art studio is that it doesn't necessarily require a particular type of space. It's all about selecting the space you do have, and getting a bit crafty! A repurposed closet, the garage, a basement, a home office space, or an unused dining room can all be perfect spots for a great creative setup. Most important? Choose a space in your home that lends itself to the types of projects you'll want to undertake. If your favorite projects are large, bold paintings, make sure to find a space in your home that will accommodate an easel and a large canvas — and which offers windows or a great ventilation system. If you'll be doing fine detail work, a room with a desk that comes equipped with magnifying LED work light can help to reduce eye-strain and make your projects feel less physically taxing. Whatever type of artistic project moves you, ensure that the studio is set up for success before you ever walk in the door. If your painting or sculpture projects aren't easily contained, make sure you've got a drop cloth covering any carpeting or wood flooring, to ensure easy cleanup. Similarly, choose a desk or work table that suits the space. For a small space, an angled drafting table can provide a large workspace without a large footprint. In a larger room or shed, a long work table, or even a couple of different desks, can provide space for multiple projects at once.2.) Get Organized!
Organization is key to creating an inspiring home art studio that lends itself to spur-of-the-moment creativity. After all, if you need to dig through a disorganized drawer every time you need to find a brush or color, you're less likely to want to use the space when inspiration strikes. Design experts recommend using a combination of open and closed storage to keep your most used items easily accessible without creating a sense of clutter in your home studio. For example, small rolling carts are a great place to store items like canvases, palettes, or brushes you use frequently. These carts can be moved to accommodate different types of projects, and are easy to clean. If you have a larger space, wire shelving units can be stocked with mason jars so tools and supplies are easily accessible. To keep small items out of the way and out of sight, use a card catalog or toolbox to hold small items like acrylic paints, brushes, sculpting tools, pastels, or pencils. Refurbishing or decorating a repurposed piece of storage furniture can be a project in and of itself, and can provide beautiful, functional storage opportunities for your studio. In smaller art studios, vertical storage is a must. Pegboards on the walls can hold racks, clips, small buckets, or hooks for supplies and tools. Magnetic boards and containers are a great place to store tacks, clips, or other small items that you might need on a regular basis.3.) Focus On Lighting And Color
While it's natural to gravitate toward setting up your home art studio in a space that gets the best natural light, it's important to remember that relying on natural light alone isn't always the best plan. Light changes throughout the day, and a space that gets ideal morning light may not always be the best place to work when you're ready to create in the late afternoon. Natural light can also change the way the colors in a painting or drawing look at different times of day or in different weather conditions. The lighting you choose for your art studio, then, is perhaps even more important than the natural light in the room. The Color Rendering Index, or CRI, is a measurement of how colors look under a light when compared with natural sunlight. The index is measured from 1-100, with 100 being identical to natural light. Generally, for a home studio, you will want to choose light sources with a CRI of 80 or above, with 90 or above being ideal. That way you can be sure that the colors used in your paintings will be as true to life as possible. Color temperature is another critical factor to consider when choosing lighting. Different bulbs emit warmer or cooler colors of light — warmer colors, such as yellows and oranges, are generally considered more cozy and inviting, and cooler colors like blues and greens more brisk and invigorating. Cool white light is generally considered ideal for an art studio, as it mimics daylight and presents colors at their most crisp and vibrant. Fluorescent or LED lights can provide the kind of light and color control you'll need to create the ideal home art space. While hanging shop lights can provide great light to the whole space, if you can, try to add multiple light sources that you can move around to avoid shadows or reflections on your art as you're working. Clip-on work lights can provide versatile options for a lot of different projects. Like your lighting, you'll want to keep the walls in your studio space as neutral as possible so the color you use in your work can stand out. Neutrally colored walls can be ideal in a studio where you want to focus on the shades on the canvas, instead of the color on your walls. As you continue creating, consider hanging some of your past work on the wall to add vibrant, inspiring decor to your space.4.) Find What Works for You
As you're creating your home art studio, think about the way you create, and try to incorporate the kinds of things that might make creativity easier for you. For example, a dedicated sink where you're not worried about splashing a little paint or clay can make cleanup a snap. As you're choosing and designing your space, be sure to consider ventilation. Paints, paint thinner, adhesives, and varnishes all produce dangerous and toxic fumes that make air circulation a high priority. Ensure that your space has a window or ventilation system that will keep you breathing fresh air even if you're creating for hours. Always remember that there's no wrong way to create your home art studio. If it works for you, it works! Experiment with different lighting, color, and organization options until you find something that inspires you to create your best work.When Home Means More, You Need a Team With More to Offer
Buying or selling a home is a big deal. That's why your local Baird & Warner agent is with you at every step of the way, with the tools and support you need to make your real estate journey easier — including in-house connections with local experts in mortgage and title. So whether you're looking for your starter home or you're ready to move on to one with the perfect home studio space, your Baird & Warner agent can help you through every part of the buying and selling process.Tags:
