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My Re-Vamped Office/ Studio Space

I’m always interested in seeing other artists workspaces to get ideas, so I thought I’d share mine. I’ve recently been working to improve organization in my “office/studio” space, as well as make it more attractive to spend time in. It’s a relatively small space off our front entryway that is approx. 11’x11′ with a large closet on the left wall with double sliding doors as well as double glass doors into the entry at the spot where I’m standing to take the photo. I have two large windows on the right wall (you can see one of them) and my corner desk with my computer sits in the right. (I’m not showing it since it’s extremely cluttered at the moment — I’m very bad at filling up any horizontal space with lots of crap!!!) As I was working on the space, my husband laughs that we are good at shuffling stuff. We routinely do it over and over. But my goal was to get stuff off my desktop and utilize wall space for storage. With a 9′ ceiling, I had lots of bare wall space to be put to use.

To furnish my space, I’ve used some recycled pieces such as the two-drawer file cabinets and a rolling microwave cart for my printer and mailing supplies. I painted them all white to make everything look more cohesive. Several of my newer pieces are from IKEA which I’ve bought over the past 3-4 years — 3 Alex drawer units and 2 Kallax bookcases, picture ledges, Sunnestra hanging bins, and a couple pegboards. Working through the reorganization (or shuffling as my husband calls it) I was trying to move clutter off my horizontal surfaces and utilize some of my wall space. On a trip last month to IKEA, I bought the Sunnestra rail/bins which are great for things like brushes and other tools and also very inexpensive — $4.95 for the rail with 2 bins and 4 hooks. Extra bins are only $1.29 each. I bought 4 sets plus 8 extra bins for under $30. I also bought one of their small white pegboards to hang my tabletop easel. I clipped a painted canvas on to the easel to make it pretty! Clips on the pegboard are good to keep my DecoArt paint charts handy when I need to check to see if a color is still active. They have other accessories for the clipboards also. I have a larger pegboard on the wall over my desk with mesh holders for sorting mail and other papers.

As I was shuffling, I even learned some new technology! I have an old flat panel TV with a Roku box and discovered how to add app Apple Airplay app to show a photo of one of my paintings as a screensaver. This gives it a similar look to one of the new expensive picture frame TVs. It is also prettier to look at than the Roku screen when I’m not watching something. When I get time, I’ll reformat some other photos to add some variety.

For my lighting I recycled two of the clamp-on lights I had used for my booth lighting when I did trade shows. I put 100 watt equivalent LED daylight bulbs in them and that helped so much! Before I had one Ott light which took up horizontal desk space, and it wasn’t bright enough for my old eyes to see to paint unless it was a bright day. On dark days or nearing sundown, I’d have to give up. The articulated arms can be folded and pushed out of the way or repositioned to focus the light where I need it. Also after years of not doing any painting videos, I’m trying to re-explore that process. I did some research and bought an overhead phone mount which can hold my iPhone or my small camcorder. Mechanically it’s similar to my lights with the articulating arm, and it also comes with a ring light that can be clamped on to it. I got this setup on Amazon for about $25.