My new art studio!

As everyone knows by now, (because I mention it in every post- sorry, I guess I’m a bit excited still) my husband and I recently bought a home.  We’ve done some projects to start getting things the way we want them, but none of them has me more excited than my art studio.  For years, I’ve been dreaming of having my very own studio space, usually while my art supplies were strewn across three rooms and multiple pieces of furniture in rather desperate attempts to keep creating.  You can see from the top picture just how messy and disorganized things were, and most of my supplies were in other rooms at this point.  (I couldn’t bring myself to take pics of the other rooms… *shudder*)  So, this past weekend I took the plans I had made, and got to work.

 First of all, the horrible yellowish tan color had to go.  I wanted things to look clean and bright, so I painted over the walls with white.  Of course, the purple accent wall was a necessity to bring in some color and stimulate my creative juices.  It is also a chalkboard wall, to write reminders and deadlines and to sketch new ideas.  :)  Lowe’s has tintable chalkboard paint that is available in a bunch of different colors, and I couldn’t resist.

My arms were starting to hurt at this point, but the Ikea furniture I had ordered had been delivered that morning, so I couldn’t stop!

I had taken measurements and ordered Linnmon tabletops and Alex cabinets that would fit along three walls.  I want as much counter space as possible!  I love Ikea because all the things I ordered from different collections still fit together so that all the counters are the exact same height all the way around.  The stacked tabletops you see have Capita legs on them, and they still come to the same height as the rest of the counters.  :)  Perfect!

I have 4 different stations so far- my sewing machine is next to my accent wall, and I’ll be scrapbooking and doing mixed media on the corner table next to it.  On top of the stacked tables is where I have my cricut and where I’ll put any other machines I may collect that can’t take up space on my work stations.  In the far corner is where I’ll be doing encaustic painting.

I have to say, getting all this done in one day was pretty exhausting, and my legs and arms haven’t been this sore in awhile.  Thank goodness for my new electric drill or I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Now I have my brand new art studio!  I’m so happy with how it’s turned out so far! As I organize my tools into the drawers and cabinets, I’m slowly starting to clear the mess I made trying to create without having a place to do it. It’s also a ton of fun finding things I’d forgotten I had.  My next step is to hang some shelving.  I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to do that, but I’ll keep you updated!