studio move and make-over

Old studio (also my kitchen):

New studio!

I've been painting in the corner of my kitchen for over a year now; it has worked out ok but it was never ideal. In a fit of organizational passion (haha) I decided to take everything out of my craft storage room and transform that small but usable space into a painting studio. Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried to clean and organize that room, it always ended up just being the dumping ground for stuff I didn't know what to do with. It got to the point where I could barely walk in there, so something drastic had to be done (I can't for the life of me find a picture of this room "before", but just imagine a big ugly pile of stuff.) 

It took about 3 days to fully clean, organize and find other places for all my craft, sewing and knitting materials, but it has been SO worth it to have a space to paint that isn't in my kitchen. I have a hard time really getting into the creative process when I see everything else around the house that I "should" be doing (dishes, laundry, you name it). This space gives me a way to hide away and focus for a few hours without distraction. There's even a nice pair of curtains that I can close in the doorway. :)

I pulled up the old red rug, gave it another coat of yellow paint (I eventually want to repaint it white), utilized the built-ins for my materials and moved in my easel, lights and painting cart. I wanted to keep things pretty clean and simple in there but I added a couple of hanging plants in the window and a plastic rug that Kimmie brought home from Rwanda. I found some wooden shutters and spice racks for display purposes at a local thrift shop for just a couple of dollars.

I'm in the process of finishing up a large commission I've been working on for the past few months and Brian graciously gave me the entire day on Saturday to work. The boys went out for most of the day, stopping in every once in a while for a hug and a kiss and some encouragement. I relished those 10+ hours, window open, warm breeze blowing in, music blasting, working through my painting. Pure happiness.

(details: spice racks (being used to hold canvases) and wooden shutters - thrifted; plastic woven rug - borrowed from sister, bought in Rwanda; hanging planters - I followed THIS tutorial (SO easy!); painting material cart - BYGEL utility cart from IKEA; radiator curtain - cut and sewn from a canvas drop cloth from Home Depot)