studio makeover
The details of how this went from One Hot Mess to a clean, organized art studio.
studio before
I have been creating art in this space since January 2017. It always gets messy when I’m creating but before I move on to the next project everything would go back in its place…
…until March 2020… then things got a little squirrelly. When most of the world had to stay at home I took that a step further and stayed on the couch. While others were organizing, creating, and exercising I watched TV and felt sorry for the world (and for myself). I only did two paintings from March to June, when I usually do one or two a week.
My workspace suffered too. And to clean it all up was daunting. But time did march on. At some point (when I buzzed through all the seasons of Ozark, Money Heist & Queer Eye) I started watching Ted Talks and then came across Marie Kondo and her show Tidying Up on Netflix. I kept thinking about my studio, but by this time it was One Hot Mess. Seeing is believing - check out this video.
I felt compelled to get it done, so I started in fifteen minute increments.
First, I brought all the stuff that was in the spare bedroom/art storage room into the lanai. I wanted to have all my art stuff in one place so I could really look at everything and do a proper inventory.
It was overwhelming and there were days when fifteen minutes was all I could manage. My husband was like, “don’t you have to clear a table first before you bring more stuff in there?” I confidently told him I had a plan, of course it only involved the next fifteen minutes, but whatever.
The more I did the longer I worked. I started looking forward to getting started as soon as I woke up. It was nice to have that feeling again. Goals and accomplishments that mean something to you, that improve the quality of your life, that get you up in the morning, how fabulous is that?! I started visualizing it finished and just a few weeks later the vision became a reality and my creative studio workspace was clean and organized and better than it had been before. More importantly, so was I.
I had several epiphanies along the way.
You can change your life in fifteen minutes
Artwork that you love should not be stored on shelving or in a closet. Not only can it easily get damaged it is an insult to the artwork. I hung every piece of artwork (that was too big to wrap up and store safely) on the wall and now when I walk into my house I’m so joyful to see it all there, greeting me when I come home.
If you have something that no longer brings you joy, let it go (that’s straight from Marie Kondo) and it's so true. Just like Marie told me, I would say “thank you for the joy you brought me” and got it out of my house (through donation or trash… if need be).
If it doesn’t serve any purpose to you, let it go. This is especially hard with art supplies…what if someday I want to do paper mache again??? Give the 4 gallons of glue to someone who needs it now!
Keep the things you use regularly out and available to you. Artists have lots of paint, but only use a small group of colors - keep them nearby for a quick 15 minute painting.
Make sure the things on your walls bring you joy - I know, this is very similar to #3 but it’s so true. Wherever I look now there are things that bring a smile to my face. Like Tan from Queer Eye says, Why would you wear something that you don’t feel good in? Well, why would you have something on your walls that doesn’t make you feel good too?
