Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Studio Redo

I cannot believe that it has been nearly three months since I have blogged.  Of course, I'm not a super serious blogger so I don't think I've been missed.  Still, its not that I haven't had plenty I could blog about.  I just haven't made the time to do it.  In the interest of keeping track of the projects I have accomplished these past few months, I need to catch up.  So, I am going to tackle things one project at a time, starting with the redecorating project of our old home office into my studio/workspace.

As you can see, the original wood panelling was dark.  This is the way it looked when we bought the house and it served well as my husband's office/man cave for years but, when he built a new office building, this room sat unused most of the time.  The closets weren't really configured for a  bedroom as it had always been an office so I seized the opportunity to claim this space as my own.




There were plenty of steps between the dark wood and this next picture, primarily a lot of patching, primering and painting.  I chose a soft, sand color with bright, white trim.  We also removed the old carpet and had the original oak floors restored.  I removed the old blinds and added bamboo shades and drop cloth drapery panels.  The room is so much lighter and brighter now.




Yes, these are drop cloths.  I used four of the 6' x 8' panels at around $10 apiece.  I didn't even hem them ... just folded them down for the look of a valance, clipped them onto the rings and hung them.  I have gotten more compliments for these simple no-sew drapery panels.  I think they are totally appropriate for an art studio, don't you?





I have my easel in this corner for the light.  I turned it around for purposes of this photo although I would usually work with the light on the easel.  I failed to get the cute drum shade ceiling light from Ikea in this picture but, its white and looks very nice in the space.




I needed a side table of sorts for my printer, paper storage and additional lighting so I purchased this gorgeous Hemne sofa table from Ikea.  The baskets and little cubbies work so perfectly for storing paper, supplies and unsightly cords.  Its also a nice look with the little gallery I put together on the wall. This is a mix of personal photos, original paintings and prints I picked up along the way.




Another work space for me is my drafting table.  In a perfect world I would have an antique one but, this will do for now.  The chair, however, is another story.  The thing is absolutely death defying on a slick floor.  I am looking for something both more stable and more attractive.  I made the bulletin board out of a cheap one from TJ Maxx that I then covered with more (you guessed it) drop cloth fabric.  I then pounded in the nail heads and, voila, cute inspiration board.  The lamp is Ikea (that was quite a day shopping).




These bookshelves were in the office for years.  They were oak (ugh).  So, we hauled them out, sprayed them out white and hauled them back in.  I styled them a bit with my art books, some favorite reads, memorabilia and the two little butterfly prints.  They'll do just fine.




This is how that corner of the room looks.  I can just reach for whatever I might need off the bookshelves.




I found this wood tray at TJ Maxx as well.  It works perfect with some tin Ikea buckets and old, spice jars to hold miscellaneous craft items, pencils, etc.  The little mannequin is also Ikea but, how cute is he?  Perfect, since this is what student artists often use to start learning figure drawing.



Here is just a little shot of part of my gallery wall.  I sprayed out different frames in heirloom white paint so that they would all tie in and then grouped some of my favorite photos and artwork.  The little lamp and shade came from Target.




So, there you have my studio makeover.  From dark, carpeted (and pretty tired and musty) home office to a light, bright work space.  I hope you enjoy the tour.