Monday, October 4, 2010

A Studio Tour



I thought I would show you my happy place: my home studio. My husband and I redecorated our son's bedroom when he moved out to his own place. Before then, I had always worked wherever I could find a place to temporarily spread out. When we lived in apartments, I would use the kitchen table as my craft lab. When we bought our house, there wasn't any room for my stuff, so I took over a small part of the dining room. Problem was our dining room is a pass-through to the rest of the house and my piles of fabric; I was a quilter at the time, was expanding with no where to go. 
When my son went to college I asked him if it would be alright to use one wall of  his room. After all it was completely empty on one side and I really could use the space. He graciously agreed. Little did he know that over the course of his four years away at school,  my art stuff would grow like one of those giant pumpkins you see at the county fair. I had not only started art school myself, but I discovered the wonderful world of Altered Books, Collage, Sculpture and Mixed Media.  When he came home to visit, he literally was sleeping inside of a craft closet!
Today I have a beautiful room all to myself. I painted the walls a sunshiny yellow, which was inspired by the quilt artist Freddy Moran and her beautiful quilt studio. I saw an interview on television with her and I always remembered her saying that her yellow studio was bright and sunny even on the grayest of rainy days. I feel instantly happy when I open my studio door. The woodwork was painted with a hint of yellow mixed into the paint, and I painted the ceiling a light sky blue. 

This is my cutting counter that I bought for $25.00! It was a discontinued floor sample. I keep my altered books, unfinished projects, a sewing machine and drill press behind the doors.

These mannequins were made by members of my Altered Arts Group.

This is my chandelier with a little friend perched on it. It really is more useful than decorative.

I do most of  my work on this drafting table that I got for $15.00. Notice the beautiful quilt on my chair which was a Christmas present from my friend Peggy.


This inspirational fortune is taped to my swing arm task lamp for me to ponder every day.

This is my main ink pad storage and little drawers for tiny bits and bobs.

Plenty of tools to color and paint with in pots on the counter.

This is my favorite storage piece. It is a Closet Maid drawer system which holds tools in the two top drawers and the other deep drawers hold adhesives, paints, glitters, embossing powders and punches.


Did I mention I have a few jars of paint?

Another drawer holds Colorbox chalk and Fresco ink pads.

This is my sweet baby Singer Featherweight.

Sometimes I like to type out some text for collaging on this old Royal typewriter.

My collection of art & craft books sits on a long shelf over my work area. I also display little works of art from friends here too.

This is my itty bitty, extremely awkward closet. I have it packed to the max with raw materials and magazines, magazines, magazines!

This is the latest addition to my studio, this fabulous storage unit from Ikea. It holds so much stuff.

More paint - Golden Glazes.

These old metal lunch boxes makes great storage for all sorts of things.

This is my new rubber stamp storage. I used to have my wood stamps stored in 2 six drawer rolling carts and my unmounted stamps stored in four over sized plastic shoe boxes up high on a shelf. Now everything lives together organized and labeled in these Stampendous "Thickers" storage containers. Each one holds a single layer of stamps so you can easily see and get to your collection. 

This is my BIG storage cabinet for fabric. I got this for $25.00 too!

The shelves can barely hold up from the weight of the expansive fabric stash. Each basket holds a different color. On the top shelf is my ribbon storage in Snapware containers.

On the back of the studio door is my large art paper storage. I used five curtain rods to hold over 75 sheets of paper organized by color. When I want a sheet, I just unhook the curtain rod, get what I want, then clip it back on the fixture. Underneath are a few tote bags and to the right,  a step stool.

Home Sweet Home Studio 

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great studio, Karen. All those supplies make me want to create something. I love your chandelier too. I got your e-mail, thank you for the mention.

I love your storage ideas. I am always looking for creative ways to store things.

Have a great day.
Karen

Unknown said...

WOW!! Your space is AMAZING!! I love the color yellow with the red accents. You are so organized, I am not surprised though. You are one of the most creative and gifted people I have ever met. You have inspired me once again, Karen. I have to go clean my little stamp area now...
MaryBeth

joann b said...

Yea for you Karen. Love to see the pictures of your crafty creative space - love the yellow. Fabulous....
Have fun with your adventure.
xojoann

Wilhelmina said...

Holy cow, I've seen this space and I had no idea that you packed that much stuff in there. AND you know where everything else, AND it still looks cute!

Sarah

Barbara said...

Great space for all your creativity! And so neat! Nice storage solutions. I have things everywhere!

Barbara