My Art Setup and the Importance of Having a Dedicated Space to Create
I recently did some reorganizing of my art room at my house and realized what a benefit it is to have an actual, dedicated space to create art. I’d never really had an art studio or anything like that, so this was a goal of mine after I moved into my house last year. Now that I have one, I’ve discovered how important it has been in helping me to not only stay organized, but to stay creative as well.
Creating An Art Room
I never had a real dedicated space to create art until recently. Growing up, my setup consisted of storing my materials in a corner or under the bed, and when I wanted to make something, I pulled out what I needed and got comfortable either on my bed or on the floor with some music or a show playing on my laptop until I was done.
I followed a similar pattern throughout college and after. My art supplies were stored in a desk or a box in my dorms. The routine at the time was to just pull out what I needed from wherever and get started. My first apartment was a small one-bedroom living space that very well could have had a corner dedicated to my art with a little shelf and easel setup. Instead, I kept my art supplies in various spots around the apartment and, like in the past, got everything out and set up when I needed to.
Now, however, I’ve created a dedicated space for art in one of the spare rooms in my house that I’ve been in for about a year, and it’s made a world of a difference.
I decided when I moved in that this room would be my art room/office, and it would store all of my art supplies, and finished and unfinished paintings, unlike the scattered makings of my previous places. I recently went in and organized the room so that every item has its own home and is easy to find. The room doubles as an office for when I’m working, but when it’s time to create, I can easily shove away my work computer and find what I need to get started in one spot.
How It’s Benefitted Me
Now that I’ve finally done this, I only wish I’d done it sooner.
For one thing, everything is in one place, instead of being scattered around the house like it used to be for so long. A lot of the time, I’ll still take my sketchbook to other places in the house to draw, but having an art room is especially beneficial for my painting because I don’t have to worry about moving things around to different rooms or up and downstairs.
It’s also helped me to establish a routine that gets me in the mood for art. Whenever I’m ready to create something, I know that I can go straight to my art room. Once there, it comes easily: I set up my canvas, pick out my paints, put on some music or a YouTube video, and get started.
Finally, having this atmosphere just for art allows me to stay focused. I don’t know about you, but I get distracted easily. When I’m in my art room, I’m not thinking about the chores I need to be doing, what’s on TV, or what my husband is doing. All of my attention can be on my art.
How Can You Create Your Own Art Setup?
You might be thinking, “But Jessica, I don’t have a whole room, or even a lot of space in my house, that I can dedicate to art.” That was the case with me for a long time too, but there are still ways you can take advantage of the space you have and make it a haven for your art.
Even if you don’t have a whole room to use for art, using even a small part of a room is enough. Putting a desk in the corner, or even just a shelf, is enough. This way, all of your art supplies are organized in one place and you’re not spending precious time that could be used for art looking for what you need.
Also, customize an area in a way that gets you inspired. I have my own paintings all over the walls in my art space to help get me in the mood to be creative. Put pictures on the walls or include any other items in the area to get your creative juices flowing.
Creating a space for your art doesn’t have to be elaborate. I’ve seen people with full-on art studios that have multiple easels, benches, and shelves that store what looks like hundreds of paints and other supplies. While that would be great, realistically, most of us don’t have room for that.
However, I’m sure that most of us have a bit of storage space and at least one spot we can go to whenever we want to be creative. Establishing that routine in a comfortable and organized setting makes for an atmosphere where by inspired without distraction.