Space to Create

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.” ~ Pablo Picasso

There are lots of reasons why it’s hard to be an artist. (Especially that whole “starving” thing.) But one of the biggest problems is where to work and store all that art stuff.

Since most homes don’t come with art studios like Martha Stewart's, you can take over the dining room table (inconvenient at meal times), set up shop in the garage (not an option in sweltering Central Florida) or just let your supplies and artwork clutter various flat surfaces. (eeek … the horror!)

What’s a slightly OCD, intermittent artist to do? At the urging of my family and with the kind support of my mother-in-law, we made an art center (no … Centre d’Art Extraordinaire) in our office.

The previous owners used this room as a formal living room. Since we don’t entertain many heads of state or celebrities (although my son is convinced that Orlando Magic players may show up at any time), we decided to put this room to work as a place for me to write ... and now to create! Here’s what it looked like before:

And now….
How cool is this? The dresser was an old piece from the family collection. Once upon a time, it had a mirror or something that went with it, so it made sense as a vanity. But that being long gone, it was just a humble little thing that used to look like this: I painted it Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige and now it looks like this:
The wall storage piece was the top half of a plantation desk that was finished very dark, like this: With lots of unique drawers, cubbies and hidden storage:

I primed it and painted it the same greige to fit into the bold red of the room (Benjamin Moore Smoldering Red). Now it looks like this!

We found these three awesome leather bar stools at Home Goods. When it came to countertops, I knew I wanted something inexpensive that I couldn't mess up. Laminate seemed like the best bet, so we found inexpensive ready-made lengths of countertop at Lowe’s. My friend Melanie recommended a great carpenter to install the countertop, build a support column and hang the plantation desk on the wall...My handy husband even helped me add a dowel for ribbon, making it a gift wrapping center too!

I LOVE my new studio. There's a place for just about every brush, bottle of paint, piece of paper and scrapbook doo-dad that I "need." NOW all I have to do is ... find time to create!