Inspire Me: New Studio Space

Just a few inspiration pictures from my Pinterest board

For some time now I've been gathering ideas about how to downsize my studio. Yesterday I even noticed that one of my favorite bloggers, Soulemama, posted pictures of her renovated studio. (I start writing my blog posts a bit in advance so she wasn't included in the above Pinterest board capture.) There are some beautiful studio spaces out there.  Its very important for a creative person to have a space dedicated to said creativity.  It's not just about a place to store your items, its a place to house ideas and bring them to life. To be truly inspired to create, you have to feel comfortable and inspired in the place you create them.

I took a long time to create my old space. It was a dedicated room (the 3rd bedroom) in my home.  Shelving full of fabrics, yarns and fiber and bulletin boards pinned with inspiration, artwork and my drafted sewing patterns filled the walls. There's a desk area for scrapbooking and general designing on one side with drawers and bins of notions, paints and yarns underneath.  The other wall houses two sewing stations; one for the regular machine and one for the serger, with a rolling cart of sewing items close by.  There's a bay window who's sill houses a couple of extra sewing machines and storage boxes. The closet of that room houses overflow craft items, seasonal fabrics and painting canvases. I think there's a few musical instruments in that closet too.  But the time has come for me to give up my traditional studio space, at least in this house. I'll be giving this room to my son in the next couple years or so, since its the larger bedroom of the two.

I also desire to let go of the items and crafts that I no longer need.  In recent months I've sold a lot of my paper scrapbooking things.  I mainly only digitally scrapbook now and that requires little more than my computer and some hard drive storage.  I'm planning to go through those paints, fabrics and yarns too.  I imagine its going to be hard both physically and emotionally.  I get emotionally attached to things far too easily and so I hold on to them forever. Not only is that unhealthy for my small space, but it's not healthy for me either. I need to learn how to let go.

I made a Pinterest board of small office/studio spaces that inspired and motivated me to continue my downsizing.  I've been reading a few blogs about living in small spaces too.  Slowly but surely I'm learning how to be content with less stuff.  The photo above in top center is the one that most inspires me.  It even looks like the corner I've chosen in my master bedroom.  I need just a few storage shelves above my desk, a bulletin board to the right, my computer and a comfy chair.  I'll be moving my sewing area to the dining room for now. That gives me the ability to watch Dealan play in the living room while I sew and cook at the same time. We have two safety gates on either side of the living room and hallway so his little curious fingers will be safe from my machine. 

Over the coming months, I'd like to share my progress with you. I'll be doing a series focused on living in a small home and how that practically works.  I'm sure that you'll be seeing more posts about small living that inspire me. Be sure to check out my Pinterest board if you need a little inspiration for your own studio space.

Anyone else downsizing a room or a creative space? I'd love to hear your experiences as well in the comments below.