How to Start a Home Design Studio or Craft Room

If you own a business that designs, creates, and sells handmade items from your home, or even if you just love to put your hands and mind to work, it is likely that you need a studio that intrigues your imagination, inspires you to create, sets your mental gears turning, and provides a tidy and accessible craft space for working. The photos and suggestions below will get you thinking and dreaming about starting your own home design studio.

Most important is that you fill your space with things you love. Cut out scraps of fabric that inspire you, newspaper clippings or color swatches that caught your eye; save photographs, postcards, antique advertisements, nameplates, greeting cards, bits of texture from your garden. Have a bulletin board or two at eye level that will give you plenty of eye candy when your ideas run low. These bits of paper and string put together by Design Sponge would inspire me; what about you?

Jessica Haley, of Mia Joie, creating designer shoes and toddler accessories, describes her dream space: "Since I was young, I always dreamed of a studio... a vibrant, ecclectic space filled with paintings, pottery, and pretty textiles. So, I am very happy to finally have one! [...] I have a huge inspiration board dripping with clippings out of magazines, unique swatches of fabric, and vibrant photos."(Haley, Jessica, "My Studio," <MiaJoieBlog.com>, accessed on 2-2-2010)

The most functional design spaces are usually stacked floor-to-ceiling, on at least one wall, with shelves of supplies. Two or three small boxes can usually fit on a shelf, and can be slid out easily to get to the contents. Supplies that you use more frequently should be at arm's length or in drawers near your working space. Spools of threads, ribbons, or wires can be placed on a peg board on the wall nearest your work table, and tools such as scissors, pens, and knives can stand up in a small container. The design studio for PinkLovesBrown paper goods and fine items is a great example of an organized storage space and inspiring design studio in one!

My favorite kind of work space involves lots of sunlight, and plenty of lamps for when it gets dark. There is occasionally something inspiring about a dim atmosphere, but as for working with colors and textures and details, natural light is the best thing that can come into your craft space! Don't ruin your eyes for the sake of creativity. Pull back those curtains, let in the sunlight, and you can be sure your designs will look their best in any lighting.

Another advantage to having a window near your workspace is the view outside. Whether you live in a woodland or a city, you will appreciate a look out the window now and then to get fresh ideas from what you observe of the great outdoors. The Bark Design work studio by the Bark Design Architects combines the best of the work environment with the best of the outdoors: plenty of natural light, views of the coast, and the workroom itself elevated amongst the treetops. How would you like to work in a place like this?

An art studio can appear out of the strangest places! Helen Rawlinson, who designs and creates textiles for home decoration use, has found the perfect place for her studio: an abandoned chocolate factory in London! Built in the Victorian era, this building was bought recently by another designer, then rented out to specific crafters like Helen. She has each wall piled high with shelves and products, little toys underfoot from her son, and when she needs a break, she takes a few steps out into a cobblestone courtyard surrounded by potted plants. It sounds idyllic, doesn't it?

A clutter-free table is a must for all crafters, because the clutter only increases as you work --which it should! As a wise man said, "Where no oxen are, the trough is clean, but much increase comes through the strength of the ox." Your clutter should be your increase, not your demise. Choose a desk or table that offers you plenty of space without crowding your hands or the square footage of your room. You need to be able to move around freely from supply shelves to workspace without bumping into corners of tables or cabinets. A great way to have add-on desk space is to attach slide-out extensions to one or both sides of your desk or table. You can easily adjust the surface area of your desk according to your needs.

Decide if would rather work standing up or sitting down. John Adams nearly always composed his documents and letters while standing up, and he had to have a special desk tall enough for him to write while standing. Now many people have admitted they work better while standing (or even pacing), and there are several desks and counters for the stander/pacers. If you prefer to sit, consider getting a stool or an exercise ball to improve your posture and strengthen your back. Your chair should be high enough to let your forearm rest on the desk without overextending it or crunching it in to your side. You should also be able to keep both feet flat on the floor or foot bar of your stool or desk.

© 2010 Jane Grey