The moment I realized I needed a base of operations or a studio space out of my home I knew that I needed to get rid of the guestroom. However, I fought that notion for another two years and I still managed to get by painting, drawing, and processing photos wherever I could find space.
The problem I ran into was that every time we wanted to host guests I suddenly found myself in a mad dash to clean everything up. This can be so disruptive to your creativity, not to mention a tedious waste of time. When you finally have everything put away and creativity strikes, you are also reluctant to pull your materials back out again. It all stopped me from allowing room in my life for creating work.
We tried to set up a studio space for me in the basement. However, I quickly learned that being surrounded by four concrete walls and a tiny fear of spiders wouldn't work for me. We decided we needed to rearrange space in our home so that we could still have guests over, but so that I could also have a place to work.
This time we decided to use a spare room that had a twin bed for guests that stay over. It just didn't make sense to keep a room for a limited purpose when we needed space for daily work. This proved to be a good decision, I've already been able to use the studio and feel comfortable creating in there. Your workspace should be an extension of you, whether you are painting, processing photos, crafting, or designing---you need an area that feels like an appendage to your creativity.
A studio space can be anything, it can be a desk, a nook, a room, an exterior space---anything that gives you a defined area to pursue your work. I will be sharing some photos of my workspace, and also photos from upcoming projects this week on the blog. Remember to give yourself space to be creative!
-Michelle
