Every creative soul needs an area where they can release all of their inhibitions and let go of their imagination so that they can create. This area is detrimental even to their mental state in some cases and having such an area in their home isn’t always the easiest space to obtain. It must be a place where you are not bothered by everyday mundane stuff, where no one but yourself provides judgment, and where, ideally, no one else enters.
Every struggling or successful artist, regardless of their creative domain, can put such a place to great use. It doesn’t always have to be a large room or a secluded room, but it must always be a space of their own. A space where, even if it’s filled with clutter, no one else will come and organize stuff. A place where they have the last word whether it’s regarding the quality of a piece of art or the place where they set their notes. Look into KonMari, the art of decluttering for help to organize your space once and for all.
If you’re in need of such a place and renting out a creative studio isn’t an option, we’ll help you create such a space in your home. You might have an attic that sits there unused or another corner of your home that could do with some sprucing up. What you must take into account is that while most of the suggestions below can be applied to any type of creative space, you need to take into account your actual type of art. For example, when we’ll talk about natural light, this should not be applied to a dark room where you’ll develop your films. Also, for a music studio, instead of decorative art, invest in soundproofing systems. There are certain particularities to some creative domains that we should not overlook, especially when they come at the detriment of our creative process. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Function over Aesthetics
It’s not that having an aesthetically pleasing artist’s corner isn’t important. It’s just that functionality should come first. When you start planning your artist corner, make sure you plan for functionality, not aspect. Depending on exactly what you will create in the room or space, it’s important to meet the requirements for that creative process. If you’ll use it to paint, ensure that there’s plenty of light and space to move around. If you need an area where you can write, make sure you have a comfortable chair and a desk where you can place everything you need. Having an organized artistic corner may not always be the easiest thing, but it will nurture the creative process if you don’t have hundreds of things lying around the room to distract you. There are plenty of things you can use for storage but it’s best if it’s close to your creative corner in the room so that you don’t have to move around too much to get your chisel, paintbrushes, character notes, threads, or guitar essentials. Keep things in reaching distance as much as possible.
Types of Furniture that Works Best
When it comes to the furniture trends of 2021 your artist’s corner is no different. While a beautiful vintage desk catches your eye, does it have the drawers necessary for all the nick-knacks you need? Does it have enough space to hold your coffee cup, alcohol cup, ashtray, and water bottle along with papers, notes, timelines, storylines, strings connecting characters or ideas, writing pad and laptop, or worse, PC? Take everything into account because the terror of any writer is a cup of coffee spilled over a manuscript, or worse, a laptop’s keyboard.
Add storage that fits your needs. For writers, the amount of storage can be rather limited, especially when compared to clothes designers. Aside from having designated space for different types of threads, needles, buttons, materials, and so on, you also need to know exactly where to find it, if it isn’t scattered around the room. Look into old card catalogs for example as they have multiple drawers of different sizes. Repurposing old or antique furniture will also increase your creative corner’s sustainability factor. For painters, look into shelving units where you can store all your colors, brushes, and everything else you need. Also, wall-mounted canvas holders will keep your paintings safe to dry and easy to handle in need. Writers will find vertical storage to fit their need to create schemes, connect ideas, as you can easily include a corkboard on the wall behind your desk for easy visual access. Photographers should install some wiring in their darkroom if they are passionate about film photography to ensure the space necessary for their art to dry, while also having the crates with different colors to develop their own pictures.
Depending on whether you need to stand or sit, the chair that you purchase needs to be comfortable, especially for writers. However, a bean bag or another type of relaxation corner can ignite creativity in most artists so save a corner for that.
Lighting and Colors are Essential
When at all possible – except in dark rooms -, and this can not be stressed enough, ensure that your artist’s corner has plenty of natural light. Flood the room with natural light if you can, or install a glass ceiling because natural light is the best friend of any artist, including photographers, only not in their darkroom.
While you might think that light is good for the eyes, allowing you to see your creation, whatever it might be, better, there’s more to light, and color for that matter, than that. Natural light is inspiring, refreshing, and energizing. Yes, you can drink coffee to feel energized, but you don’t want to wind up drinking too much coffee and give way to anger. For writers, the best direction from which light should come is from 7 o’clock for the writer’s position at their desk, or behind and slightly to the left. Like that no shadow will fall on your page. However, if you write on a laptop or PC, the light needs to come from somewhere behind the screen so that it doesn’t blind the screen.
Painters should also have light positioned at 7 o’clock for the same reason. When it comes to taylors, clothes designers, or other types of artists that work with their hands, they need light to fall on their working space. Whether it’s a desk, a chair, a sewing machine, or a table, it needs as much usable light as possible. Artificial light can be used here as well and you should look into task lighting. Color plays an important role to increase creativity and, similar to light, it can enhance or diminish an atmosphere, enrage or relax among other things that are discussed in the psychology of light and color for your interior design.
Bring Nature into Your Creative Corner
Plants serve several functions in an artist’s corner. Firstly, they break down the space by infusing the atmosphere with natural elements that go against any other patterns you might have throughout your creative corner. While clutter isn’t a friend of creation, contrast is. It gives your subconscious a juxtaposition of forms and sheds light on different perspectives. Secondly, by bringing nature into your creative space you are reminded of the greatest art across the planet. Nature itself takes more forms and shapes than anything else created by human hands. It has always been used as a source of inspiration from carvings in caves to Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”. There’s no denying that artists are inspired by nature and natural elements so why not use this almost overlooked component of life for your own personal reasons. Take care of it and it will clean up the air and your mind as studies have shown that plants destress and increase productivity aside from the fact that they can brighten up every corner of your home.
Make it Comfortable and Yours
The space in which you create shouldn’t only be functional and useful, it must also be comfortable and represent you, the artist you. We already mentioned a comfy chair, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. When you think about a space where your creativity must be unleashed you have to also think about the things that make it comfortable and feel natural to you. Whether it’s a piece of art that you can hang on a wall, a photograph that takes you back to your cozy space in your mind, a bean bag or hammock where you can relax, or a stage where you can imagine yourself performing in front of millions of people, whatever it is, make it happen.
Increasing the Hygge factor will also influence your creativity because we are most creative when we are more at peace. What we are trying to say isn’t that you should push yourself out of your comfort zone. We are referring to the cozy feeling you get when you can see even the most unimaginable things coming true, where an idea comes alive in your mind’s eye and you can see all the stages it requires to come true, and all the actions you need to make it real. That cozy feeling where the sky stops being the limit and you become aware of how your creation can touch other people, people you’ve never met and you get more anxious and determined to make it come true. That cozy feeling. Find ways to increase the chances of that feeling overtaking you. For writers it might feel like their fingers can’t keep up with their mind, guitarists will pitch chords and hit notes that seemed impossible before, painters will become one with their art and dreamers will become the truth they envision.
Conclusion
Plenty of people out there are trying to find the best output for their creativity and artistic abilities. Some of them waste most of their lives trying to discover their hidden talents and wind up struggling. While many of these people use art as a means to improve their mental health and destress, there are those that have hidden talents or, in order words, a flair for the arts. Regardless of whether or not you are one of those people who can move people with words, paintings, sounds, perspectives, or designs, art is for the soul of the creator first and foremost. That is why anyone can dabble with brushes, ideas, or cameras. It doesn’t even matter if anybody sees your creation because creation is a means of expression, a medicine, therapy for everyone who gets started while also working for children with special needs. Organizing a space where you can do just that will give you the chance to work on your own well-being, and if you wind up creating a masterpiece in the meantime, then all the better. Kudos to you.
Below you’ll find a comment section where you can let us know what your thoughts are on implementing an artist’s corner in your home. What would you like to use it for and what do you intend to get out of it? Are you an artist at the beginning of your journey or do you want to perfect your craft? Maybe you’re a parent who just needs to unwind in a creative way or a teenager who needs a safe environment to release some pent-up anger and frustration. Whichever typology you belong to, Like & Share this article with friends and family as art can and already did change the world. Use it well and use it wisely.
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