Home Art Studio
As both an architect and an artist, I was very happy to collaborate with Real Estate Company Redfin and other artists on an article giving advice for creating a home art studio in your house. You can read the Redfin article about home art studios here.
Benefits of a Home Art Studio
As I was gathering my thoughts on what my top tips are for designing a home art studio, it got me thinking about what the benefits are of having an art studio in your house. For me, it’s been hugely beneficial as I tend to get fits of inspiration at varying times during the day and it means I can go straight to the studio and work immediatly when I get the impulse to.
Cost Saving
Although, I have always tended to rent additional studio space as well as having a studio at home, if you do decide to forgo the external space for a home art studio, it is definitely a way to save money. For me, I do like to rent a studio space in a shared area as I think it is worth paying a monthly cost in order to meet other artists and see their ways of doing things, along with possibly getting the chance to collaborate with other artists.
Better for the environment & sustainable
Depending on where your studio is located you may find that you need to use the car to get to it (this can be dependent on both the distance and also if you have to carry heavy supplies to your studio). So what is the closest location for a studio where you don’t need to use your car, but of course a home studio. Not commuting to your studio in a car is great for the environment……and good for your sanity too!!
Home Entertaining
I’m sure there are loads of other benefits to having a home studio, but one of the things I liked to do pre-covid was to make my home studio a really sociable space. I’d often have guests over for canapes and cocktails and a visit to my home studio. It always added something special for my guests when I was hosting them in my home!
Top Tips when designing your own home art studio
So if I have convinced you about the benefits of a home art studio, here’s my top tips to consider when designing the space or designating a room as an art studio:
1. Ventilation
Ventilation is really important so it is best to locate your home office in a well ventilated room that has large windows or doors that can be opened to let more air in. I use a lot of spray paint and oil paints and the fumes can be overwhelming at times. So being able to open a window at low level on one wall and at high level on the opposite allows natural cross ventilation. This method is cheaper and works better than mechanical ventilation. It's important to consider the neighbouring building along, the prevailing wind direction which in turn will position the windows within a design. A simple electrical fan at high level can help with the cross ventilation but I always try to eliminate this to save on cost and try let nature do it's thing.Some studios I've worked in have had dedicated rooms for spraying but this is more suited for stencil artists and the rooms can be badly ventilated so is a room that you don't want to spend time in.
2. Light
Diffused Natural Light! This is obvious but I'm always surprised with the amount of art studios that are designed as an afterthought with no light or the windows being located on the wrong aspect. Choose an area of your home that has an external wall or can be roof lit. Make sure that the windows or roof lights are good for diffused (north facing) natural light for the location of the art studio. Locating the window in the correct position i.e. on the north face (depending on where you are in the World!) means that you will get good light without glares and it means that the sun won't damage paintings that lie around in the studio for months or sometimes years which is common in most art studios.
3. Protection
Protect your wall and floor coverings. My home art studio is in a room that has a glass floor and is clad in birch plywood. I covered the glass floor and the birch plywood with a roll of plastic laminate that I change every year or so. But you can also use a tarpaulin to cover the floor and protect from paint. Protecting your wall and floor surface means that they will be pristine if you go to sell your house (and this will protect the home value). I find this good from a creative perspective too because sometimes I just want to start afresh with a new mindset (almost like starting a new canvas) and having a removable protective cover means that the walls don't cost me lots of money to repair when I want to strip down the studio to start afresh . It is also a fast process so I don't waste time on DIY when I want to start anew.
4. Whiteboard Wall
Create one wall in your home art studio as a full white board ( I use a blackboard myself because I like to write an idea and then rub it out So its a private message to myself it also reminds me of school which triggers memories). You can then use the whiteboard to brainstorm your next project or to jot down ideas as they come to you! Very practical but important.
5. Work Table
I love to have a large table where I can sit and mix paint and explore sketch studies. This is a luxury but if you have the space it's worth it. A design point is not to locate the table when it prevents you from executing your workflow without thinking. I paint on the ground as well as the wall so it's important that the table doesn't get in the way of throwing the canvas to the ground.
6. Fixings
Fix hanging battens to the wall at different heights for different size canvas. Make sure to leave one wall completely free or make sure that the battens are easily removable. This allows the artist to afix/roll out an unstretched canvas to the wall . I also use two old chairs to sit a stretched canvas on.
7. Group Items and organise
I'm a messy artist. What that means is that I paint fast and discard brushes, paint cans and any materials I'm using when done with them so as not to stop my flow of creativity. However, When I tidy up before I start painting or after that I group items in locations on the floor or wherever. This means that I generally know when an item is so I can find it fast so as not to stop my creative flow when I am in a state of concentration.
8. Temporary is better than permanent
When creating an art studio in your home it is best to install temporary structures in to the space. In order to protect your the value of your home, it is best to have non-permanent features in special rooms like these. Temporary features mean that particular spaces can be quickly and easily changed from one use to another depending on the requirements of each home owner. For example the room that is now my home art studio was used as yoga studio at one point by my wife. All of my art materials and equipment were easily cleared out in order to change it from an art studio to a yoga studio…..and then back again to a art studio. It’s best to have flexible spaces to make the most of your home and to protect it’s value in the future.
PIGSY’s Home Art Studio
The above are all common sense and easy to achieve once you understand what way you yourself as an artist works. Some items are specific to the way I work, but I think, in summary, what you need is ventilation, light, organisation and storage.
As you can see from the photo of my studio, I designed my space with tons of light and ventilation. I was building my art studio from scratch as I fully refurbished my formerly derelict Georgian property in Dublin, Ireland. Because it was pretty much a tear down and re-build, I could design it fully for my needs. I clad the studio in corten steel which over time turn a beautiful organic orange earth color. The roof is full glass and then there is more glass on the floor. This is where the protective covering was needed! I covered the glass floor in protective plastic sheeting and I also put this protective covering on the birch bly wood walls. In essence, your own personal needs will dictate how you create your own home studio.
Good luck with it all and happy creating!
Thanks for visiting my blog, do get in contact with me if you have any questions about my art.
