Before: the old art studio

It’s been a long time coming…but my art studio has finally gotten its much needed makeover. When we moved to our house almost two years ago, I had several rooms on my list that needed some serious redecorating, and this one was at the very top. The room’s previous owner was a very cute 3yr old little girl. And it was obvious. The room was painted in pink and green stripes and topped off with a little chandelier, perfect for her but not well suited for my needs. I needed something with a little more sophistication. To the left is the “before” shot so you can see where I started.

Here, I present the new and improved art studio! I decided to use a gray, black

Makeover complete!

and white color scheme for the room. I know this may sound strange coming from an artist but I really wanted my artwork to shine in here. I was afraid that tons of color would distract so the gray walls make the perfect backdrop. My big expenditures for the room was a new desk and bookcase – although neither was terribly that expensive since I was able to pick these both up at Target on sale. My old desk had one big, center drawer that was not very good for keeping things organized. The new one has 3 drawers that work a little better. And the old bookcase was an Ikea find that held true to the “you get what you pay for” mantra. It was wobbly and leaning over and had to go. This new one is much bigger which gives me room to display more of my artwork AND has cabinets at the bottom to hide a lot of my tools and supplies. I kept the overall set-up of the room the same since that worked well for me. I did add a black utility rug in my work area to help protect the carpet…although I may be a little late on that one (woopsie!). If only I had thought of this sooner! I found this rug at Lowe’s for $18 so it won’t be expensive to change it out once it becomes too “colorful”.

I’m so happy with how the room has turned out! It’s finally “mine”. I hope this will lead to tons of creativity and inspiration for years to come. Below are a few more detail shots for your enjoyment. Thanks for taking a look!

The new bookcase – perfect for displaying my paintings!

My work table with my inspiration board and calendar.

Lucy checking out the new look.

Makeover complete!