My Art Studio

When we renovated our home, we changed the upstairs floor plan and added square footage to accommodate a more modern master bedroom layout. The master suite now includes an office, sitting room, bedroom, bath and closet.

The sitting room was part of the original master bedroom. It has a sweet, small fireplace angled in one corner. The room is rather small, and the windows face east and south. Again, not the best light for painting but during the day it is bright and happy. To see before and after of this fireplace, click here.

I took the liberty of using this space and making it my art room. Quite honestly, it was necessary because my painting supplies were all over the house. I was like a roaming artist, trying to find the best light, a flat surface and some place where the cats would not walk through my paints.

The art resting on the fireplace mantel is a Steven Hofberger painting. During our restoration, we had the unpleasant surprise of having to replace 55 windows. The original rope and pulley windows with blurry original glass had to go. I loved those windows and the thought of them going to the dump was disturbing.

Thankfully, Steven was using old windows as his canvas and took all 55 of them. As a thank you gift to us, he gave us this painting on the window that actually came from this very room. It still has the original hardware too.

When I refreshed my son’s bedroom, I took his large desk setup and moved it to the sitting room. The base is made from 2 Ikea cabinets and the top is a generous countertop that is 26″ wide x 90″ long. Using plastic and paper table cloths, the surface of the desk and adjacent space is safe from paint spills. To see my son’s bedroom re-do, click here.

In order to protect the hardwood floor, I covered it with Ram Board. This heavy duty Kraft paper is leftover from the multiple commercials and photo shoots we have had at our home. The film crew doesn’t want it and I always offer to take it off their hands. To see a previous post on filming commercials, click here.

There is a large day bed in the room and I am debating whether to remove it or not. It is a nice place to land after several hours of focused work, especially with the television nearby.

The sitting room tends to be that room that harbors items that have no official home. My friend, Susan, found this lovely prayer bench for me. It is on my list of projects to complete as I want to make a new kneeling cushion and find a quiet space for it. Currently, it is a place to set some of my paintings.

Right now, I am going through all my artwork. I have kept nearly all of them since I started four years ago and it’s time to thin out the herd. Many I will paint over, especially those during my kindergarten stage. A few people are asking that I consider selling some, which I am contemplating.

The configuration of this room isn’t ideal yet. The wall paint color is 20 years old too. But it is low on my list of projects. Ultimately, I’d love to take everything out and really contemplate how I want this room to function as a viable art studio. Also, I did a live Instagram story on this room yesterday if you would like to see it firsthand.

Do you have a space in your home for your hobbies and interests? If you have an art space, please share your tips and techniques on design and style. I love learning from all of you and appreciate your comments and feedback.

Have a wonderful Wednesday. We are enjoying the most glorious weather here~~mid 60s in the morning and low 90s during the day. A far cry from our typical sweltering hot June weather. Praying it stays this way for a while.