Crafting Your Creative Sanctuary: A Guide to Setting Up Your Perfect Art Space

As an artist I am so lucky to have a dedicated space to create in. And I love finding new and fun ways to display my art supplies to remind me to use them regularly!

Having a space set up so that your brain is triggered to want to do something creative is so helpful. So whether this is a corner of your kitchen table, a desk in your lounge room or a dedicated room, it is important to get your space set up to make everything easy to find and inspire you to create.

What makes a great creative space?

Is it the lighting? The size of your table? The distractions (or lack of them!)? The location? Your comfort level?

I'd say yes to all of them!!

Having good light when you paint is really important - so if you paint during the day and can take advantage of natural light in your creative space, that's great. If you are more of an evening painter, having a bright daylight light in your creative space can really help you out.

Everything else is more of a personal preference. If you are painting small, you might not "need" a big table but you might like to have all your paint spread out so need the extra space.

The most important thing, is that you are comfortable and inspired when you sit down to paint. So make sure your space is set up to work for you and how you create.

How to set up your space

1. Think about what you need: do you want to work with lots of different mediums? do you want to be in the middle of the action in your house or locked away with no distractions?
2. Organise and decorate: If you like a tidy space, it will be important for you to have good storage. Cupboards and boxes are great for this. (we love buying new storage boxes with trays that separate your paint). Annamarie has recently added these felt strips to her art studio wall - combined with some clips, they are a fun way to display all of the many tubes of watercolour paint she has in her collection (and easier to find each colour than hunting through a drawer!!)
   She also has artwork on display everywhere around the room. And regularly swaps it around to keep the area fresh and inspiring.

What does your space look like?

I'd love for you to share a photo of your creative space with us in the "Create With Annamarie Uren" group over on Facebook.

Are there any changes you would like to make? Are you going to treat yourself to a new art chair? Or get a new table? Or maybe some frames to display your creations?

Even a small activity like organising your paints is really good for your creative brain. So if you don't feel like painting today, what about having a de-clutter of your art cupboard and donating some of your old paint to your grandkids?

Plus when you see all the fun art supplies in your collection, you might even be inspired to have a little play around with your paint!

We've got a few ideas for you here