Re-organizing your art studio at this time of year—among the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the cerebral fog of too many cocktails or sugarplum sweets, and the craziness of trying to get a slew of handmade projects created for gifts and décor—may seem like a silly idea. Wouldn't it be better to wait for the New Year to begin, after all the Christmas clutter has been swept out and your resolutions are made?
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| Baskets like these in Andrea Villarreal's California studio can hold a multitude of art supplies. Photo by Sonia Adame. |
Not necessarily. Here are three reasons why now might be the perfect time to reorganize your home studio-or at least make specific plans to reorganize in the near future.
1. Right now, while all your creative "stuff" is pulled out and piled up all around you, is the perfect time to assess what you have accumulated. Is there a better way to store it? Do you find you're constantly walking around boxes, tables, or bins that are in your way-but you never use what's inside? Maybe you need to get rid of what you're not using or put it somewhere that's out of the way.
2. The holidays are the perfect time to find new uses for containers-and not just for gifts and holiday decorations. Ornament storage boxes could also hold balls of yarn, found objects, or rubber stamps. Mason jars, baskets, and tins that hold goodies over the holidays can hold fabric, buttons, or spools of thread after the sugar high is gone.
3. Organizing can be soothing. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, the end-of-the-year frenzy at work and the darken days can get on your nerves. Folding fabrics, sorting buttons, and lining up jars of paint are mindless, meditative tasks that can take you away from the madness that often grips the season.
Actually, just spending time dreaming about your creative space and how you might rearrange and organize it (or thinking about how you might someday get a dedicated creative space) can seem like a mini vacation.
I highly recommend curling up in a chair with your favorite beverage and a few copies of Studios magazine. Whether you take note of the creative organization and storage ideas employed by fellow artists or simply dream about having a spacious, light-filled craft studio like the ones in the magazine, you'll find a peaceful respite from the hubbub in Studios–50% off right now.
P.S. What's your favorite reusable storage container? Leave a comment below.