I have an (often) very messy art studio, but I am extremely organized. It’s not hyperbole when I say that I can find anything in my studio in under 30 seconds.
This is a photo of my studio today:
Yes, it’s messy, but it’s actually NOT disorganized.
For me, being organized comes down to three very practical things. None of them are complicated or require a ton of heavy lifting, but they do take a little bit of intention. I’ll take you through all three of them in today’s blog post.
Disorganization Can Stop You From Being Productive
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You sit down to make art. You have an idea. You’re ready to start. And then you can’t find the thing you need because your creative space is totally disorganized. So you start looking. You open containers. You retrace your steps. Maybe you get frustrated enough that you decide to reorganize everything. And somewhere in that process, the energy you had to make something…just leaks away.
I think this is one of the quiet ways that we stop ourselves from making art.
Not because we don’t have ideas. Not because we don’t have time. But because our space makes it just a little bit too hard to begin.
Watch the video for my tips:
Organization Tip #1: Zone Your Art Supplies
Everything you own should have a general “home base.” Not a hyper-specific, perfectly styled location. Just a place where that category of thing lives. For example, all of your paints zoned together.
In the photo above, I’m using rolling carts. If you’re working at a kitchen table, this might be a set of bins or drawers. If you have a larger space, it might be a particular shelf or area of the room.
Whatever your space constraints, the goal is simple: when you need something, you already know the direction to move in. If you’re not sure how to start, pick one category (whatever you use most) and gather all of it into one place. That’s it. You don’t have to organize everything at once. Just start by creating one “zone.”
Organization Tip #2: Label Everything
I know this sounds obvious and yet most people resist it. A label means you don’t have to remember.
Every time you have to stop and think, “Where did I put that?” you’re using up energy that could be going into your work.
Keep in mind, you don’t need a fancy system. A piece of tape and a permanent marker works just fine. If you want to use something like a label maker, rock on. The important thing is that when you open a drawer or look at a closed box, you immediately know what’s inside.
Organization Tip #3: Be Aware of What You Own
This one is less obvious, but it’s equally as important. If your supplies are hidden away, they tend to disappear from your consciousness. You forget they’re there. This might be controversial, but I believe that when it comes to art making, the only wasted money is the money you spend on art supplies you don’t use. If they’re stuck in a box or being saved for a project that’s “good enough,” what’s the point of owning them?!
So part of being organized is making sure your materials are visible enough that they stay in your awareness and therefore get used! That doesn’t mean everything has to be out on display. But it does mean thinking about accessibility: clear bins, open shelving, labeled drawers, etc.
I Love Drawers for Organizing
Drawers are my ride or die because you want your materials to feel available to you at all times. If you have to move three boxes to reach what you want, most of us will be too lazy to do it. And the flip side of things being easy to pull out is that they have to be easy to put away. If putting something away requires too much effort, like if you have to stack things just right or rearrange a whole drawer, you’re not going to do it. At least, I’m not going to do it.
So, let things be a little messy inside the system. A drawer doesn’t have to be perfectly arranged to be useful. It just has to contain the right category of things.
The easier it is to reset your space, the more likely you are to keep it usable.
The Goal of Organizing: An Infinitely Usable Art Studio
In my opinion, the goal of organizing is to achieve a usable studio. Not a perfect studio. Not a beautiful studio ready for a magazine feature. A usable studio.
Because when your space is super functional, you sit down and can start making right away. You don’t lose time looking for things. You don’t feel overwhelmed before you begin. You simply get to work! And when it’s easier to start, you start more often, which means you make more art. It’s a snowball effect with one good thing leading to the next!
If your space has been getting in your way, you don’t have to overhaul everything.
- Pick one category.
- Give it a home.
- Label it.
See what changes because small shifts in how your space functions can have a surprisingly big impact on how often you use it. In the end, that’s what matters!
So, here’s to making more art with more joy! Thanks for stopping by!
