Welcome to my studio! This is where the magic happens
Published by Nela Dunato on in Personal
For years I’ve been living in apartments with no room for a proper studio. I’ve been creating on kitchen tables, balconies, beds and even floors. All my art & craft supplies had to fit in two drawers. I tried to make the best of what I had.
This changed in the autumn of 2012 when I finally moved into an apartment that was big enough to fit a huge work desk, and that had enough closets so that I could dedicate one of them entirely to my art supplies.
It was a dream come true for me!
2023 update: I have long since moved into a different apartment and created another lovely home office & studio, which you can check out here: My art studio renovation (that took 4 years to complete)
I got used to this luxury, so when my boyfriend and I started talking about moving in together, I made one thing clear: I wanted to have a separate room for my creative work.
We agreed that me leaving my stuff around the apartment would not be a good solution for any of us, so we decided to pay higher rent in order to get that extra room.
After a few weeks of searching, we found the perfect apartment. It had everything we wanted, and when I walked into the “children’s room” (still with a bed in it) that had a balcony facing south-east, I fell in love with it and decided on the spot that we will take it.
Now I have a wonderful room dedicated to my creative work. It’s an office and an art studio in one. I have plenty of room for creating, and enough storage space for all the art supplies and tools I own. I absolutely love spending my days here.
Here’s the first thing you see when you come in. I have two large desks extending along the entire length of the wall. In the middle you can see my computer set up: two monitors, speakers and a large Wacom Intuos3 tablet.
The wall is full my big plans and inspirational art. I remove and add things from the wall based on what I’m working on and how I feel.
Currently you can see a mind map for a project I’m working on, my big yearly calendar, some exercises from the Right Brain Business Plan, a framed drawing my friend gave me, and some of my art planted with intentions.
The wall is so hard that I couldn’t add any new nails on it, so I can only stick things to the wall with white-tack.
On the left is my drawing corner. I have a tilted drawing board that my dad had made for me a few years ago. (Back then I used it to draw on my bed). Actually these are two boards, a thick one with 2 legs and a thin board that I can remove put up on my easel.
On the desk is my usual morning sketching setup: a Canson sketchbook and a Sakura Koi watercolor field sketch set that I absolutely adore.
Here’s a view of the right side of the room. On the second desk I keep my lovely Epson Perfection V330 scanner and some paper racks, and under it is my printer (not plugging it because I hate it), some storage boxes and a handmade paper bin.
That’s where I keep my easel too. Right now I don’t have a painting in progress, so I put up Nourishing Heart on it so that it’s not empty. On the far right there is a closet where I keep my art supplies.
Here’s a view of the open closet:
I keep my canvases, papers, paints, palettes, brushes, and everything else in this closet. In the red polkadot boxes you can see at the bottom is where I keep my various tools: SLR camera & tripod, sewing machine and fabrics, all the tools for home repair… I’m so happy it all fits in this closet.
Lastly, here’s a view of my windows and a small balcony. There’s just enough room for a small table and a pair of chairs, and that’s where I often do my morning sketching and brainstorming before it gets too hot.
I prefer to keep my windows curtain-free because I want to let as much light in, and I like to look out every now and then. The view ain’t half bad, I can even see the sea and my home island from inside.
I have to make one thing clear: my studio is not always this neat! Usually I manage to keep it orderly for about 2 days, and then I get involved in a project and soon enough the place turns into a creative mess.
Also, you may have noticed there’s no chair in view. I’m actually sitting on a pilates ball.
So, that’s it for today, I hope you enjoyed my little studio tour!
P.S. Do you have some photos of your home-office or your work corner? Share it in the comments, I’d love to see it!
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About Nela Dunato
Artist, brand designer, teacher, and writer. Author of the book “The Human Centered Brand”. Owner of a boutique branding & design consultancy that helps experienced service-based businesses impress their dream clients.
On this blog I write about art, design, creativity, business, productivity and marketing, and share my creative process and tips. Read more about me...
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Looks like a beautiful place to create, Nela! I’d love to hear some tips about how you organized your art supplies before you had this amazing space. I have a corner in my office for my art stuff, but it’s all cardboard boxes right now. :(
How lovely to have a room like that – I can understand how it can be a dream come true. I certainly wish I could have a room like yours, and the balcony! Thank you for sharing your work space – I really like the art around too.
@KrisWithaK: Thank you!
Here’s how I did it when I lived a small apartment where my living room and bedroom and work room were one and the same.
I bought big boxes that looked nice: https://neladunato.com/images/red-flourish-cardboard-boxes-4-blog-163.jpg
Once I bought a few my room started looking less messy. I would stack them up so they didn’t even take too much space.
My art supplies are sorted into shoe boxes by medium, and I’d simply put these boxes into the large ones so I could quickly find what I needed.
I hope this helps!
@Lynne, thank you very much, glad you like the art! I wish every artist could have a room like this! :)
I love your working space and how much light and space you have. It’s great to have both the working space and the studion in the same room, with the balcony as a bonus.Thank you for sharing this with us.
Lovely little glimpse into your space. Seeing the little patio where you can allow the world to speak to you each morning made me smile. And aspire.
Hope the space continues to fuel your creativity. And makes another appearance.
I love your office! It’s the perfect mix of creativity and organization. Thanks for giving us a behind-the-scenes view. :)
@Mihaela: Thank you! Oh yeah the light and the balcony are the best part! :)
@Marsha: Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the view of my studio! :)
I will share more photos as I create new artworks, for sure.
Thank you, Sage, I’m glad you think so! :)
Oh this is so inspirational Nela! I have dreams of having a sun-soaked home office and it is such a great feeling to see someone else have this type of set up! I can’t wait to have one someday soon! What a perfect little piece of creative space. Thanks for sharing! xo
Best,
Brittany
http://www.Soultiply.com
Thank you so much Brittany! I’m so glad you like my creative space! :)
I’m holding my fingers crossed for you to have your own sunny home office as soon as possible!