I’ve had many studios over the years, but my current home studio is my favorite. I had to wait a long time for the room to become available, but once it did, my husband and I totally renovated this 11 x 14 foot bedroom to create my unique creative space. It’s a lot more crowded with stuff now, several years later, but here are some before and after photos, mostly taken during the process and shortly after the renovation.

First, the ratty old wall to wall carpeting was ripped up, and my husband installed a hardwood floor. He also re-did all of the electrical outlets.

After the beat up walls were patched, I painted two walls purple, and two walls red. My husband installed crown molding and two tracks of track lighting. We took down the wonky ceiling fan and put up a lampshade. I bought the black shelves and some of the plastic containers at Costco. The containers hold yarn, fabric, beads, buttons, threads, and other supplies. (I cover them now to keep the sun fading to a minimum.) The curtain is a red silk sari from an eBay seller. My work table is an 8 foot plastic table from an office supply store.

The wooden armoire is full of fabric, and the baskets on top hold assorted stuff. I already had the two freestanding bookcases, which I painted the same shade as the walls, but in gloss. I bought a bookshelf stereo system so I can play CDs if I tire of Internet radio.

The re-do of the closet space is my favorite part. My husband cut down a big heavy wood door (that he had salvaged from a dumpster at a job site) to make my computer desk. We kept the original shelf, and put another one below it. I did all the painting and decorating. I love how my office space doesn’t take up additional space in the room. The license plates are from two of my old VW microbusses, which I drove for many years. My son got me the Kit-Kat clock, which reminds me of my grandmother, who had one in her kitchen while I was growing up. I found the cool beaded curtains at Anna’s Linens.

Here is the door, cut down to fit in the closet. It now has molding across the front edge.

We even put in this rope lighting just for fun. My husband also installed a small drop down hanging light in the closet, above my computer. It has a red glass cone-shaped shade.

I love to paint, but even I got tired of painting all the things!

I applied this textured plastic sheeting on the windows for privacy and to help keep down the UV rays coming in. Sun fading is further avoided by clipping old towels to the shelves, which hang down and shield the bins from sunlight.

I love this mobile, which I found at a crafts fair in nearby Carpinteria. The banner is from an Etsy seller, and the valance is a draped silk sari.

I found my stained glass dragonfly ceiling lamp on closeout at Lowe’s for under $40.00. I love it!

This corner is much more crowded now, as I now have five dress forms and a sculptural mannequin to store!

I had these old faded pattern storage boxes from Cloth World (what Jo-Ann’s used to be called years ago), which were still serviceable although ugly. I found some Hancock’s fabric catalogs and cut up the colorful pages to decoupage onto the pattern boxes. They look so much more cheerful now.

Two of our three cats, Wally and Moo, like to sleep on my work table, so I’ve put down several nice cotton rugs for them to doze on. It’s not unusual to have to move a cat so I can work on a project.

Last, but not least, it helps to have a handy man in your life who is willing to help you create your dream home studio. Thank you, Joe!

(If you really want to see 46 photos of the studio transformation, you can see them here on  Facebook.)