Making space in your home for some creativity and art, whether it’s for you or the kids, or you and the kids, can be a terrific way to maximize your space. Finding new ways to maximize the space in your home is sometimes the way to enjoying it fully. You might have an extra bedroom that’s not currently serving any purpose, or part of the basement, attic, or just a corner in the living room — wherever you find the space, creating a craft area can give your Chicago home an immediate upgrade. Here are some ideas to help you make it a reality:

Get Rid of Clutter

It’s very difficult to be creative when you have stuff strewn everywhere. Particularly for adults, it can be almost impossible to relax and get creative if your space is full of reminders of things you need to do or other distractions. If you want the best possibility for fun and creativity, you should keep your designated space as free from clutter as you can. Try and make the area solely a place to do creative projects, and don’t let it fill up with other household items.

Organize Your Supplies

The next step is to think about the supplies you have (and the ones you’ll need) and your strategy for organizing them. Maybe you’re creating a place to paint, draw, or scrapbook. Whatever your creative outlet of choice, give some thought to which crafts the family enjoys and which supplies you already have. Gathering them together in one place will make it immensely more appealing when settling in for some creative time. Free-standing drawers, clear bins, and other containers to keep organized will help you keep your materials tidy and make it easy for you to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Make it Bright

Your creative space is the perfect place to have fun when it comes to color and decor (if that’s a possibility for you). Especially if the space will be used by children, bright bursts of bold color can really enrich the inspiring feel of the room. Apart from color, you’ll also want sufficiently bright lighting. Ample light makes crafting and creating much easier. Even adding a floor lamp or a desk lamp can give you enough light for your projects.

Make it Comfortable

Your craft space is a place where you and your family can decompress and relax. The more comfortable you make it, the more everyone will use it. While you’ll likely want a few chairs and a table you can spread out at, you probably don’t want it to feel like an office. Think about adding some blankets, extra cushions, and pieces of artwork (hopefully created right there in the room) to make the space more inviting and comfortable for you and your family to enjoy.

You don’t need an entire room to design a functional, creative space at home. While it might not seem much different than setting up at the kitchen table, designating some specific space for arts & crafts can make it easier to create some art in your home.

If you’d like to talk more about designing a creative space at home, or if there’s another matter we can be of assistance with, please get in touch. We’re always happy to help.