This article will discuss how to organize my art room. It's going to be a difficult article to write, because we don't have a typical studio, nor do we have the same goals.

I'm going to spend this article elaborating on the issues I ran into when organizing this space, and how I solved those issues.

It may not be possible for someone to use this space exactly as I have here. There is plenty of room for changes, but this is going to be a starting point.

I am going to show you how I organize this space because it worked well for me. My art room is also my bedroom and living room, so it is a very specific space. That being said, if you are interested in a space exactly like mine, I hope you enjoy it.

Regardless, this article will show you how to better organize your art room or any room for that matter!

The problem:

When I moved into my current apartment, I was lacking space. My studio was not adequate to do what I wanted. I didn't have the room or the time to build a room, so I had to do something.

My solution was to move my bed into the living room and use a bookshelf. This worked okay, but I knew that something was missing. I needed something to support the bed, as well as be a space for my paint and brushes.

I had planned on building a studio that was roughly 3x3 feet, I had a lot of drawing stuff, and needed something to store a lot of art supplies. So I began my search.

I found a 3-foot shelf for $35. The cost was perfect, and the shelf fit my needs exactly. It was the perfect height for the bed and had room for all of my art supplies. I could move the bed back, and my shelf could be the perfect storage unit.

And then I had a problem, the shelf only had a shelf portion and was attached. I didn't have anywhere to put the second part of the shelf.

The problem solver:

I came across a company called Wefald that makes modular furniture. I checked out their website and was amazed by how cool their stuff looked.

I immediately bought 4 of their pieces and one long and one short metal rod. I got a piece for the shelf portion, a long metal rod with an included tray, and a short metal rod with a tray.

I bought all 4 pieces together, so the long and short rod was $125, the shelf was $30, and the other 2 pieces were $100. The total cost came out to $350.

This piece was designed to hold a twin-sized bed but is perfectly sized for my bed and storage on the shelf. It has a bit of an old-world look with its wide sides, but it is super functional. I also love the way it looks.

The pieces fit together beautifully and have a really sturdy feel to them. I have never had pieces that have fit so well. When I first put it together, I was just amazed by how well it all fit.

The framing of my room:

My bed and frame have become the centering piece of my art room/bedroom/living room.

The problem I needed to solve was the fact that I didn't have anywhere to hang the pieces. I have a small wall to the side of my bed, but it was still awkward to hang the shelf on.

I took the long metal rod and installed it on the wall. I then screwed a 2x2x4 onto the end of it. I bought this to hold the long and short pieces in place so that they wouldn't fall off the shelf.

With the long piece attached to the short piece, the entire metal rod was now rigid. The tray on the front of the rod got screwed onto the back of the tray and the other end of the rod was then screwed into the ground.

To finish it off, I took some 1" exterior 4x4 pine boards and hammered them in place on the shelf so that they were flush with the wall. I attached the tray to the board with a nail, and everything was done!

This frame has seen several uses since I put it together. When I first put the shelf in place, I had to use a curtain rod to hang the long piece and leave the short piece.

This caused my shelves to sag so I have since removed it from the shelf. I have taken to hanging my sheets over it in the summer.

In the winter, I've started to leave the short piece open. It keeps my bed very warm, and I have a little heater to keep the bed nice and toasty.

The whole room set-up:

I used a Murphy Bedmaker to build the bed. If you don't have one of these, I highly recommend it.

The bed was made from soft queen size bed sheets. I had extra sheets, so I got a sheet and a comforter for my bed. For the curtains, I just grabbed some plain white sheets from my linen closet.

Since I am a digital nomad, I am always online. I used two of the posters from my past design gigs as a design canvas. I framed the one with my most famous logo and hung that in the office.

The second poster has a really cool picture of the room. It used to be part of my presentation, and we got a ton of great feedback on it. So, I'm hanging it in my living room and I love how it turned out.

One thing I still need to figure out is how to fix the shelf to the wall. I have a mounting piece that comes with the pieces, but I'm not sure where I want to put it. I'll just have to use it until I figure out what to do, but now everything fits and looks pretty neat!