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Do you have a place for your hobby? You actually may have all the space you need. If you're
like me, you have a hobby. My hobby is painting. And I'm always needing a space where I can
set up all of my things and let them stay there until it's time for me to come in and
actually do what I wanna do. It's a great pastime. But what makes it even more pleasurable
is having a place that you can dedicate to it. Now this little space is only 16x16 square
feet, and it serves as a guest bedroom. You see, this sofa actually rolls out into a bed.
So it's very handy that way. When it's not being used as a guest bedroom, this room serves
as my art studio. I can leave my paints, my easel and my canvases out, and I can step
in here, and without too much effort, reengage in my hobby. Whatever you're hobby, you need
a system of organization. And believe me, I'm not the most organized person in the world.
But what I have here is a big table that sits up high that I can use to grab my things,
so I can set everything out in baskets and buckets and so forth. So there is some organization
here on this surface. And then over here on this wall, I have a cabinet that has books
and papers -- it also has drawers where I can fill it full with all kinds of things.
So let's talk about the space itself. I mean, you just can't produce space out of thin air.
But what about an underutilized room in your house? Maybe you've had a child move away
to college, or a roommate's moved out, or what about a garage or an attic space? Think
creatively about it, or even dual-purpose a room. Like if you have a guest room, like
I've done here, let it serve also as your crafting or your hobby room. In this room,
light is very important. So I wanted to make sure I had big windows that would give me
lots of natural light. And then I have plenty of lights in the ceiling. I have ceiling fan
that helps keep it cool and comfortable. And I also have a sound system in here where I
can play some of my favorite music while I paint. One aspect of my studio that is very
handy is that everything is on casters, it's mobile. Like this big easel, it has wheels
on it, so I can move it around the room, just like the table. Also, the thing that you wanna
do is wanna have inspiration. So I keep lots of books stacked up in my bookshelf, in case
I wanna pull something down and take a look at it, and be inspired. You know, the main
thing you wanna do in a room where you're doing crafting or doing your hobby is you
wanna feel really comfortable in it. This is the place that you should consider you're
little sanctuary, or your little getaway. So you wanna try to choose a place that's
out of the traffic of everyday life, so you don't have all those distractions. It also
should feel good. You need to feel good about coming into it and relaxing and letting the
muses dance in your head and come up with really great and fun creative ideas. If you're
enjoying these style tips, check in with us regularly. And make sure you subscribe to
eHow Home. Now I'm gonna do some painting.