5 Tips for a More Flexible, Creativity-Boosting Space
These decorating ideas will encourage your creative side to come out and play
Imagine being able to roll your dining table aside to make a dance floor — or into the garden for an alfresco feast. Think of how much simpler saying yes to messy projects with your kids (or crafting and creating on your own) would be if you knew cleanup would be easy. Here are five ways to make your home feel more relaxed and flexible, from wheeled furniture and pegboard walls to enhanced indoor-outdoor flow.
1. Put the walls to work. Pegboards, bulletin boards, magnet boards and rails (for hanging bins and buckets) are all handy ways to make wall space work harder. You can hang a single board or rail and change what’s on it when you need to, without reaching for a hammer (or making any additional holes in the wall). Setting up a permanent, built-in spot for creative supplies — like a giant roll of butcher paper on the wall — makes it easier to access what you (or your kids) need to complete a project.
2. Let your furniture roll. With the addition of heavy-duty, locking casters, just about any piece of furniture can be transformed into a movable, versatile piece: In the kitchen of an open-plan space, an island on wheels makes the layout flexible. A wheeled coffee table makes it easier to make room for a yoga or workout zone, and storage on casters can be wheeled right where it’s needed. A wheeled dining table can be easily pushed aside to make room for dance practice — or wheeled right out the door for a party!
Mobile Furniture: Put a Wheel on It
Mobile Furniture: Put a Wheel on It
3. Lightly furnish a room. Rather than being packed to the brim with heavy furniture, a room that is furnished with lightweight or modular pieces makes it easy to shift things around to suit different needs. Lightweight furniture (think acrylic and wicker) that can be lifted aside and a comfy rug on the floor can be configured as a sitting area, yoga space or play zone for kids. Storage benches can be pushed aside to make more room or pulled into use as seats or a coffee table.
4. Make cleanup easy with ample hidden storage. Let’s face it: Shelf upon shelf of beautifully organized craft supplies looks amazing … for about five minutes. If you want to be able to freely use your tools and materials — and hide them quickly when you’re done — hidden storage is the way to go. Try a wall of shelving with doors that close or a closet outfitted with shelves and bins.
And if messy projects give you the willies, toss in a few plastic tablecloths to protect surfaces and a drop cloth to cover the floor. Large rolls of paper can also do double duty as table covers and surfaces for making art.
And if messy projects give you the willies, toss in a few plastic tablecloths to protect surfaces and a drop cloth to cover the floor. Large rolls of paper can also do double duty as table covers and surfaces for making art.
5. Open up to the outdoors. Being outdoors is refreshing and inspiring — but when a home is closed off from the outside spaces, it’s not as easy or inviting to use them. A large window overlooking the garden, sliding glass doors that open onto a deck or an indoor-outdoor breakfast bar will draw the eye (and then you) outdoors more often.
If you have little ones, consider keeping baskets near the back door for toting books, art supplies or digging tools into the yard. When the weather is fine, anything you can do indoors, you can do outdoors, too — and it’s usually more fun!
Tell us: What works in your home? Share your ideas for having a flexible, creative space in the Comments.
More:
11 Ways to Refill Your Creative Well
Fresh Start: Organizing Your Craft Room
14 Home Studios That Nurture Creativity and Art
If you have little ones, consider keeping baskets near the back door for toting books, art supplies or digging tools into the yard. When the weather is fine, anything you can do indoors, you can do outdoors, too — and it’s usually more fun!
Tell us: What works in your home? Share your ideas for having a flexible, creative space in the Comments.
More:
11 Ways to Refill Your Creative Well
Fresh Start: Organizing Your Craft Room
14 Home Studios That Nurture Creativity and Art