In Home Studio: Pro's & Cons
Well it has been about a year since I moved my studio into my home! I have to say, in some ways it has been better than I expected and in others I have been surprised by how I feel about it. How is that for not a straight answer?!
So, I figured this was a good opportunity to discuss the Pro’s & Con’s of having your studio space in your home. Let’s dive in!
PSA: These are of course my opinions and at no point did I poll anyone else on their in home studio, so it’s just me in the data pool - let’s see what happens. If you work in or have worked in a home studio and/or moved, I would LOVE your opinion, so leave a comment sharing your take!
the PRO’s:
SUPER flexible working hours - I can pop down to the studio and do a little work here and there. I can get a few minutes quilting in while I’m waiting for dinner to cook!
I can make a mess and don’t have to clean it up when I’m ready to shut down for the night - only I (and my family) see the “mess” of my creativity!
When my kids have an in-service day from school (or a suddenly “home-schooling” in the midst of a pandemic), I can still work without having to pack them up to go anywhere!
OH, how did I almost forget this one - I can work in my PJ’s!
My pup can “come to work with me”, though he is not super helpful and sleeps most the time - gotta get better help!
the CON’s
The pull to work is always just floating around in the back of my mind, and sometimes pulls me from time I could be spending with my family.
Because I have kids, the interruption count goes way up when I quilt while they’re home.
I am a fairly extroverted person, so it can get lonely at home, just me and the dog (who is most often asleep and not a good conversationalist).
Despite the draw of the studio, I do get pulled away by the many tasks of a household, feeling like I should be doing laundry or cleaning, etc.
Because of where I live, studio visits are a challenge, which means that I do drop off/pick ups at another location and costs time in travel that I could be quilting.
Phew! Pro’s and Con’s - this was an interesting exercise for me. Some of the things I thought I would love about it turned out not to be as great as I had imagined, while others turned into hidden benefits. The grass seems to always be greener on the other side doesn’t it? So, the question is, where do I prefer to work? What is the perfect studio set up? Completely private? Open to everyone all the time? A mix of both?
I think this would be different for each person, but seems to me I need a little bit of both. There are of course times where I have a deadline and need the ability to focus on a project to get it done on schedule, but there are certainly days where a more relaxed pace would be ok. And of course, there is the tiny fact that I do LOVE to talk about quilting as much as doing the actual quilting!
There may be some changes in store for Doodle - hopefully some exciting opportunities for growth as well as a “best of both worlds” solution to my Pro/Con dilemma! In the mean time, let me know what you think - would you love to work from home or have a studio open to others? How would you work best? And if you’ve run into this scenario, feel free to share some insight below!
Happy Quilting,
Enjoli