5 Tips for Painting a Creative Work Space

SmithPro Commercial Painting provides commercial painting services in Missouri across a diverse range of businesses and nonprofits. Our work spans the gamut of hospitals and educational institutions, buttoned-down offices, and — when we’re lucky — creative work spaces like agencies, artists’ lofts, and photographers’ studios. If your business is on the creative side of the spectrum, or if you go against the flow of a more conservative industry, here are some tips for maximizing your workspace.

Paint is only one aspect of a creative space. Whether you believe in Feng Shui or not, you should at least give some thought to what your space is for, and how it should flow as a result. You should also think about who your space is for, since a workspace that’s designed and planned only for you (or you and your staff) will have different priorities than one that’s intended to be public-facing. The better you know your needs, the better we can help you meet them — and can advise on choices that will best align with your workflow and values alike.

That may seem like an odd thing to say, but sometimes people don’t think about it until we ask. We’ll be approaching the space differently if the walls will be a display area for your work than we will if they’ll be kept bare. Likewise, areas with shelving or bookcases will be approached differently than exposed brick, or a blank expanse that works as the background for figure studies or a backdrop for posing your subjects.

This is especially important in lofts and open-plan studios, but applies to home-based businesses as well. The space in which you’re working isn’t necessarily the same one in which you’re conducting consultations or closing business. Not only should you have discrete areas set aside for each function of your business, but you should also choose specific colorways to set off these areas. And if you’ve got a lot of open space, get creative with your use of furniture and storage — your paint colors don’t have to do all the heavy lifting.

Sometimes we’re not the only ones painting your space. If you’re a fine artist, you’re operating a sip-and-paint business, or you’ve got a paint-your-own-pottery studio, a mural or custom graphics can do anything from communicating your brand to creating a touch of whimsy that tells your story faster than marketing copy could hope to. We can leave you with a base layer upon which your imagination can run wild.

There’s more to your workspace than your paint choices, and this can be especially true of spaces in which artists and photographers work. While we encourage you to come to us with a vision of what you want, we’d advise a degree of flexibility.

For one thing, you’ll want to take full advantage of natural light. For another, use of color in creative spaces can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, you certainly want to put your own stamp on your space. On the other, the use of bold colors can impart a color cast on your work. That can cause headaches if your work includes video, or if you’re a photographer working with off-camera or bounced flash, green screens, and the like. It’s also worth paying attention to your artificial light sources — using light with a higher CRI helps, and you’ll also want to ensure that all of your lights are the same color temperature to avoid an unnatural look or potential problems with white balance.

We enjoy working on studios and other creative spaces. Like you, we welcome the opportunity to stretch out and try new things, after all. So if you’re in the process of making over a space to reflect your esthetic, your craft, and your own unique look, schedule a consultation with SmithPro Commercial Painting and let’s see what we can create together!