Here is the progress of my mom's studio remodel: she has transformed a clinical white room into a three dimensional painting inspired by Matisse, an artist famous for his vibrant colors and abstracted human shapes. It is amazing what form and color can do to a room.
This is now a special room and I think now even in the winter it will radiate inspiration for creation. I don't claim to be an expert in how to change a space into an art studio but I agree with others that changing a space to reflect how it will be used is essential. If this room looked like an office I think it would be harder to create in.
My mom and I have discussed how each section of the studio will be used and when she painted the studio she had in mind where the most color would go to reflect how that area was to be used. The left back corner will be used for sketching,painting,imagining and the right back corner will be used for sculpting and wheel throwing mostly. Therefore, most of the bright colors are concentrated on that back wall to encourage creativity--that is the idea anyhow.
Changing the color,or colors, is a pretty inexpensive way to remodel a room for a different use. My mom found that getting the small sample size paint cans was a cheap way to try color combinations. Light greatly effects how color looks in a room and painting small swatches really helps see if a certain color will work in a room. Notice too the cool small size paint roller my mom used and the handy red bucket with its plastic shower cap-type cover to keep in the moisture.
