Beat Cabin Fever with These Home Studio Decorating Tips!

Beat cabin fever by organizing and re-decorating your Home Studio with these helpful tips!

Coronavirus has kept a lot of us confined to our homes, which isn’t really anything new for most of us producers and engineers who are used to spending hours in the studio, however, there’s never been a better time to organize our home studios, neaten cables, dust off all our gear and maybe even do some re-arranging.

No matter how small your space is, there are always things you can add or change to create a more moody environment which will inspire your creativity.

I’m here to give you lots of decorating tips for your home studio and I’ve attached a bunch of Home Studio examples from Producers and Engineers around the globe for inspiration!

Organization

Keeping your Home Studio tidy is imperative to feeling comfortable, stress-free and creative.

Organizing cables can seem like an impossible task, but since most of us are now in lockdown there’s really no excuse!

In fact, the other day I helped a close friend clean his studio… We organized everything, untangled cables, wiped down every surface, vacuumed and moved things around to create more space, by the end of it the energy had changed SO MUCH, we couldn’t wait to get to work!

Tips to organize cables:

Colored electrical tape and a black marker to label each cable
Velcro ties to keep cables neat and tidy. 100 pack for $10 on Amazon
Attach a cable tray underneath your desk which free’s up space on your floor and keeps cables out of view, you can buy trays on Amazon

MINIMALISTS

Some of us prefer a more minimal approach to decorating and design. This is where you would really focus on organization and ways to neaten your cables as mentioned above. Keeping cables and power boards hidden and off the floor is a great way to enhance a home studio with a minimalist style.

On the walls, you might prefer to add bass traps and acoustic foam for sound absorption instead of hanging artwork.

Some people work better with less distractions and prefer to have nothing in their studio except for the gear they’ll be using.

To stick with a minimalist design you may want to keep furniture and accessories black or white and ensure that everything has its place and that any loose items, leads, writing books and stationery is out of sight and in a drawer.

LIGHTING

Lighting is the NO.1 way to enhance the overall feel of your room if you purchase a smart light you can easily adjust the colors through an app on your phone!

There are 2 well-known companies who specialize in LED Smart Lights who ship internationally. They offer a range of products from Color changing globes to LED strips.

LIFX & Phillips ‘Hue’

You can also find some brands on eBay that do LED Globes & Lighting strips, just ensure to check reviews and seller ratings before purchasing.

Fairy lights are also a great idea and you can buy solar-powered ones if you have a window in your studio to place the small solar panel.

It’s amazing how a bit of mood lighting can totally transform your space.

PLANTS

I’m a HUGE advocate for real plants in Home Studios, not only do they clean the air, but you really feel a difference when you have live plants in your room.

Here is a list of Indoor plants that are hardy and can survive quite easily with minimal care and minimal sunlight:

Dragon Tree (Dracaena marginata)
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Heart-Leaf Philodendron (Philodendron scandens)
Bromeliads (Can survive solely on Fluorescent light!)
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) Best to keep this plant away from pets and children as it’s toxic if swallowed.
Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema)
Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)
Golden Pothos (Scindapsus aureus)

Plants are much easier to look after than you think. Ensure that the soil is always slightly moist by touching it to check.

Water your plants with half a cup of water every week for small-medium sized plants, you can adjust this by touching the soil and checking moisture levels, large plants will usually need one cup of water.

POSTERS/ARTWORK

A great way to bring some of your own personality into your studio is to hang or frame your favorite movie posters, artwork or images that you enjoy looking at.

One of my favorite pieces is an original Daybill movie poster from the 1960s that I purchased off eBay for $30! It has so much character and everyone wants to know what the movie is about when they see the poster.

I’ve found incredible artwork for around $10-50 at Thrift/Second-hand stores and Vintage Markets.

TOYS/COLLECTABLES/ODDITIES

Bring some of your personality and character into your home studio!

I’ve been in Home Studios with all kinds of cool memorabilia, collectibles and unique items on their desks or sitting on top of monitors. It’s always a great talking point when clients or friends come to visit or work.

Some of my favorite collectibles are from shows like Rick and Morty & Family guy and some are from the 80s/90s or shows I watched as a kid!

I also collect creepy and vintage Masks and have been lucky enough to find some mannequin heads in thrift stores to put my masks on.

Whatever it is that you enjoy looking at or collecting, feel free to put on display in your Home Studio

FURNITURE/RUGS

It’s really important to have a supportive and comfortable chair to sit in at your desk, this is the most important item of furniture besides your desk.

If you don’t have room for a couch/sofa you can enhance the feel of your room with a nice rug, rugs are also ideal if your room has floorboards.

For some of us, our Home Studio’s are in our bedrooms. For many years I was working out of my bedroom, I was able to create some kind of separation by purchasing a room divider. I’ve seen other examples of dividing space by hanging a home-made curtain from the ceiling. You will have to get creative and take a trip to a home-depot to make this work.

You can also DIY your own acoustic treatment for your walls.

Changing your curtains can make the room look and feel totally different and you can also add a long mirror to your wall which can help add depth to your room if you have a really small space, these mirrors can be purchased from most stores like Target, Kmart, Ikea for around $20-$30.

If you are renting your space, there are ways to attach mirrors to walls that won’t peel off paint. You can use 3m command strips to avoid damaging rental walls

Here are some Home Studios from Producers and Engineers around the world!

Credit: CoreyHorn

Credit: GregTanMusic

Credit: Per Ohlson

Credit: Brian Murphree/Soundporter

Credit: Sweet Potato

Credit: Deepak S R

Credit: Jordan Grubbs

Credit: Shane Beaver

Credit: Mike Pensini

Credit: Jake Randall/SolAudio

Credit: Ullie Swan/Swaman Productions

Credit: Samuel Knaak/Ear Witness Studio

About the Author

Noella Nix is a Music Producer, Songwriter & Artist from Australia. She teaches Sound Production, Music Business & Social Media Marketing at University and has written 4 Music Industry eBooks. Connect on Instagram