Hi there, a friend of ours has done the same conversion and I love her new studio. On one wall she has floor to ceiling shelves which come in handy when storing your supplies. (See image 1) although I have found an excellent idea which doesn't take up much room. (See image 2). I don't know about you but she had heaps of paintings lying around which were taking up a bit of space and she created a painting holder. You could either mix this in with your shelving unit or have it free standing (see image 3,4&5). As far as colours are concerned, I would keep it quite plain as you need quite a lot of light. However, if you were choosing to do something that may cover the whole wall, I would pick a bright colour such as hot pink to paint behind it. Although it is a bright colour, it would be minimised. Keep me posted and hope this helps :) x

Thanks for your feedback. I would love for it to go on left wall so it is in front of us as we walk upstairs, however that wall faces the front door and that causes two issues: 1. the ceiling cuts the painting in half when standing by front door and you can only see bottom half; and 2. Because it has a glass front we just get a reflection of light rather than the actually painting. Arguably the glass could be changed but the theory is still better than the visual reality sadly!

Find out about where and when your local 'Open Studios' event is happening. In many parts if the country artists open up their houses and studios to the public and you can buy work directly from them. This is a very ethical way of buying art as many artists really struggle financially and rely on this window of opportunity.

I think frosted or patterned film would be an excellent idea. We used it where I worked for an interview room and it provided privacy but still let in lots of light. It also isn’t too pricey so if you then decide to remove it, it shouldn’t leave a hole in your pocket. There are lots of companies selling it online.