Small Studio Space Ideas by Annie Whitaker Photography

I’ve been seeing sooooo many posts from photographers about small studio spaces. Questions asked if it’s possible and ideas for how to make it work. I’ve been wanting to put together a blog post for a while to show what works for me because my space is TINY! It was a rainy day and I was organizing my tiebacks and figured why not! I thought clients may enjoy seeing where there session will take place as well so win win.

Small Studio Space Ideas

My home studio is in a spare bedroom that is roughly 11 x 11. I am also a high school teacher and equally passionate about both careers so it doesn’t make sense for me to rent studio space for weekend and summers so this is what works for me.

My husband build the perfect shelves in the closet for me to store all of my backdrops. I also keep extra props and my rolled up floor drops in the closet. On the opposite wall we hung four curtain rods making an L shape. The top row is bonnets and the bottom row wraps. Left is colors and right are neutrals.

For my tiebacks my husband took a pretty piece of African Mahogany and stained it and put lots of eye hooks so I can easily string them through. For my headbands, I took a six tier men’s tie organizer hanger and added lots of plant hanger hooks. It works perfectly!! Venders I love for knits are From a Belgian Girl and Heartstrings by Susi. Most of my tiebacks and headbands are from Lavender & Moss Props, Ivy & Nell Baby, or Goodnight Moon Props.

All of my fluff from Oh So Fleeting is stored in an old vintage suitcase.

I found a great old ladder at an antique shop. It was perfect for my knit wraps and layers. And of course the perfect cart from IKEA to store things like wipes, hand sanitizer, lenses, clamps.

The big cedar chest stores props. I have my flokati and felted layers on top. I store my posing beans from The Original Photoblocks Props in an old bucket and my fluff from Cwtchicoo in an crate.

I just take out the posing beans and fluff when I want to use the props for babies!

I love these woven blankets from Cwtchicoo. I keep them rolled up in a bucket.

Here is a pull backer my bean bag, wall I do parent posing on and the full space….I told you…tiny lol.

Parent shots are taken on the wall to the right. I have nothing on it and just use the paint color as a backdrop. The walls are painted a tan color. You can see an example here:

Hopefully this inspires those who are working with small spaces as well. You don’t need a lot of room to create beautiful images. Here are some of my favorites!