11 Home Studio Organization Ideas

Keeping your home studio organized can help you stay on task and focused while also increasing your creative juices. A little planning and tidiness can go a long way in helping your studio feel like a great place for yourself and other musicians or producers.

I’m Donovan, a musician at heart with years of studio experience under my belt. I’ve built several home studios over the years and know through first-hand experience how important organization is. 

This post will provide you with a list of some solid home studio organization ideas. If you do any or all of these in your studio, you won’t be disappointed. I want to help keep your studio space in great shape so you can focus on making music. 

Let’s get rolling.  

Key Takeaways

• Keeping your studio well organized will help you stay focused and creative, no matter what type of musician or producer you are. 
• If you want to hire out your studio, keeping it clean and in good shape is a must to attract and maintain clients. 
• Organization doesn’t need to be complicated; simple things like drawers and cable wraps can declutter your space in a hurry.
• Tidying up your studio after every session is a good idea to prevent clutter and keep your equipment in better shape. 

Home Studio Organization Ideas

Now that you’ve built your home studio, you are ready to get to work. And while you might be impressed with how much equipment you have or your attention to detail with accessories, you need to keep everything cleaned and well-organized to stay on track. 

I’m a big believer that a tidy studio is ideal for optimizing your creative flow. If your workplace is full of junk and you have to dig around to find that particular cable, you won’t work as efficiently, and it will show in your recordings. 

Everyone has different preferences and habits when it comes to tidiness and organization. You don’t have to keep your studio organized if only you work in it. But if you want to attract clients and other musicians, you won’t get far with a messy space. 

A little effort goes a long way with studio organization. You don’t need to spend much money on furniture or mop the floors daily. But you should pay attention to details and do your best to keep everything in order. Trust me; you won’t regret having an organized space. 

1. Wrap and Organize Cables

One of the main culprits for a cluttered and messy studio is cables sprawling all over the place. In a sense, a nest of cables is sometimes unavoidable, as you’ll need to run as many as you need to handle more extensive recording sessions. 

But you always want to do your best to keep your cables under wraps, and I mean this literally. Properly wrapping and storing your cables is a must for every studio owner, and you’ll add time and annoyance to your sessions if you don’t. 

If you don’t know how to wrap a cable properly, that’s audio engineering 101, so watch the video below and practice after that. Once they are wrapped, keeping them in place with cable wraps is recommended. You can purchase proper velcro wraps or just use string on a budget. 

I like to organize and hang my cables on a wooden dowel, and I’ve built a section of the wall full of these in my space. Since they are visible and easy to access, it’s really easy to set up a session and then put them back away. But you can also store them in boxes or shelves. 

2. Use Hangers and Stands

Another main source of clutter in any home studio is all of your instruments, microphones, and other gear. Chances are, you’ll want to have some of your favorite guitars or other trophies on display. That’s great, but just put them on stands to keep them safe and out of the way. 

Having plenty of instrument stands will also come in useful when you are running a recording session. Musicians can place their instruments down near the recording setup without setting them on the ground and risking damage. 

I like to use wall hanger-style instrument racks for acoustic and electric guitars and other similar instruments. These are easy to install and keep the instruments up off the floor and safely attached to the wall. These hangers are also really affordable. 

I also prefer lower-profile folding stands if you want options that will work on the floor. These are smaller and easier to deal with than larger stands when you want or need to tidy up your recording space. 

3. Utilize Surge Protectors and Outlet Extenders

Similar to microphone and instrument cables, you’ll also have plenty of power cords sprawling over your studio. Using surge protectors and outlet extenders to keep track of these is highly recommended and will keep your space better organized. 

A surge protector is an extension cord with multiple outlets with an on-off switch. An outlet extender plugs into an existing outlet and gives you more inputs than the outlet provides, but it doesn’t have a cord. 

If you have built-in outlets that are difficult to access with all your gear in place, you can use a surge protector to change the location of the outlets wherever you want or need. You can also keep your equipment plugged in at the same location, which will help you stay organized. 

You really can’t have too many electrical outlets in a home studio, so utilizing these items is very practical in addition to helping you keep your studio space clean. 

4. Build or Buy Shelving 

Shelves will go a long way toward helping you stay organized. One thing I’ve noticed in most messy studios I’ve seen is that there really isn’t any place to store stuff except on the floor. And the floor will fill up in a hurry. 

If you are building your studio from the ground up, consider installing some shelves in key locations as you work up the design. Basic shelving will work just fine, and you can place all sorts of items, from cables to effects boxes to instruments, on them. 

Ensure you properly mount your shelves into the studs of your wall so they can hold weight. You don’t want them to come crashing down in the middle of the night. Enlist some assistance if you don’t know how to do that. 

You can also purchase stand-alone shelves or drawers. These will take up more space than attaching shelves to the wall, but it’s another easy and pretty affordable solution. Stand-alone shelves can also be moved around easily anywhere you need them. 

5. Maintain a Junk Drawer or Box

This idea might sound a bit strange because I’m essentially telling you to have a place for junk. But having a dedicated junk drawer or box has helped my studios stay much cleaner and better organized over the years. 

Regardless of how tidy you are or how much studio equipment you have, you will accumulate small amounts of junk. And this junk will continue to grow and grow, so having a dedicated place to put it is key. You can use an existing drawer in a studio desk or just have a box or bin nearby. 

Now, I’m not saying that you should fill this with random stuff. The junk I’m alluding to here is more like small studio items that don’t really have a place elsewhere. Input adapters, cable wraps, gaff tape, guitar picks, and tuners are all items that could go in here. 

Any small item that is random can go into the junk drawer. You’ll likely dig through this drawer all the time. And even if it’s filled to the brim, you can keep it out of sight and out of mind when you don’t need it. 

6. Use Racks for Outboard Gear and Effects

A lot of studio equipment is designed to work within a rack system. Items such as interfaces, amps, effects, preamps, and many other commonly used studio items have a similar shape for a good reason – so they can fit into a rack. 

Studio racks basically look like empty drawers or file cabinets. They have rails on either side, allowing you to screw in or attach your equipment. Every professional studio and most live engineers utilize racks all of the time. 

Getting at least one rack is highly recommended, even if you only have a few rack items. You will likely grow your collection and can add or subtract equipment as needed. Racks will also help you keep your power cables better organized. 

Remember that you should always leave a bit of space between most equipment, and you don’t want to stack expensive gear items on top of each other. This helps prevent excess heat, which can damage equipment. 

7. Velcro 

NASA invented Velcro to help astronauts stay organized in space, so you know it has practical applications in your studio. I use Velcro in all sorts of situations, and highly recommend that you utilize it too. 

Velcro cable wraps are super affordable and easy to use. But that’s far from the only purpose it has in the studio. I like to use Velcro to keep all of my guitar pedals organized and in place on my pedal board, and I’ve even used it to affix microphone cases to the wall. 

You can purchase large Velcro strips and then cut them to length as needed. I like using the super strong Velcro with adhesive on either side. You can attach one side to the surface you want to stick something to and the other to the item you need stuck. 

Even if you don’t use Velcro that much, having some around can pay off when you really need it. I once made a DIY guitar strap from it and have also made a mic clip after my plastic clip broke. It’s useful stuff that can help troubleshoot a lot of studio issues. 

8. Keep Cases and Boxes in a Separate Room 

All your instruments and equipment will come in either a case or a box. While you want to keep your gear well-protected when it’s not in use, you don’t need to keep everything in your actual studio space. 

If you have boxes and cases that you aren’t going to use actively, keep them in a separate room away from your control or recording room. These are all basically empty space that will quickly clutter your studio, so seek another solution to where you put them. 

I have a closet that is completely dedicated to empty instrument cases. They are easily accessible when I want to take my instruments away from home, but they are out of the way, so they don’t clutter up the studio. 

If you don’t need a box any longer, like the packaging your monitors or interface came in, recycle or repurpose them. You might want to hang on to a box if you plan on reselling equipment in the future, but that’s about the only reason to keep them. 

9. Store Infrequently Used Equipment 

Similar to keeping all of your boxes and cases elsewhere, you should do the same with any equipment you don’t use often. This could be instruments that aren’t as commonly used or that are too large to keep set up. 

Guitar and bass amps fall into this category, and I keep some of my amps stored in other rooms of my house rather than my studio. You might have a drum set or keyboard you love but don’t use for every session, and you can keep that stored elsewhere. 

This advice can also apply to all other equipment, not just amps and instruments. Microphones, effects, cables, and even furniture you only use for certain recording applications might be better left in a garage or basement than in your studio. 

10. Use Gaff Tape

Gaff tape is another small but mighty item I like to always have on hand. This is a strong tape that is used for many live music and film settings. It’s just as strong as duct tape but has a cloth-like back that blends in a bit more. 

I use gaff tape often to secure cables to the ground when I’m in the middle of a large recording session. You can bundle cables together or keep them in place so no one trips over them and rips the other end out of your expensive equipment. 

You can also use gaff tape to keep your power cords and other cords organized. This tape holds well and sticks to most surfaces, so it’s easy to use and convenient. I suggest having a roll of it around every studio because it has many applications. 

11. Clean/Organize After Every Session

This last piece of advice might be at the end of my list, but it might just be the most important. And it applies to every home studio owner, no matter how much equipment you have or your experience level: 

Clean and organize your studio after every session!

Now, that might sound like your Mom telling you to clean up your room after you play with your toys. But it’s excellent advice and something I stick to no matter how large the session is or how late at night it runs. 

Break down all of your microphones and instruments back into their cases. Wrap all of your cables and place them back into wherever they are stored. Tidy up your recording desk and clear the room of any trash or clutter that has built up during the session. 

If you follow this tip, you’ll have an organized studio every time you walk in for a new session. You don’t need to deal with all of these cleaning tasks the next day, and your creative brain will thank you. 

FAQs

Here are a few short answers to some of the most frequently asked questions relating to home studio organization ideas. 

How do I organize my home studio? 

A good place to start with home studio organization is to keep all of your cables wrapped up and labeled. You can use cable wraps to separate them and place them in different drawers or on hangers, so you have easy access. 

How do I organize a home music room?

Using instrument stands and hangers is a great way to keep your music room organized. You can use floor stands or wall hangers to keep guitars and other instruments out of the way but still readily available to play. 

How do I organize my studio desk? 

Utilizing a studio desk that has some drawers can go a long way toward keeping you better organized. Keeping the main desktop clear of clutter will help you stay focused, and you can tuck smaller items quickly away in the desk drawers. 

How do you declutter a studio? 

One of the best ways to declutter a studio is to clean up and organize all of your equipment after every recording session. This will keep cables and instruments out of the way while also creating a better working environment when you go back in for another session. 

Final Thoughts

Keeping your home studio well-organized is a must; a little focus on this will pay off in the long run. Even if you aren’t tidy, keeping your studio in good condition will help attract people to work with you and foster a more creative working environment. 

Following any or all of the ideas shown here will keep your home studio ready for action. I’m more productive and focused when my space is clean, and I’ve learned that through trial and error. Keep things organized, and you’ll get better results. It’s that simple!

Do you have any home studio organization ideas I didn’t mention here? Let me know in the comments below.