Maintaining a fine art shop to keep it running smoothly isn’t as complicated as you might think. If you need some advice on how to do it, here are some tips for cleaning and maintaining your fine art shop.
Reduce Contamination
The first thing you want to do is reduce contamination. This means keeping your work areas clean and sanitary. You should be cleaning your work surfaces daily so bacteria doesn’t have a chance to form. A great idea is to prevent bacteria from ever entering the premises with HealthySole that enables you to fully sanitize shoes before entering. People carry a lot of microorganisms along with dirt on their shoes, which can be a real health hazard. So it’s best to keep them out.
Laminate workspaces to make cleaning easier, especially if they are in constant use. This will require you to do less sheetrock repair around the work area when accidents happen. It is very important for your customers’ safety that you wipe up paint or other solvents immediately when spills occur. You also want to keep a good stock of paper towels and disposable wipers in the shop at all times in case of chain reactions.
Be sure you have exhaust fans that work properly in every room with solvent-based products, spray booths with approved filters. Keep paint thinners locked away from children or anyone else who might accidentally get into them without knowing what they were doing. It’s best to place excess solvent containers in a safe area too.
Store Creative Materials Properly
Keeping creative materials organized is important, but you don’t want them to be so accessible that customers can get into everything easily either. The best way to do this is to have an open space for your most popular items and then secure the rest of the inventory behind closed cabinets or on high shelves where no one can accidentally reach them without asking permission first. Limit how much solvent-based paint each customer can buy at one time if they are buying it by the gallon. People who will only use half a cup of paint at most won’t need more than two quarts at any given moment.
Label Inventory
Make sure that you are labeling inventory properly if it needs special care or handling procedures before stocking it. Anything that’s labeled “Fragile” or “Handle with Care,” make sure this is followed through on by the customer handling the product carefully. Also, make sure there is other information on there to let customers know what they are looking at when coming into your shop. This will help them understand what they are buying and make them feel like you cater to their needs.
Free Up Space
Take a good look at the floor space in your shop and see how you can free up even more room by clearing out excess furniture or supplies that you don’t use anymore. Either give away these items to someone who might need them, sell them online through sites like Craigslist, eBay, etc., donate them, or throw them away when they’ve been replaced with newer models or better products.
Whether it’s art, art supplies, or the furniture you have in your shop, you have to keep everything in its place and make sure you don’t bump into a piece of art and break it or tear up some canvas. They shouldn’t be cluttering up your work area when there’s so much inventory to put into place instead. The worst thing you can do to your art and supplies is have them cluttered and too close together. Something is bound to break!
Catering to Your Customer Base
Make sure your customers know what they’ll find when they come in. Claim some shelf space for special events, workshops, classes, or any other activities that go on outside of your regular business hours. People are going to want to know where they can find you when the shop is closed. That way, you’re able to keep their needs in mind no matter what time of day it is.
Stock Up on Your Favorite Supplies
It’s important for everyone who wants to be an artist to stay true to their tastes and preferences, so you’ll need a stock of supplies that cater specifically to your style. That means keeping an inventory of tools, paints, stencils, canvases, and moving around so you can pick up new items whenever necessary without worrying about running out too soon. This will also give customers better availability for purchasing all the materials they need to help their creative process.
It is important to keep a fine art shop clean and organized for many reasons, not least of which is how it makes everyone feel like they are home. By doing this, you will help make the world a better place and attract new customers who want to work with artists who care about their craft.