Sarah and I are moving in the next week, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to set up my new studio space. That includes thinking logistically about a lot of small problems that have created clutter in my current space, and trying to decide on ways I can fix them. Here’s 10 quick ideas I’m going to be using to make my space professionally uncluttered, and easy to maintain: 

10. Bundle cables. I’ll be buying dedicated cables for all my live gear, and taping/tubing my studio cables permanently in place. 

9. Sell stuff I don’t use. If I haven’t used it in a year, I’m going to sell it. 

8. Minimize the gear I do use. I don’t need a lot of gear to create great music, I just need a few pieces of great gear. 

7. Add a trash can. I haven’t had one and as a result, cups and trash have piled up from time to time. 

6. Create cable runs on the back of my studio furniture. If I can hide a cable, I’m going to do it. 

5. Have a dedicated, easy to use cable closet. I’ve never had this before, but I’m convinced it’ll help me keep cables from piling up in the corners of my studio.

4. Keep eating in-studio to a minimum. I’m not saying no food or drink, but not eating every meal in there is going to seriously cut down on crumbs and other trash. 

3. Start with functional, minimalistic equipment and furniture. For the first time in my life, I’ll be building a studio from the ground up, and this is my game plan. 

2. Don’t take shortcuts. If I need a piece of gear to reduce the numbers of cables for a project, I’m going to go get it. No excuses. 

1. Maintain daily. This is the hard part: I’m committing to pick up daily, dust, vacuum, etc every day. This will keep the problems small, and have the studio project-ready even at the last minute.