We would all love to have a gorgeous hand-made altar topped with unique, beautiful items in a room dedicated to magick. But for most of us, that's not possible. And mundane concerns tend to impinge upon our fantasy of a sacred, inherently magickal altar upon which we can work wonderful magick. Here are a few realistic concerns to consider when setting up your altar, as well as when purchasing items to put on it:
Candle wax. This is a concern for every witch I know. It gets everywhere. Candles drip, tip over, etc. Your hand-made altar cloth will soon be littered with wax blobs and flakes. There are two solutions to this problem, the second being my personal approach.
The ironing approach. Set up your ironing board and heat up the iron. Place a brown paper bag underneath your altar cloth, then iron the wax spots. This will release the wax onto the paper without harming the fabric. Then you can wash the altar cloth without worrying about spreading the wax or damaging the cloth.
The covering approach. I went to Home Depot and bought a clear plastic drop cloth (for painting). I cut a piece large enough to cover my altar cloth. I put it over the altar cloth and then set my candles on top of it. It's thin enough not to be noticeable, but it protects my altar cloth, which happens to be extremely delicate and not washable.
Space. You need to put your altar somewhere that allows you enough space to work, out of the way of objects that might inhibit you or be damaged in the process. I recently broke one of the glass light bulb casings on my ceiling fan with my athame while I was casting the circle. Oops!
Clutter. You need enough space on your altar to work. Over the course of our lives we collect wonderful, beautiful things that we want to place on our altars while we work. As these items accumulate, space begins to disappear, and we find ourselves unable to actually USE the altar. The altar is not just for decoration, although it serves that purpose as well. It gives us a hard surface to work on. Your magick may call for writing, drawing, burning something specific, mixing herbs or oils, etc. You need enough space on your altar to be able to do these things, so don't overdo it with the decorations.