Organizing and Storing Art Supplies

As a professional scrapbook artist, paper crafter, and author, I have taught people how to turn family memories into legacies for 20 years.

Organizing Your Art Supplies

If your art supplies are a jumbled mess, you are in the right place. Keeping our art supplies in good shape is really important. After all, you make an investment in your supplies. so why not protect the money that you have spent?

There are rewards to getting your art supplies organized and decluttered:

1. You will be able to find things when you need them. How frustrating is it to look for that one brush or that one color of paint that you know you have somewhere. If only you knew where !
2. You will actually have space for the things that you actually do use !
3. Your supplies will be in good shape when you go to use them.
4. You might find some space for the things that you would like to add to your supplies,
5. You will be organized and have more time to do the things that you love and enjoy,

Start By Getting Organized

This is the easiest part of this project !

So grab something to drink, turn on some favorite music and let's get started.

• The first step is to get like things together. Lay all your painting , brushes and supplies out where you can see them. Get them from every nook and cranny so that you know what you are dealing with. Bring out every container, every pencil and every brush no matter where they are. You might just be surprised how much you actually have !
• Sort all kinds of like items together. You might start out by piling all your brushes together. Then separate them further by media. You might have oil brushes, watercolor brushes, acrylic brushes ect. Put all your palette knoves together. Put all like paints together.
• Keep duplicates together. You might find that you have duplicate bottles of acrylic paint. This is important to the next step.

Discarding Supplies

I know that if you are a hoarder like me, this step may be painful. But once you get it done, I promise that the reward is more time and less frustration;

I have recently done this myself and once I finished it, I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment.

Carefully, look at each item and ask yourself:

• Will I use this item anywhere in the bear future?
• Does this item provide any real use to me? Or am I just holding onto it for no reason?
• Is the item in usable condition?
• Will I keep working in this media in the near future?
• Do I have the right amount of this item to be used or is it a duplicate?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, keep it, otherwise discard it. For example, I inherited some oil colors from my Dad that I was only keeping for sentimental reasons. It simply was not my media and more than likely never was going to be. After several years I knew it was time to retire those paints. Many of them had gone dry. So off they went to my discard pile !

Open each bottle to make sure that your paints are not fry and in good use. Check the watercolors. Really give those brushes the once over ! You get the idea!

By now you should have two piles. One is I am keeping it and the other, I am getting rid of it !

Find New Homes For Them

The things that you have placed in your discard pile are now ready to be sorted. Finding new homes for some of these things might be easier than you think.

Sell Them- If some of the things that you have are new or almost new, then sell them. There are plenty of places online where you could market them. Try selling them locally first. Then research where on line might be your next best bet. Be honest about the description of your items and do not over price them.

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Donate Them-Offer them to your friends and neighbors if they share your interests. Places like nursing homes, schools and kids organizations are always looking for donations of art supplies. Thrift shops are always looking for donations too.

Make An Art Box- Keep an art box with some paper, used brushes and paints for your kids and grand kids.

Throw Them Away-Find out the rules in your community for discarding art supplies !

As you are getting rid of things, make a note of the things that you might have to replace. Make a shopping list if you need to that you can post on a bulletin board or somewhere where it is visible.

Discarding and Disposing Art Supplies

• How To Dispose of Acrylic Paint Rinse Water | How To Mosaic
  How to dispose of acrylic paint rinse water by dehydrating in recycled containers using ambient energy or Golden's method of precipitating and filtering solids.

Organize It By Category

Now that you know what is good and what is not, the rest comes a lot easier.

The steps are easy to think about. Once you get started it moves quickly !

1. Consider the way that you had your supplies stored before. Did it work for you? If not, it is time to consider some new storage solutions.
2. Look at the space that you have available to store your art supplies. Consider any changes that you may want to make.
3. When possible, zone your supplies. For example, consider storing all your water color supplies together, your acrylic supplies together, ect. If you only work with one media, that makes it easier. But for me, I find that zoning my supplies means that everything I need is at my finger tips when I need them.
4. Look around your house for containers that you may already own. Grab plastic containers, boxes, and all manner of container. Be creative !

Create An Art Cart

Create An Art Cart

A rolling two or three-layered shelf cart is a perfect solution for anyone who wants to keep their supplies close to their workspace. You can organize it in any way that is workable for you. You can keep it out or roll it into a closet.

A second alternative to a cart idea is to have a rolling unit that has drawers. These units come either with three deeper drawers or four thinner drawers.

You can usually find these units online or in your local discount store. They average about $50-$60 , but are well worth every penny.

Use A Planter For Your Paint Brushes

Designate A Space For It

Now you are ready to take it to the last step ! Designate a spot for it. You have done all the work ! You have considered what can be used, you have gotten rid of what cannot be used, you have considered your space, and you have decided the right system for your art supplies. Put it away and celebrate ! You have accomplished a great deal !

Cleaning Your Brushes Is Important, Right?

While I was doing this organization project, I realized that some of my brushes were stiff and others needed to be cleaned.

Not all the brushes were in the best shape, so I decided to get started by giving them all a good cleaning. My original instinct was to let them soak, bristle side down in some warm water and soap, wrong.

The first thing that I learned was to never soak a art or craft brush with the bristle side down.

So my first adventure into the painting world was with acrylics. As I got into learning some techniques, I learned that acrylic paint dries quickly on the canvas. I was enjoying myself and wasn't thinking as I was working that as I grabbed another brush to continue , the paint was drying on the first brush. lesson learned.

Letting acrylic paint dry on a brush will mean that you will need to replace them a lot sooner. Note to self, stop and clean brushes !

More Brush Cleaning Ideas

• 3 Ways to Clean Paint Brushes: 4 Steps (with Pictures)
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How Do You Store Your Art And Craft Brushes?

I have always been a crafter, so paint brushes have always been part of my craft room. About a year ago, I inherited some acrylic paints and some brushes from my Dad. They sat around until recently when I decided to get them out and start dabbling in acrylic paints. Some if the brushes were not in the best shape, but I was eager to get started. As a beginner painter, I have lots and lots to learn. So the first thing I began with was organizing the supplies I had a deciding what to do with them.

I got out all the brushes and stuck them into a container that I had in my craft room, but wondered what was the best way to care for them as I got started in my painting adventure.

There are plenty of brush organizers that you can purchase online and in stores. The options are as endless, Look to specialty online locations and search to see what options are right for you.

More Brush Storage Ideas

Coffee Mugs

Cosmetic Organizers

Vases

Glasses

Multi drawer plastic storage units

Paint brush rolls

Dollar store flower containers

Tin cans painted or covered with paper

More Paint Brush Storage Ideas

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Storing Acrylic Paints

Everyone has different ideas how to store those plastic acrylic paint bottles, There are as many ideas as their are colors of paints. Choosing the right system depends on the amount of containers of paints that you have and the amount of space you have to store them. Here are a few ideas for you to consider:

• Some folks feel that the only way to store acrylic paints is to store them upside down. The point of storing them upside down is that the pigment will not settle to the bottom off the container. That makes it easier to use. You will not spend a lot of time shaking the bottle.Baskets, shoe boxes or plastic containers work best. Group color groups together Put a little dab of paint of the bottom of the container so that you can see what color you have. You can also use a clear shoe holder that will fit over the door.
• Another way to store them is to use a multi leveled spinning rack or a lazy susan. If you have desk space, this puts your paints clearly in your view.
• You can glue pieces of PVC pipe stacked on top of one and other to store your paints vertically.
• A Keurig cup carousel. also will hold plastic containers of acrylic paint.
• Hanging spice racks can be hung just about anywhere. Just paint them and hang them. They may hold up to 20 containers.

Paint Storage Solutions

• Craftaholics Anonymous® | Craft Paint Storage Ideas
  28 ideas on Craft Paint Storage. Make it easy to organize and find your paints in a snap. Lots of ideas, DIY's, and more.
• Best 25+ Craft paint storage ideas on Pinterest | Acrylic paint storage, Paint organization and Pain
  Find and save ideas about Craft paint storage on Pinterest. | See more ideas about Acrylic paint storage, Paint organization and Paint storage.
• Craft Room Organization: PVC and Wire Shelf Paint Storage - Mad in Crafts
  I had paint everywhere before my dad and I worked together to build a set of handy PVC and wire shelf paint storage units to house all my paint.
• Spiced Up Paint Caddy - The Palette Muse
  Not sure what to do with that old spice rack, or with all your craft paint?Here's a double problem solver.

How To Organize Pencils, Markers And Pens

The first thing to consider in organizing these categories is how often do you use them. Do you use them every day, once a week or less often?

You can organize them my categories:

• Colored Pencils
• Watercolor pencils
• Graphite pencils and drawing pencils
• Markers
• Alcohol markers
• Illustrator markers
• Crayons

Next you can also organize them by color, type of product or manufacturer. It is strictly up to you and your needs

More Solutions For Markers, Pens And Pencils

Here are some more ideas for storing your pencils, pens and markers:

1. Store upright in jars (except for markers)
2. Keep them in the cases they came in in drawers
3. Pen holders and caddies
4. Photo storage boxes or clear containers
5. Revolving kitchen organizers or pen caddies
6. In containers on a lazy susan
7. Mugs or decorated tin cans
8. Tackle boxes
9. Silverware drawer organizers in a plastic drawer cabinet
10. Pencil boxes

More Craft Space Organization Ideas

• 22 Best Organize Your Craft Space images in 2019 | Craft organization, Craft room storage, Craft spa
  Feb 13, 2019- Organizing your craft space adds craft time and saves money. Learn how | See more ideas about Craft organization, Craft room storage and Craft space.
• 29 Best Craft Organization Ideas images in 2019 | Bricolage, Craft organization, Craft rooms
  Feb 5, 2019- Are you frustrated when you can't find that one tool or material that you are looking for? Have your craft supplies become unmanageable? Learn how to organize your craft supplies ! Get tips, ideas and information right here | See more id

Final Thought

There is no one solution to store your paints and brushes. The organization and storage of your paint supplies depends on the amount of supplies that you have. And the amount of storage space you have. The right system is the one that works for you.

© 2019 Linda F Correa

Weigh In On Organizing And Storing Art Supplies

Linda F Correa (author) from Spring Hill Florida on February 12, 2019:

Thank you ! Not my original idea, but I am planning to make one this week.

Lynsey Hart from Lanarkshire on February 12, 2019:

What a great hub! I love the idea of hanging the paints- I would never have thought of it myself.