Creative Spaces

Smart and Simple Storage Solutions for Your Art Supplies

Organizing your art supplies doesn’t have to be a chore. With these clever ideas, you can easily keep your studio or playroom neat and tidy, so you can focus on creating your masterpieces.

Plastic Storage Bins with Labels

Clear plastic bins are a versatile storage solution for art supplies. They allow you to see what’s inside, and you can label them for easy identification. Use them to organize items by type, such as paintbrushes, markers, oil paints, or pencils.

Hanging Metal Containers

Hang a rod with metal containers to keep frequently used art supplies within reach. Divide the containers by type, such as brushes or pencils, or designate one or two containers for each child and label them accordingly.

Floating Shelves

Floating shelves are a great way to display and store art supplies. Use glass canisters with lids for small supplies and larger, matching metal storage bins to hold paper, notebooks, and bulkier items.

Peg Board

Create a pegboard wall to hang art supplies that can be hung, such as scissors, tape, or ribbon. You can also attach small shelves to hold small organizers for brushes, pencils, and markers.

Organized Drawers

Use clear containers as dividers to keep items from getting mixed up and to make cleanup easy. This is especially helpful for drawers that hold a variety of art supplies, such as markers, crayons, pencils, paint supplies, and miscellaneous crafting items.

Drawer Dividers

Drawer dividers are another way to keep smaller art supplies, craft tools, and office items organized. They are easy to clean and a good way to maintain an organizational system.

Metal Cans

Metal cans are an inexpensive and easy way to store paintbrushes. Divide brushes into cans by size or type, then store them on a shelf, window sill, or art table.

Decorative Tray

Corral kids’ art supplies in a decorative tray. Keep the stocked tray on the playroom table, so kids always have crayons and pencils on hand. They’ll also know where the supplies belong when it’s cleanup time.

Magnetic Knife Bar

Hang a magnetic knife bar on the wall to store palette knives. This is a great way to utilize vertical space and declutter your workspace. Hanging up all your art knives will also help you see and find the specific one you’re looking for.

Clear Plastic Organizer

Use a clear plastic organizer to organize art supplies by type or color. This is especially effective for bright colored pens, pencils, and markers. Besides being an organizational tool, it also adds a colorful decorative accent.

Art Easel

Purchase an art easel for kids to get creative and store paint bottles and brushes in a jar directly on the easel shelf. Hang a painting apron off the side of the easel, too. This will keep all the supplies on hand, minimize potential spills elsewhere in the space, and create a fun and colorful painting area for your kids.

Plastic Containers

Organize an art closet using identical plastic containers with labels. If this is a closet with kids’ art supplies, print out picture labels instead of word labels for a fun touch that’ll be especially helpful if your kids can’t read yet but you want them to learn how to identify what’s in each container.

Glass Jars

For anyone who uses paint pigments for their artwork, store them in lidded glass jars on a shelf or inside a cabinet. The clear glass jars allow you to see what’s inside and how much of each pigment is left, while the lids ensure that they stay in good condition.

Tiered Rolling Cart

Utilize a tiered rolling cart to organize art supplies. This is a great way to keep like items together, and it also makes your supplies easily portable. You can roll them into one room to paint and then another to store them in a closet afterwards.

Gather Same Colors Together

If you have lots of paint bottles that tend to get mixed up, organize them by color and size. Place tall bottles at the back using the rainbow as a color guide, then arrange smaller same-colored bottles in front of them.

Plastic Pantry Risers

Plastic pantry risers aren’t just for organizing cans and condiments in your pantry. Use them for paint supplies such as tubes and bottles of paint. They keep every item visible and even the paints in the back are easy to reach when needed.

Mason Jars

Mason jars are a versatile storage solution for art supplies. Use different-sized jars to hold pencils, brushes, sharpies, markers, and crayons.

Woven Baskets

Woven baskets are a great way to organize sketchbooks, watercolor palettes, and other larger art supplies that don’t run the risk of leaking. Add labels to easily identify what’s in each basket and add a professional touch to your storage system.

Built-In Bookshelves

If you have the space and a budget for built-ins or already have built-in shelves, use them to organize supplies. You can hide them inside the bottom cabinets, display them on the open shelves, or organize them in bins, baskets, jars, and containers to keep like items together.

Flower Pots

Use simple flower pots to store paintbrushes. They can hold lots of brushes, don’t take up too much space, and you may already have some laying around the house. To add a unique touch, you can paint the flower pots different colors or add fun designs to distinguish the types of brushes.

Drawer System

Use a drawer system to make use of a short wall under a slanted ceiling. This type of storage is perfect for holding art supplies because it provides lots of space, the items are mostly hidden, and each drawer is labeled for easy access. The surface has space to organize and display taller supplies such as jars with brushes and to display any small painted masterpieces.

Plastic Pill Boxes

Plastic pill boxes are a great way to organize small items such as beads for mixed media artwork or for crafts. They come in various sizes and have small compartments that you can use to organize items by type, style, or color.

Organize the Rainbow

Create a beautiful and organized paint collection by arranging the paint tubes in a rainbow. This makes it easy to find the color you need and keeps everything in place.

Open and Hidden Storage

Use both open and hidden storage space to organize art supplies. Drawers and a filing cabinet are perfect for storing different types of paper, notebooks, and sketchbooks as well as various art palettes and tubes of oil paint. Open storage such as a round turntable and hanging shelves hold smaller items such as paint bottles, brushes, scissors, and pencils, keeping everything neat, tidy, and easily accessible.

Roll-Up Paintbrush Organizer

A fabric roll-up paintbrush organizer is a good way to keep your brushes stored away safely. You can easily grab the pouch and take it with you if you like to paint on location.

Sort by Color

Sort markers, pencils, and crayons by color. Besides being a visually pleasing organizational system, it’s also a great way to teach kids their colors and help them practice when the cleanup time rolls around.

Rattan Basket

Place smaller tools and supplies such as crayons or pastels in small woven baskets. They are durable and add a nice textural element, warmth, and a decorative accent to your workspace.

Hanging Plastic Organizers

Hang a rod with plastic organizers to utilize vertical space if you’re running out of shelf and drawer storage room. Organize art supplies by type, color, or frequency of use. If you are creating this storage system in a kids’ playroom, hang the rods low enough for kids to be able to access them themselves.

Utensil Crock

Place large paintbrushes in a utensil crock for an easy way to organize and keep them separate from your smaller brushes. A metal crock is a great choice since it won’t be damaged if a paintbrush is still slightly wet.

Ceramic Dish

A ceramic serving dish can serve multiple purposes, one of them being to organize pastels or crayons. Separate them by colors for an easy sorting system and a way to keep your favorite supplies on hand in a neat and stylish way.

Cube Shelf

Organize art supplies on a cube-style shelf. If it has drawers, place bulkier, less decorative items inside them and use the open cubes for items such as scissors, brushes, and markers organized in mugs and other creative storage containers.

Wicker Storage Baskets

Add hidden storage to your cube shelf by using wicker storage baskets. This is a great way to organize art supplies in a common area such as a family room since they are out of sight and the space is kept neat and tidy.

Art Supplies Organizer

Purchase a special art supplies organizer that comes in the form of a case that opens up or a large bag with multiple pockets. These organizers typically have spaces for different types of supplies such as crayons, markers, pencils, tubes of oil paint, and brushes. They’re easy to pick up and take with you if you’re traveling and want to paint or draw on location.

Bar Cart

Instead of using your bar cart for happy hour, stock it with art supplies. If it’s on wheels, it’s especially handy since you can roll it to your easel and canvas or to a different space within your home. Organize the top tier of the cart with frequently used supplies and the bottom tier with replacements and extras.

Large Table or Island

If your art studio has a large table or island, use the top to organize art supplies. Use it to hold a large tray with jars and tubes of paint, containers for different-sized brushes, and stacks of paper or sketchbooks.