How To Organize Art Supplies In A Small Space

A messy art studio makes it impossible to find the stuff you are looking for and can seem more daunting than inspiring. Today I am sharing How To Organize Art Supplies In A Small Space while keeping everything easily accessible. Let’s get this space from messy to happy!

organize art supplies smitha katti ideas to store art supplies

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SHOP: Find my Craft Room Organization Tools on Amazon!

organizing craft paints

Ideas, photos, and supplies I have used to organize art supplies in my creative space!

1. Envision How You Want To use your space. Write It down

envision how you want to use your space

What are the art/ craft activities that bring you the most joy- build your stash based on this list. Don’t collect art supplies or let something you bought (and never used) make you feel guilty and clutter your space. Your space is yours to enjoy and keep only the items that bring you happiness. Find new homes or donate unused art supplies to make space for the things you love most

2. Contain your art supplies

“Let your space define how much you own”- Organizing Goddess.

This has been my mantra when it comes to my art and craft supplies. I try and designate a given amount of space for any craft I love- a cubby, a bin, a drawer or a zippered pouch. If that bin starts to overflow- that means you need to pause and purge to make room for the new.

3. Use the right organizational tools

Maximize your craft space

Maximize your space by using the right organizational tools. Micro organize to have your organizational tools work harder for you.

Try repurposing things you have at home- I’m reusing an Archer and Olive journal box here to store all of my stencils!

Use your fabric bins wisely by using zip topped bags to further divide the space.

4. Display things that you use a lot/ want to use

organizing pens and markers

Keep things that you use a lot most accessible. Keep them out it in the open on display and easy to reach for.

ALSO READ: DIY MARKER ORGANIZER: HOW TO MAKE ONE FROM A CARDBOARD BOX

Last year, after I DIYed my marker storage, I started using my alcohol markers so much more!! Having the markers out on display, easy to reach, and knowing that I can find them made it that much more appealing to use. I extended that idea and now have a bunch of my pens, water brushes, mechanical pens, highlighters, etc on display too! I used these plastic organizers and love the clean minimal look

5. Think vertical- use all the space you have!

organizing cubbies

I have these white cubbies stacked as high as they can go, I’ve added a shelf divider here and these file folders maximize space for storing paper art vertically 

6. Label everything

cute labels diy

Label everything- when you label your items you’re more likely to put things back where they belong and you are also able to find everything easily. I’ve had this simple label maker for years, but also at times love making pretty hand-decorated DIY labels too!

7. Remove packaging, put things out in the open

Organize art supplies by removing packaging

Remove packaging, put things out in the open where you see them so that you are more likely to use them. This one-step had a huge impact on me. I threw away so much packaging- and realized that I’d been hanging onto packaging thinking I’d maybe return something put kept the packaging well past the return date!

My IKEA ALEX drawers were always messy- and I splurged and bought these drawer organizers that fit exactly to the drawer. I measured twice and added these plastic organizers to my cart and crossed my fingers that they would fit right. They did!! And it’s amazing how much more space I have in these drawers now!

Keeping things easily accessible means you are already one step closer to getting your money’s worth of that art supply.

8. how to organize acrylic paint

how to organize craft paint bottles

Going in rainbow order is my jam when I start to organize art supplies. Think crayons, paints, markers- art supplies are the best things to display in rainbow order!

One of the best ideas to store art supplies- is to have the supplies you use/ want to use out in the open and easy to reach. You are most likely to use them if you keep seeing them.

How to organize acrylic paint: My hack is to display all of my craft paint bottles in this acrylic nail polish stand. Absolutely love this array of acrylic paints and cannot recommend it enough 🙂

9. No Need To Make Organizing Expensive

dollar tree craft items

I have always been of the mindset that organizing is expensive and time-consuming. It is. But- a well-organized space means you know exactly what you already own and are less likely to purchase duplicates. You are able to find what you are looking for quickly and easily. That’s money saved + time saved.

I love the organizing supplies you can get at Dollar Tree– organizing need not always be spendy!

how to organize art supplies in a small space

These are my favorite most used ideas to store and display my art supplies!

How my space looked in 2017: There are some easy ideas to store art supplies in this post too! My Creative Space: A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK

VIDEO: Easy Ideas To Store Art Supplies:

I just uploaded all of my ideas to store art supplies to my YouTube Channel- and you can watch me organize art supplies and some simple ideas to ideas to store art supplies. Let’s get my creative space from messy to happy!

CONCLUSION:

It is super easy to feel overwhelmed when you start to organize art supplies. But fear not! It need not be a daunting task- if you come prepared with measurements of your creative space and be ready to buy the right organizational tools you need. There is a lot of trial and error involved but in the end, I promise you, you can create your own rainbows with these easy ideas to store art supplies!

We as artists and crafters tend to accumulate our supplies faster than we can use them, so staying organized is a great way to keep a check on our art supply stash!

I’d love to hear from you! What organizational tricks have been working for you in your creative spaces? Let me know in the comment section below your favorite ideas to store art supplies 🙂

Hi I’m Smitha! I live in Minnesota with my husband and two daughters. You’ll always find me painting florals in my sketchbook. And I love the sheer joy of making something with just my hands! But my bigger love is capturing it all on camera Read more.

Thanks for stopping by today! If you learnt something from this tutorial, do share this post with a friend or on social media! Tag me @smithakatti #smithakatti I’d love to see what you create!

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