Storing art supplies

[ronioli]

How do you all store your kids' art supplies? Right now I have everything in a big clear bin that I heft down from a shelf in the hall closet every time we do a project. We always work at the kitchen table (the only place available for us to spread out), and a tiny tv table in the corner of the dining room is always getting cluttered with supplies. On the tv table right now is a box of crayons, play-do containers and tools, construction paper, connect-the-dot printouts, a cup full of markers, a pair of child-safe scissors, a sticker page, and a bunch of paper ocean animals and mermaids that dd and I have painted and cut out in our effort to create a poster-sized mermaid kingdom. Stuff like this lands up there because I don't always have the time or energy to pack it all back into the box and heft it back into the closet. Sometimes brushes or pictures are still drying...or crayons are still being used...etc...when I need to put the box away so they just get left out.

I'd like to get some sort of storage solution to put in the place where the tv table now stands to store all the art supplies. That way it would be close to where we actually use the supplies. It would have to close up so that everything will be out of sight, and it would have to be narrow and tall to fit in the space. I think the Ikea Aneboda wardrobe (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10121761) would be perfect if it came in black, but it doesn't. (I have beige walls, mohagany-colored furniture, and beige seat covers with splashes of red and black as decor.) I like how the Ikea piece has lots of shelves. I can envision putting construction paper on one shelf, crayons/markers/pencils/pens on another, paint/brushes another, beads/stickers/string on another, etc. Any other simiilar pieces out there that would fit my purposes? Or do you think I could paint the Ikea one? :scratch It's made of particleboard. I also thought about getting about 5 of these (http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=62561&PRODID=67291), but I prefer a solid, classier-looking piece of furniture.

My budget is about $100.

[crunchymum]

:popcorn

[JoyfulMom]

:nak2 i have the plastic bins, but would prefer the piece from ikea. if you don't like the color, you could always cover w/a funky contact paper or even make the unit itself an art project for the family & embellish it somehow. i have a friend that did the interior of a cabinet with peel & stick vinyl flooring to prevent snags in her fabric stash. it was cute.

[AdrienneQW]

I started off with a fairly small shaker-style armoire, which we quickly outgrew. (We do a *lot* of arts and crafts) I switched the supplies over to the large armoire in the family room, but just had everything crammed in there willy-nilly. Last month I finally decided to organize it once and for all, and it has worked GREAT! I'm so much more likely to suggest or agree to an art project now, knowing the supplies are all in one place and easy to find/use/return.

http://photos.imageevent.com/aqwphoto/placeholder/websize/Crafts1.jpg
This is the overall look into the shelves. All the supplies are grouped by category and put in labeled bins when appropriate. This was taken before I finished loading the supplies; the open areas under the shelves are now used for paper, whiteboards/markers, pegboards/rubberbands, etc. I keep the whiteboards and markers in a 2½ gallon ziploc bag; same thing for the pegboards/rubberbands. Very easy to find, very easy to put away. :tu

The two drawers you can see underneath are full of puzzles and board games. There is also one large drawer under the two smaller ones (not visible in the photo) which is full of our oversized stuff.

I would highly recommend the furniture-type storage you're considering instead of the plastic drawers/bins. The IKEA one looks neat; you could decorate it yourself or even wallpaper it to fit in with your decor! We've been very happy with our decision to incorporate our art supply storage into actual furniture. :tu

[crunchymum]

wow, adrienne, that looks great! :rockon

[RiverRock]

Adrienne's post makes me want to reorganize our craft cupboard...I will not be posting any pictures of that today...lol! :blush

The armoire looks like it could fit in just about anywhere. Is there a different room where it would coordinate for you? It looks like a great idea.

I have basic wooden shelves...the utility type...in a closet to hold our toy overflow and craft supplies. Plastic bins and cardboard boxes hold themed craft supplies (i.e a painting box, a play doh box, a bead box). Since my kids are of varying ages it is nice to pull out a box and have something age appropriate for each child to use for that activity.

[something glorious]

i like this storage piece from ikea:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50103086

i have the black-brown color in my office at work, and it is very close in color to our dark mahogany-colored stuff at home.

and you have several storage options (these all fit perfectly into the cubes):

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00118349
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70028048 (the 13"x14"x13" size)
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00115478

[something glorious]

oh, i like this system for kiddo storage too :tu

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/rooms/childrens_room/12018/