Art Supply Storage Ideas

Do you have a lot of art supplies to organize? Perhaps your own, your kids’, or your students’, if you’re an educator. Like with any organizing tool or system, it depends on the space you have to work with, the materials you need to organize, and your personal organizing styles and preferences! Rest assured, there are many ways to organize art supplies. Here are 29 art supply storage ideas and labeling systems and how to best utilize them. 

Art Supply Storage Ideas

Caddy

A caddy-style organizer is a fantastic option if you need the ability to transport supplies to and from a location. It is made of rugged material and has many pockets that can hold markers, pens, rulers, sewing materials, paintbrushes, sketchbooks, and more. 

The handles will also allow you to hang the caddy to keep it off the ground. 

Pegboard

The pegboard-style organizer is modular, so it is customizable to your needs. I could see someone using this to organize sewing materials or various craft supplies for a craft station, such as markers, pompoms, and glue sticks. 

What’s great about the pegboard is that it hangs vertically and takes up minimal real estate. 

Turntable

The turntable is great if you have a bit of table space to work with and want the craft supplies to be visible and easily accessible regularly. For example, I could see this used in a children’s craft space, home, or art classroom. 

I was impressed by the bamboo material it’s made from since I usually see plastic options. Additionally, the organizers within the turn table come apart, so I could see these being divided among several children, for instance. 

Mini Buckets

These mini buckets, made from steel, can be hung from hooks or the peg racks featured below. They could also be stored standing on a table or shelf or placed on a tray to move them around more easily. I could see these used to store supplies such as colored pencils or crayons that can stand vertically.  

If the supplies are not visible from the top of the bucket, I recommend labeling them so it’s easy to know what’s inside since these are opaque.

Hooks 

These hooks and clips can be used to display finished artwork. If painting is the craft of choice in your home or classroom, I could also see these hooks used to hang up painting smocks for later! 

Peg Racks

These peg racks can be used similarly to the hooks above, such as for hanging painting smocks. They can also be used to hang buckets that hold smaller craft supplies.

Drawer Inserts

You can use these bamboo drawer inserts to organize pieces of craft paper or various small craft supplies such as marbles and buttons. These could also be used to store paint supplies such as paintbrushes and tubes of acrylic paint. 

Spice Rack

Give this spice rack another use — storing containers of glitter or other smaller miscellaneous art supplies. The tray is expandable, so you can customize the size to your needs. Since the tray itself is horizontal, I recommend this for a drawer or other table space you have. 

Pouches

Try using these pouches with multicolored zippers to store colored pencils, markers, crayons, paintbrushes, and more. Pouches are also a great way to contain stencils or other miscellaneous items you want to group together and zip away. 

Once stored, these pouches can fit into a drawer or cubby. You can also label these pouches to make it easier to locate what’s inside. 

Roll Up Organizer

This lovely, inexpensive paintbrush holder rolls up for easy storage and transport. Judging by the numerous high-rating reviews, other users are big fans. I’m a big fan of the simplicity of this organizer. 

Desktop Organizer

This desktop organizer can be a stationary organizer for paper, calligraphy pens, and similar supplies in medium-sized spaces. Or, it could be used for various similar craft supplies such as pens, markers, or colored pencils. Due to the drawer, I’m partial to using this for writing or drawing-related crafts that use paper. 

Glass Jars

You can use glass candy jars like these to store pompoms, playdough tools, recycled ribbons from gift wrap, pipe cleaners, and more. You don’t need to buy new jars; recycled jars work great too. I collect a variety of pasta jars to use for storage in all sorts of ways! I love clear glass jars that let you see what’s inside to get your imagination going. 

If you prefer more visual simplicity, opt for opaque storage solutions. 

Hanging Canvas Shoe Pockets

Hanging canvas shoe pockets are an excellent option for storing paint tubes, playdough containers, and other craft supplies. I also see this as storage for yarn for crafting, knitting, or crocheting. Since it fits over the door, it’s great for small spaces. 

Cubbies

I’m a huge fan of cubbies and use them in various ways in my home today. These are attractive and sustainable. They would be great for items like playdough or glitter containers stacked or piled inside. They could also be great for organizing scraps of clothing or fabric you may use for crafting or upcycling. You can collect, roll, or fold fabric scraps Marie Kondo style (in thirds). 

If you’re storing cubbies in a more “messy” craft area, note that these won’t wipe clean as easily as glass. You may be okay with that, though one might say they can take on a little personality over time in a crafty area. 

Baskets

These baskets can be used like cubbies, storing smaller craft items within containers. For example, you could store jars of buttons or playdough. Since they are also not a material that easily wipes clean, the same consideration as above applies.

Boxes

Do you have shoe boxes or other boxes at home already? You can use any boxes you already have to store craft supplies like you might use a cubby or basket. You can even decorate the box itself as a craft within itself. Crafts that may store well in boxes include pipe cleaners, glue sticks, glue guns, pom poms, string or yarn, scrap paper, and more. 

Tool Box or Tackle Box

This tool or tackle box is for those who prefer or need their craft supplies tucked away, out of sight. Or those who need to be able to transport their supplies. 

Since this is heavy-duty, I recommend this option for supplies that also need to be well-protected and would not hold up well in a canvas bag. For example, this could include memorabilia for crafting that you want to keep dry and flat that may get folded or damaged in another storage solution. 

Magazine File Holder

If collages are the main craft in your household, these magazine file holders are great for storing magazines used to cut images out of. If you’ve ever made a vision board, you know how useful it is to have a few old magazines on hand to flip through. 

Tiered Rolling Cart

This rolling cart has a variety of organizers, including hanging cups, to allow you to add a variety of craft supplies. The rolling feature makes this handy for rolling over to your crafting area and then rolling back along a wall to keep it out of the way. 

I can imagine so many uses for this cart, including storing a complete painter’s station or miscellaneous crafts such as fun glitter glue, pipe cleaners, and scissors. 

Over-the-Door Organizers

These over-the-door organizers allow you to see what is being stored, making them a better solution for those who like to see their supplies. I would use this for medium-sized containers such as playdough or glitter containers. I could also see this as a place to store glass jars that may house smaller craft supplies such as small stones, buttons, or other mixed media art supplies. 

Chair Pockets

These are new to me, but I love these as a way to store coloring books and a pack of colored pencils. They are easily accessible and a great way to store a small amount of craft supplies. 

Labeling System

Labels

Labeling is a must for me! I know that labeling goes a long way in ensuring that I and others in my household know where items go back. If you go for a bin-style storage, these metal labels clip right onto the baskets. 

The item comes with white chalk markers to write your own labels. These would work best for the cubbies and basket style storage solutions. 

Digital Label Maker

If you’ve spent even a little time in the spaces of the internet devoted to organizing, you’ve probably heard of the Dymo label maker. This handheld label maker lets you quickly develop and print labels at home. Get ready to label all the things in your home with this gadget. 

It could pair well with the storage solutions above, such as the drawer organizers (label the base so you know what goes where), the glass jars, or steel buckets. 

Embossing Label Maker

This label maker, also by Dymo, is an embossing label maker. It gives a different look or aesthetic because of the embossing feature. Consider which you think will be the easiest and most appealing to you and others in your home or classroom to use. 

Artwork Storage

Letter Tray

To store artwork, you could store it in a letter tray. This is best once any paint or glued items are dry. I think this works great as an interim storage solution, but over time you may need something longer term, such as under-bed storage. Another popular artwork storage I’ve been hearing more about is taking a photo and storing it forever on the Cloud. 

This option will be best suited for 2D artwork.

Folio

The folio is another solution that can work well to store artwork. I think I had one of these in art class back in the day, and they can also come in larger sizes. For instance, if you have multiple children, you can have one folio for each child.

Since this is a folio style, it’s best suited for flat and 2D artwork. 

Underbed Storage

Underbed storage can be great for keeping items tucked away. This particular storage is attractive, sturdy, and comes with a handle. I think this is a great option for flat items such as paper artwork and small 3D crafts such as clay creations.  

Rolling Rack

This rolling rack is an excellent drying solution for multiple paint projects. I could see this used as an interim solution with another one of the solutions featured here. Additionally, this would work incredibly well in a classroom with many art projects needing to dry at once. Note that this does take up more real estate and could be better suited for smaller spaces. 

Large Canvas Organizer

This could be a good solution if you need a storage option for canvas paintings. It can store unpainted or painted canvases once somewhat dry (to finish drying). It does require some space on a table or floor space, and eventually, items may need to be moved to a longer-term solution if you need to store more than 10 canvases.