Craft Paint Storage Ideas

Do you have about a million bottles of craft paint? Need some ideas on Craft Paint Storage? Those little bottles seem to multiply faster than rabbits and get disorganized before you even start crafting, right? Or is it just me?! hah. Well, you know how much we like to talk about craft room organization around here, so let’s talk craft paint today!

Lisa asked this question:

Anyone have any good ideas for storing craft paints? I have them in a storage container but would like to have them where I can see all the colors and not have to pull each one out to find the color I need. Thanks!” – Lisa

Answers for this post were compiled from this thread on the Craftaholics Anonymous® Facebook page.

craft paint storage

Craft Paint Storage

1. “I have a friend who paints a ton. She painted a dresser to store her paints in!” – Jessica H.
2. “I saw a cute thing on pinterest where they just paint the top of the paint whatever color it is, then store in a container standing up, so you just see the top.” – Allyson Z.

craft tableCraft Paint Storage from bubble wrapped.

3. “I just installed a peg board wall in my craft area and hung a wire spice rack on it for my paint! Love it so far!” – Lauren S.
4. “Not a super creative solution, but I store my paint in a bin upside down so I can see all the colors.” – Krystal W.
5. “A dab of the color on the lid works.” – Sherry K.
6. “I keep mine in a plastic box but painted the tops so I can see what colors I have.” – Stephanie W.
7. “I keep mine in clear plastic boxes and write the name of it on the top. Sometimes put a dab of paint on the top so I know what color it is; but typically the color name is enough for me to know exactly what color it is.” – Meg K.

Provo Craft Spinner Rack
Provo Craft Spinner Paint Rack

8. “Here’s what I have my paints stored in – works perfect!” – Cindy R.
9. “I got a tiered track at the dollar store to put mine on. I don’t think it’s going to work though. It’s pretty wobbly and you can’t see everything that well still and I think I will knock everything over getting out a new one. So tiered rack is a fail. Next try, I think I’ll look at spice storage.” – Danielle W.
10. “I have mine stored laying on their side, bottom facing out.” – Erin B.
11. “For my small craft paint bottles, I have one of those small plastic set of drawers on wheels. It was intended for Christmas ornaments. I put all the whites and yellows in the top drawer, oranges and reds in the second, and so on. For pints, quarts and gallons I use a bookcase.” – Karen M.
12. “I store mine standing on their “heads” (a.k.a. the bottle upside down) in a plastic shoe box type container. Paint comes out easily, it is cheap storage, and you can see the color of each easily.” – Amanda F.
13. “I have all of mine stored in a Closetmaid rack on my craft room wall. It works really well for me.” – Andi S.
14. “I do the paint on the lid thing but I created a table in MS word with each manufacturer and color and then when I dab the lid, I dab some on the page. I actually printed it off on transparency but paper would work. I then pull it out when I need to match a color which is where the transparency works great – can see thru it!” – Lisa C.
15. “My husband paints the lids of his and stores his in a small suitcase type thing they call a train case. It is an old train case and it does the trick for his bottles of paint.” – Laura W.
16. “I have an old pop bottle crate standing on end. I lay the paints in the openings cap in first so I can see the ends/color. Each opening holds 4 regular small bottles. I love it!” – Renee G.
paint organizationDIY Paint Storage by 100 Directions
17. “You can sort them into cardboard shoe boxes upside down and then fit all the boxes into a drawer or into an old suitcase (which is where I have mine). If the bottles are not transparent enough, paint a dab on them, but I find it takes too long to do that if I just bought them and want to store them. I do have them in “color families” too.” – Bonnie R.
18. “I got some round labels from Office Depot and painted a label with the paint and put it on top of bottle, then stored in shoe boxes. Worked well for me.” – Barb L.
19. “Use a spice rack. I have a few from the thrift store that I’m planning to repurpose.” – Michelle M
20. “My sister in law just has them on a shelf in her craft room at eye level in rainbow order kind of in a zig zag with every other one against the wall and the others slightly forward. It’s perfect because she knows exactly what she has and how full they are.” – Alexis M.
21. “When I first bring home craft paint, I put a good goop on the lids and keep them in a drawer in a craft storage box with no lid.” – Andi C.

DIY Paint Storage
DIY Hanging Paint Storage – from Mad in Crafts

22. “When you have so many (I have well over 100 at a time) those racks don’t cut it. I use boxes that are like double size shoe boxes that are clear. They stack easily and there just about perfect depth so no wasted space.” – LuAnn M.
23. “I have all of mine in a drawer. I took those stickers and put them on the lid, painted the sticker that color, then wrote the name on them.” – April M.
24. “Mom painted so much and had so many that she had racks built for the wall. Her friend jig sawed circles out and made shelving about 2 ft high and she stores them upside down because it eliminates the air at the lid which causes paint to harden in the cap and hole. Hang them in reach of the painter. She also saved milk and pop caps for diluting and mixing paint colors. Perfect size and disposable!” – Sandi C.
25. “I have mine in stacked wine crates all bought from goodwill. The crates are stacked on top of a desktop and sit against the wall for stability. It’s cuter than it sounds.” – Laura L.
paint organizationimage: Everything Etsy

26. “You could do what I do for my Distress Pads and Liquid Distress Inks. I took a big piece of card stock and sprayed or wiped a bit of the color on it and wrote the name down next to it so I always have an actual sample of the color for comparison when I’m scrapbooking. Then my Distress Inks get a label on two sides with the color name and they’re stored in a tower. My round ink bottles get a blob of the color on the top (if the lid is light-colored) or a round garage sale sticker with a blob of the color. Then I can store them in plastic crate that lives under my desk. Works awesome and since the piece of card stock gets used so much, I’ve had to do it more than once over the last few years.” – Cindy D.
27. “I keep mine in one of those plastic drawers units – just pull open the drawer.” – Debra V.
28. “Rain gutter applied to your wall.” – Destiny L.

So many awesome ideas on craft paint storage! I know I’m going to give some of these awesome ideas a try because I won’t lie, my craft paint is a mess! Thanks for stopping by today!

happy crafting,

Linda

Check out the Craftaholics Anonymous® Facebook page for lots of crafting tips! For more crafting inspiration, follow along on Pinterest.

Linda
Hi! I'm Linda, the craft addict behind Craftaholics Anonymous®, a craft blog. Crafting is cheaper than therapy, right? When I'm not DIYing something, I can be found taxiing around our 4 crazy kids or working out. Or shoe shopping... because you can never have too many shoes! Happy crafting! ♥
Linda
Linda

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Comments

  1. 1

    Wow, some of those are really creative! My dad just made me a paint holder for Christmas based on this one from SugarBeeCrafts. Only 20 spots left. Guess I need more paint!

    1. 1.1
      Kathy Carenza

      I need your dad at my house :-)

  2. 2

    I love the fold down table one! The soda crate is nice too, I use two soda crates right now for spices :D

  3. 3

    Great ideas! I have lots of paint so some of these added to how I store mine might help. I think the hanging pvc one would be best for me.

  4. 4
    Kathy Carenza

    I found an old fashioned wooden spice rack at Goodwill and use that to store my most used paints. Works great. Still looking around for more. The others are stored in a plastic bin and I paint a little splash on the top of each paint to help see the color and I store them with matching colors together. Putting together my craft room and hope to share pictures when I am all done:-)

    1. 4.1
      Kathy Carenza

      I also just thought of something, My husband is the chef in our house and he uses those “AS seen on TV” spice racks where you have a plastic crate and each one slides out and flips for easy viewing, but are very thin in the storage cabinet. We found them at CVS for $15 a piece and used our CVS bucks to bring down the price. Going to test my paints in them and if they work-gonna save up some CVS bucks and get me two or three. Yes I have that much paint, I use it in Sunday school also. I have all hues and tones of the primary and secondary colors, plus Glitter paint and other specialities… Think it is an obsession:-)

      1. Great ideas! Thanks for sharing, Kathy!! I’m so glad you stopped by.
        happy crafting,
        Linda

  5. 5
    Sallie Fitzpatrick

    I think I’d cut vinyl the most :)

  6. 6

    If possible i would like the working drawings for the work station at top of the page. Im willing to pay a reasonable price for them

  7. 7
    Linna Lawrence

    I am trying the best I can to fine the Provocraft spinner carousel for craft paint. I need the one that holds 260 bottles and I have learned that that company doesn’t make that size anymore. They only make the one that holds 160 bottles. Do you know of anyone that wants to sell one…that’s probably my only hope of obtaining one as they seem to have been discontinued.:(

  8. 8

    I need to get my paints more organized so they will be easier to find the colors that I want to use. I love the old coke crate, the colors will be easy to see. I will have to keep my eyes open for some kind of a crate like the coke crate.

  9. 9

    Hello. I really like the white folding table .
    How much is the folding table ? And where have the table?

    CRAFT PAINT STORAGE FROM BUBBLE WRAPPED.

    THANKS MIRYAN

  10. 10

    HI Linda:

    So many of my art students complain that they have no studio, no dedicated space for art making, and therefore getting all the materials out becomes a chore. I LOVE the first image with the hanging storage that becomes a table. This would be such an inventive way to create an art desk in a common space. I can’t wait to share these creative ideas with others. Thank you!

    Amy

    1. 10.1

      So glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for stopping by, Amy! That table/storage idea is one of my faves too!

  11. 11
    Cynthia

    They have a tub storage system for children’s toys and that is great storage in an art studio.

  12. 12
    Kathie Tro

    Please give me some options for flooring in a painter/pastelist studio.

    1. 12.1
      Lana Gordon

      I’m building a second studio now, learning from a few mistakes on the first one. Spent unnecessary $ tiling the floor before. Now, I’m putting down nice birch plywood, screw in with stainless screws onto subfloor neatly in a row and plan to soon cover it all with poly, mopping on a few coats. I like the industrial, easy look. Probably put down a large drop cloth but hope not to fret too much when paint gets on the floor. Struggling with the storage, though. I’m on the second floor of an old barn with sloping sides and the roof is only between 7-8′ at the highest, with the side walls sloping down. Still, very exciting!

  13. 13
    Dee

    My concern is what is the best way to store so they don’t dry up. I’ve opened brand new bottles that have dried up and they’ve been kept standing up in a plastic container in my basement. Should they be on their side or upside down? I had to go through over a dozen paints and realized that many have dried hard, not so easy to replace some as they were purchased at Pearl’s (which is no longer in business). Any help would be appreciated.

  14. 14
    Dee

    Can anyone tell me the best way to store the paints so they don’t dry up. Should they be kept right side up or upside down?
    I’ve been keeping mine in dark place inside plastic containers but even ones that were never opened have dried up. Is there a shelf life for these paints even when never opened? Your help would be most appreciated. Thank You.

    1. 14.1
      TK

      I’ve not had trouble with my paints drying out. Separating, yes (of course, that solution is to mix or shake thoroughly when ready to use)….but not drying out. I’ve only seen paints that were previously opened, dry out…but that took years. Maybe add a drop or two of some type of oil to the paint??