Finding creative solutions for storing art supplies can be a problem — especially to those of us who are organizationally challenged. (Ahem…) So, I asked homeschooling mom and Masterpiece Society Studio member, Amanda Doliveira, to share how she stores all the various art mediums used in her homeschool.
Getting started with art at home can be overwhelming. While I adore and appreciate art, I am no Picasso and was hesitant to introduce it formally into our homeschool day. We discovered Masterpiece Society in early 2018 and it has opened up this unchartered territory for me tremendously.
Not only have we learned a lot about art history, we have also learned a great deal about how to use different art mediums. Alisha does a great job at covering the supplies needed for each project right from the start and over time we have accumulated quite a bit of materials.
Storing art supplies can be a challenge. We wanted a way to have easy access to them while still being able to hide them away when not in use. We store all of our homeschool books and supplies in a closet under the stairs, so I wanted it to somehow fit in there as well but not take up valuable shelf space.
The traditional rolling cart wasn’t exactly what we needed but we hit the jackpot when we found the Gramercy cart at Michaels. It has hooks and space for containers on the sides making it ideal for art supplies. If you are going to begin a home art program, signing up for Michaels daily coupons is a must. As you begin to shop for more mediums and accessories, these coupons can save you big.
The side hooks have been great for items like scissors, tape and glue. I added small side containers I found at Target to hold crayons, colored pencils, and the smaller starter watercolor and acrylic paints. Those containers can be taken out on their own without having to move the whole cart or if doing art outside.
My bottom cart shelf is used to store paint pallets, drop cloths, spray bottles and other unsightly items like cans of Workable Fixatif (which is a must if you plan to use chalk pastels!)
The middle shelf is where I keep watercolor pallets, boxes of chalk pastels and oil pastels. I prefer keeping my chalk pastels in the boxes they come in but keep most of the oil pastels in another bin found at Target.
I keep the large tubes of acrylic paint on the opposite side of the cart. Putting them on the art shelves can make them difficult to access or know what colors you may be running low on.
My top cart shelf is used to store our nicer sketch pencils, brushes, tabletop easel and water containers. We save any containers (butter, pimento cheese, bath salts) to use for water or paint. I bought this amazing wooden brush holder from Turnco Woods Goods in Clinton, Washington and can easily take it out to have available wherever we are painting without having tons of brushes out that may or may not be needed at the time.
I have found that storing art in a way that provides such easy access, eliminates the hesitation to drag supplies out and use them. Our supplies are actually used now, and thanks to Masterpiece Society, our walls are full of fantastic creations and cherished memories.
Follow along with Amanda Doliveira on Instagram here.