Are you looking for some good and practical storage ideas for your acrylic paints? Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve accumulated a great deal of bottles and /or tubes I have some excellent suggestions for you. We all know that when you’re getting ready to work on a project and you’re reaching for a particular color or colors it is no fun when you’ve got a huge mass of paint tubes to dig through, am I right?
Plus , you might have paint jars as well as tubes to go through as well and you may want to keep them separated so when you’re looking for the lower viscosity paints or the higher ones, you know where to look. So let’s get a system of organization going!
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Here’s a first-hand look at my “supply corner”…As you can see I have quite a variety of options I use. All my paints are on the third and fourth shelves. Mostly I use those kinds of storage containers labeled as “made for CDs”) and they work like a charm.
They will hold about 20 – 30 of the 2 oz bottles and keep dust out of them well, in addition to being transparent so you can see the contents on the inside .
So you have several options for storing your paints.depending on whether you have bottles and jars, or tubes, I will show and tell how I keep mine together! As far as the environment goes, like all supplies such as clay, keep your paints in a cool, dry place, in the 68 F degree range.
Storing Acrylic Paint Bottles
So if you have tons of those little 2 oz craft paints, or bigger sizes, this section is for you. I love these Sterilite containers (part of the “ShowOffs” line) here that come with a snap lid and secure carrying handle. This one holds about 26 bottles of the 2 oz all-purpose craft paints. I also like that they keep dust and dirt off of my paints too.
I have several that I use, to make it easier, I color-code mine, one I keep all of my metallic colors in, another I use for the enamels, and another for more “conservative” (neutral) colors…you could take it one step further like that too, depending on how many you’ve amassed.
I went to check into the containers like that one above, however that size and style has gotten harder to find. If you can find some plastic bins that are like a mini version of the storage crate used for office paperwork in a similar size (about 9″ x 8″ and at least 5″ deep) you’re golden. I did find a few like those!
These other organizers with individual compartments, would be excellent too. One is good for a small collection and will hold 21 of the 2 oz bottles and the other will support a bigger collection.
Sterilite 18748606 Medium ShowOffSee on AmazonSterilite 16958612 Mini Storage CratesSee on AmazonArtBin 6828AG Paint Storage OrganizerSee on AmazonWooden Craft Paint Storage Rack – Holds 81See on Amazon
Storing Acrylic Paint Tubes
Now if you’ve got mostly tubes of paint, what’s the best way to go about keeping them organized and clean? I personally love slotted compartment carriers for tubes, like this one I own. Notice how it has a slide-out tray that holds multiple paint tubes of varying sizes – as you can see I have everything in here from small 0.4 oz all the way to 1.25.
There are 18 compartments in all and I can easily fit 2 of the 0.4 oz tubes in each compartment.
The larger sized Liquitex Basics – which are 4 oz – however, don’t fit, I keep them (along with my other tools) in the bottom compartment. There’s also room for my other tools, too.
These compartment cases I found below have the same concept, they will open up and the trays that hold the tubes will slide out; the one on the fair left is the closest to the one I have (or it could be the same model! I think it is.)
ArtBin 6893AG 3-Tray Art Supply Box, Portable OrganizerSee on Amazon3 Layers Plastic Portable Storage Box, Multipurpose OrganizerSee on AmazonClear Plastic 2-Tier Trays Craft Supply Storage BoxSee on Amazon
DIY Your Own Paint Organizer
Another thing you could do is to create an organizer of your own, if you’re handy with tools, that’s something to think about, and it would be a fun project too! I haven’t done this yet but I did find a couple of examples from Instructables dot com that are excellent and well-executed for holding paints together.
Here are a few examples of storage units that were the product of DIY thinking…I like how he’s got all the colors grouped together (reds, pinks, greens, etc.) showing the bottom of each bottle so you can find which one you need.
Image credit: Image by sosclosetsandfurniture
That’s one way, but in many cases, there is a sticker label on top of each bottle indicating the color inside, so you could arrange them that way instead and they would be in easy reach. If the labels do come off, one hack I’ve discovered is to just take a brush and dab a little bit of the color onto the top of the lid.
I also like this organization rack below that involves a pegboard style. All the 2 oz bottles fit neatly within the pegs and the whole thing is arranged vertically. This design is made to be hung on the wall. Again, same concept, all the bottles’ respective colors are easily noticeable:
Image credit: Image by 2nup350
You can then store them horizontally or vertically, depending on what your spacial needs are, or limitations, so even if you don’t have a lot of room you can arrange them as you see fit. I personally would rather store paint bottles/jars vertically just in case any of them start to leak. Both of these were made from wood.
Wrap-Up
Well that’s all of the storage ideas I could think of for your acrylic paints. I’m sure a few of these will help.! Good luck, and hopefully you will enjoy getting started working. And if you have any other ideas of your own please mention it in the comments. Thanks!
