How to Organize Kids’ Art Supplies

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We love to let our kids have access to their art supplies, but we don’t love the mess! Here’s a creative idea we came up with for how to organize kids art supplies. (Psst – they’re also completely hidden!)

how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies

Okay. I love that my kids love doing art, and crafting, and making creative messes. But we were running into the problem recently of the kids’ art supplies taking over my own DIY supply storage cabinets.

Also, they couldn’t get to them on their own. Every time they wanted a sticker or a pencil we had to come to us for help and it was just a lot of maintenance. We were trying for a long time to figure out a solution and finally found one! Here’s how we organize (and hide) all of our kids’ art supplies.

how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies
how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies

How We Organize (and Hide) All of Our Kids’ Art Supplies

There was this wacky little cabinet space on the back side of our breakfast bar that we had also been wondering how to maximize. The cabinets are plenty large in height and width, but they’re only about 5 inches deep. They’re also at floor level. So they turned out to be a perfect little hiding spot for art supply central.

My main goals for the supplies were to first and foremost keep them easily organizable, so the kids could help keep it clean. I also wanted to be able to see everything at once, so nothing got forgotten. And I wanted the kids to be able to access things by themselves. Then they could have the option to do an art project by themselves from start to finish.

Letting Kids access their Own Craft Supplies

Now, before we continue, a disclaimer. This type of organization probably isn’t for you if your kiddos are the type to get a little mischievous with a crayon or a pen. If you think that they’re too young or not ready to have access to their own art supplies, just keep that in mind.

Our kids haven’t really gotten into that type of mischief, and Maggie knows that she can only use the safety scissors, etc. So we were comfortable with them being able to reach it all.

Best Containers to Organize Kids’ Art Supplies

Materials and Containers

Instructions

We set it all up with one area for coloring books, stickers, paper, and notebooks. Then we made another area for all of the pens, pencils, glue, stamps, and so on. For the paper items, we got a few of these triple file holders. Depending on your space, make sure you find some that are the right depth.

I would have loved some with a few more pockets or that were a little deeper, but these happened to fit perfectly in our shallow cabinets. We simply drilled these straight into the backs of the cabinets to secure them.

how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies

For the other items (pens, pencils, etc.), I got two sets of acrylic makeup drawer organizers. We applied rows of adhesive velcro inside one of the cabinets and wrapped the containers with the matching velcro. Try to find super strong adhesive and then also staple the adhesive to the inside of your cabinets with a staple gun to ensure security.

Each bin got filled with a different art supply. So the kids can just grab one of the containers and go, depending on if they want to do crayons or pens or temporary tattoos or whatever. Then once they’re done they can stick the container back on the velcro strip and shut the door.

how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies
how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies

Does it Work?

Here’s our functionality update! We’ve had this setup now for almost two years and it’s still highly functional and going strong. We did run into one instance of a container of crayons having the adhesive velcro come off the back because it was pretty heavy. In this case, we reapplied a new Velcro strip so that it wrapped all the way around the container. It has been holding for over a year.

how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies
how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies

Hope this inspires you in some way! Honestly, the kids’ art supplies are wayyyy more organized than mine are at this point. I guess I’ll have to get on that… Maybe I’ll do a before and after of my horrifying craft supply cabinets?! xoxo

P.S. Get your kids to help you keep it all clean with our chore chart!

how we organize (and hide) all our kids' art supplies

How to Organize Kids' Art Supplies

Yield: Art Supply Organizer
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour

Learn how to organize and hide all of your kids' art supplies!

Materials

Instructions

    1. Designate one area for coloring books and stickers. Designate another area for all of the pens, pencils, glue, stamps, and so on. For the paper items, use the triple file holders. Depending on your space, make sure you find some that are the right depth.
    2. Drill the triple file folders directly into the inside walls of the cabinets, leaving enough room to put in and take out books.
    3. For the other items (pens, pencils, etc.), apply rows of adhesive velcro inside one of the cabinets and wrap the containers with the matching velcro. Try to find super strong adhesive and then also staple the adhesive to the inside of your cabinets with a staple gun to ensure security.
    4. Kids can come and grab one of the containers of markers, etc., off of the velcro, and then replace it when they're done.

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14 Comments

  1. This is GENIUS! We have a whole playroom with a wall of built-in drawers that I can dedicate to things like this, but deep drawers just don’t work that well for art supply organizing, so I feel like things are all over the place and it drives me nuts. But oohhhhh this just makes my organization (and craft supply!) loving heart happy to see everything all lined up in acrylic holders. Love it!

  2. LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I’m working on carving out a space in my office for my daughter to have as her own creative space. This has inspired a bunch of new ideas!

  3. What a great idea! I love that the cabinets aren’t so deep that things get lost in the back, and everything has its spot. I’m definitely going to keep this in mind as a try to figure out what storage solutions to add to our playroom. Thanks for sharing!!

  4. This is genius! I wish we had shallow cupboards like that to do the same thing with our kids’ art supplies. Is it ok if I post one of your pictures on instagram? With credit and a link, of course. Thanks!

  5. Next question: how do you organize what they produce?? I have their supplies (mostly) organized but am overwhelmed by the volume of what they create. I have tried creating three piles, one for each child, with the plan of photographing each piece before recycling their artwork, but the piles have grown and they’re all over the house and have gotten mixed up and I just want to throw it all away! I haven’t because doing so makes me feel like a monster but the anxiety the clutter creates also makes me a monster so I don’t know what to do…