Do you ever find yourself with a large collection of craft items and don’t know how to store them? I seem to have amassed a fairly large collection of craft paints. I had them in a basket but that just wasn’t working for me any longer. It was taking too long to find the color I was looking for plus it was a mess. I knew I could come up with something better. Here is my DIY Paint Storage Shelf.
This was a super-easy build and it didn’t cost much to make. Home Depot has craft boards in their lumber aisle. I love using those for small projects like this mostly because I can fit them in my car and don’t have to borrow someone’s truck to get them home.
Want to make one? Here’s how:
Materials used:
- a piece of 1/4″ plywood (the size this will determine the size of your shelf. I had a scrap piece that measured about 18″ wide x 19 3.4″ high)
- 3-1/2″ x 1/2″ boards
- 1-1/2″ x 1.2″ boards
- paint
Tools used*:
- Ryobi miter saw
- Ryobi AirStrike Stapler
*I am fortunate that I have these power tools (thanks to Santa and Ryobi!), but I would think you could cut this thin wood with a hand saw or better yet, have Home Depot cut it for you. And small wood nails could be used if you don’t have an Airstrike stapler….yet.
- Cut (or have cut) the 3-1/2 boards: 2 @ the height of the plywood piece and 2 @ the the width of plywood piece minus one inch.
- Staple together to form a rectangle frame
- Staple the plywood back onto the frame
- Cut (or have cut) the 1-1/2″ x 1/2″ boards to the inside width dimension of your shelf. I cut six of these for my shelf. Dry fit them into your shelf and tilt them before stapling. The tilted shelves keep the bottles of paint from falling out.
Now that the shelf is assembled it’s time to sand and paint.
I used a gray craft paint that I had on hand. I plan on doing a little fun decorating to this piece. More on that in a week or two. But for now I love that my paint collection has a pretty, organized home!
It’s so nice to be able to see all of the colors at a glance. It beats dumping out a basket of paints looking for the one I thought I had!
Tell me. How do you store your craft and DIY supplies? And if you make this shelf I’d love to hear about it!
Update: I have made an even bigger paint storage shelf. The plans and instructions are over on RYOBI Nation!
Jeanie this came out great! Love that you angled the shelves!
Thanks Michelle! I just wish I had made it bigger – I still have more paint! Guess I’ll have to make another one ; )
How much would u estimate the cost of the storage unit will be ?
It looks great . You can store ur colors from The lightest to the darkest color which
Allows u to see ur color range better & it’s decorative as well .
This is such a great idea! I’m going to have to make one! Now I need you to come up with one to store the paint samples from lowes! I have so many of them. Lol
Nicole, you are reading my mind!!! And thank you for the kind comment!
I condensed my 2 bedroom apartment in a one bedroom at my mom’s house last year when I lost my job. This is definitely going on pinterest though for when I have my own space again. Love!
~Meaghan from DIYfaerie
Hi Meaghan! Thanks for pinning, and I hope you do make one!
Great DIY! Thanks for sharing at the Twirl & Take a Bow Party!
Leslie
Thank you Leslie!
I love this organization shelf you made! It looks easy to make and so nice to see every color available. You’ve got my wheels turning since I so badly need to do something like this! 🙂
Thanks Kim! It is super easy to make.
I love this shelf, Jeanie. It is so useful, functional and stylish! I need one. I have my paints in shoe boxes….I’m fancy schmancy like that! 😉 Thanks so much for sharing at Project Inspire{d}. Pinning to our party board.
Haha Mary Beth! I know what you mean….I found more in bags in my craft room. Looks like I’ll need to make a bigger shelf! Thanks so much for pinning!
wow Jeanie your getting pretty handy w the power tools now love how this turned out awesome job
Jeanie.. You rocked this project! I need one of these. Great tutorial too my friend, pinned and sharing!
This is a terrific idea. I love things organized. I currently have all my paints standing in a lidded plastic container, but they are about to overflow. This will prevent the ever ending searching for the colour I just KNOW I already own.
This is fantastic! I currently use a hanging organizer meant for storing canned goods so there can be wasted space depending on the size of the paint container. This would be super easy to customize for maximum space usage. Thanks for sharing your project with us at Merry Monday this week!
I so need this! Thanks for the tutorial!
I have a huge drawer full of the little craft paint bottles, that I was just thinking needed a better solution. This is a nice storage shelf! Thanks for sharing your idea with us at the #HomeMattersParty this week. Hope to see you again when the party goes live on Friday at 12AM EST!
This is such a great idea for organising paint always such a pain when you can’t find the colour you are looking for straight away! Crafting storage is definitely my favourite type of storage.
Think there is the buying craft supplies addiction then the storage for the supplies addiction aha! My favourite storage currently is the Creative Options grab n go boxes – https://www.creativeoptionsuk.com/products/grab-n-go-rack-systems
But it is always great to customise your storage to what you need to organise in your craft room xx
Thanks for sharing the post. Keep up the good work.
This is such a great project and I absolutely love how it turned out. The shelf looks so useful yet easy to make! Would definitely make one in my craft room.