I’m in the middle of transforming my office back into a craft room/office and reorganizing all of my supplies, but in order to make some more room for MY craft stuff I needed to clear out some of the boys’ art supplies from my office closet. I knew that I wanted to put them somewhere close at-hand so that we can whip up projects at a moment’s notice, but I couldn’t figure out exactly where that magical place was supposed to exist in my already jam packed cupboards and closets. Luckily I’ve had my eye on Craigslist for awhile, and when I spotted this fantastic wood armoire for a steal of a deal, I snatched it up with big dreams of blissfully separated supplies.
This is what it looked like before the transformation. It was set up to house a television, so the back was open and it was lacking shelf space. Luckily for me, my hubby is a handy guy 😉
He started out by adding a new solid backing and a couple of custom sized shelves. I made sure that I left ample room for all of our paints up on the top shelf since I don’t really want the kids taking those kinds of messes out on their own.
Then he faced the shelves with some matching cherry trim and added a center piece for both support and aesthetics. (Make sure you compliment your handy guy and tell him how amazing he looks wielding that nail gun!). As you can see, I was anxious to start stocking the armoire, so I started by putting some of our puzzles and homeschool “jobs” on the bottom shelves.
Now stock this bad boy with everything you’ve got! Okay, honestly, it didn’t fit ALL of my kids’ supplies, but it did fit all of the most frequently used goodies. What can I say? We have a lot of art stuff.
It’s kind of hard to see, but this baby has some deeeep shelving. I was able to stock a few items (like the liquid watercolors in the yellow buckets) two or three deep to conserve even more space. If you want to be totally OCD awesome like me, pick up a Label Maker
and start labelling everything!
and start labelling everything!
One of the best tips I have for organizing kids’ supplies is to use a silverware caddy or divided basket to keep all of the basics in one place. We use a metal silverware tub that I picked up on clearance after Halloween – my boys think the skull motif is super cool – and it helps keep their markers, pencils, scissors, and glue all quickly accessible.
I used the bottom shelves for games and homeschool work that will be able to be changed out and rotated on a regular basis. It’s amazing how much more appealing these things are to the kids when they’re easy to see and get to!
All closed up and put away out of sight! Now I can focus on reclaiming my own art closet space…more to come!
2littlehooligans says
i love it! im searching for some old kitchen cabinets to hang in the kids playroom to store all of their art supplies, games and stuff i want out of their reach. i love your crayon holder:)
Rachael says
I really love what you did here. It’s so great to use a beautiful piece of furniture for such creative materials; enough to inspire any budding artist.
I’m buying a label maker IMMEDIATELY.
Rachael
xx
Four Marrs and One Venus says
WOW-Amazing Organizing- I am loving this! Silly, but I love how your crayons are all in their right color tin. Great job, can’t wait to see your craft room! EEEK!
Anonymous says
That’s a great idea for the entertainment center. Who would of thought!