How to organise your art supplies
Having a space to be artistic can be a great gift to yourself and the world, but how do you organise your art supplies.
As with any organising project you need to know what you have, how much you have, and why. Art supplies are a bit tricky. This is one of the very few cases in which holding onto something in case you want to use it in an artwork can be a valid reason to keep something. However, regular decluttering is important.
Declutter your art supplies my top tips
I would declutter the art supplies yearly (maybe during the holidays).
Take stock of what you have?
Ask yourself if you will still use certain items, artists evolve over time and can change the materials they use.
A video on how to declutter and organise your art supplies
In this video, I go through organising art supplies.
The aim is to create a space in which:
My daughter can create art often
Materials are easy to find
Easy to put away
For example in the video, I use see-through containers and make clear groupings of “like” items.
Overall be specific with your artwork supplies
For example, if you use paints where will these paintings dry and where will your art be displayed or stored?
Your art supplies change over time
On a yearly basis, it is important to check if you are still keen on some art techniques and tools.
Just because I did knitting when my son was 1 doesn’t mean I still do it now he is in high school.
All art projects and phases are important. Don’t feel guilty if you bought something and didn’t use it. Life changes, you change and so do your hobbies and creative endeavours.
Clearly, there are many ways to organise your art supplies.
What works no matter what art you do are thinking through a few key questions:
What is the most important frequently used material at this point in time?
Where will it live when in use and when not in use?
The key list to do if you want to organise your art supplies
You can scroll the internet and find lots of pretty pictures of how others have organised their art supplies.
I will stick to the principles on this page:
Have clear places where you keep your art supplies
Use containers
Create easy access to your most frequently used art supplies
Do a yearly declutter
Embrace growth and change as an artist
The Perfect Book for Artistic souls
If you like creativity, inspiration and the visual world this book is for you.
Over to you
If you have found fantastic resources on how to organise your art supplies. Or if you have set up a great system yourself, please tell your story and share it with me.
