Art is messy. Kids are messy. Put them together and you have a big (happy!) mess in the time it takes to dip a paintbrush. It's alway been the biggest clutter-generating activity in the house and I'm slowly learning how to get a handle on it.
Here's what Chloe's art corner in our new place looked like:
Everything had a place, but there were a lot of empty and half-empty containers of random items and taking anything out to use it was a bit of a process. At first I was convinced that I needed some sort of storage system, but once I cleaned the corner out, I knew I could make better use of what I already had.
The first step was to sort everything out into piles:
1: Glitter, glitter glue, glue, foam stickies and pom-poms. (crafty stuff)
2: Finished works of art (to go into portfolios)
3: Paper that could be used for drawing and painting and construction paper
4: Paints and brushes
5: Activity books
6: Potential containers
7: Stamps and ink pads
The next step involved thinking about the best way to store small items. Luckily I had a set of stacking file boxes on wheels that I wasn't using any more. They were conscripted to hold paints (on the bottom) and all the stamp stuff, small craft items, glue and scissors. Like I said in my last post, the muffin trays I used to hold the paint jars were a great way to easily move the paint jars around en masse. Put the paints in the bottom, craft stuff in the top crate and voila! Instant roll-around art cart!
Next I needed a way to contain all the paper and activity books. I simply put them in a canvas fold-out crate and had an easy way to quickly find the right material for Chloe's next masterpiece. Once I consolidated everything I had some containers left over so I put the ones that were past their prime in the recycling bin.
