'Art' / playdough storage - we are overflowing!

[latrucha]

After Christmas we are now out of space to store all DC's arty / crafty stuff. DDs new moonsand collection lives on the table on which I prepare food and we eat our meals. Not good.

I want someting that will sit on my desk (where a lot of it already lives) and be around than 60cm high, 50 wide and 40 deep and not look too horrible.

I foundthis but it is horrible and I would prefer two drawers to store taller things.

This looked great but it is too small.

Someone must have come up with the perfect solution to all those pens, paints, playdough, sticker books, magnet books, colouring books, playdough, moonsand, sequin boxes, odd pieces of felt and wool ad infinitum. I hope it's you!

The ELC zip up art box/mat is reduced at ELC/Mothercare at the moment?

I have several smallish storage boxes (they came with Tesco art stuff in as a gift) and I've just had a sort out, as DS is now channelling Mr Maker, so we have lots of extra arty/crafty bits. Now we have:

1 box playdough/cutters
1 box paints/brushes/dishes
1 box card/paper/crafty bits

I also have 1 of those IKEA wall poles (technical term?) that has these on it for crayons/felts/chalks etc in them.

I do find subdividing means they are used more.

Overflow (spare playdough, chalk boards etc) are in a spare kitchen cupboard.

[drowning in art supplies emoticon]

this looks quite good? Depending how much stuff you have?

Those look good but we have a lot and I'm also hoping for something that will sit on my desk and not look too kiddie, and perhaps can be used for something else later on.

We have:

• one magazine type rack filled with card, sticker books, making books, magnet books etc.
• two of those 'dress up dolly' kind of folders
• one big and overflowing plastic tub of playdough stuff
• a small set of two plastic draws with paints, pens, stencils sequins etc,
• a biggish box of moon dough stuff
• a big box of crayons

and (which has pushed us over the edge)

• a box of fuzzy felts
• a moon sand sweet maker set
• a solid powder paint palette

Everyone how owuld buy DD a present knows she likes crafty things, so she gets tonnes and we've just had birthday and Christmas. I don't really have anywhere else to squirrel it away and rotate it as I would with toys.

As you can see, there is tonnes!

Maybe a really useful storage tower then? Tesco have a nice rainbow one reduced?

I'll have a look, thanks. Useful and beautiful, byt any chance [hopeful emoticon].

We have shelves over flowing with ice-cream & margarine tubs full of craft stuff. It's not pretty, but at least everything's sorted

I am vainly trying to atop overflowing. I know it's a hiding to nothing but there we are.

Do you have space above your wall mounted kitchen cupboards?? If you do that's where mine go. I got some clear lidded boxes from asda and have one above each cupboard, one for each of the following: playdough stuff, painting stuff, camping cookware, and small kids gardening stuff.

I also have a large plain plastic box (no lid) inside a low kitchen cupboard which has felt tip pens, pencil crayons, paper, comics, etc in that DS can reach himself. I like to keep the painting and playdough stuff out of reach [voice of bitter experience].

Good idea, but we store something else there (in clear lidded plastic boxes - great minds think alike!)

That rainbow tower is really very nice but the drawers are quite shallow, so wouldn't fit the moon sand stuff and they'd still be on the table which is, quite frankly, the thing that is driving me nuts.

Looking at these now.

I find school supplies shops useful for that sort of thing.

Something like this

Great minds indeed!

I cannot imagine having all this stuff on a desk! How big is your desk? Won't it all be in your way?

What about wall mounted storage? Shelves, tubs, baskets on the walls for it all to go in. Would that work, do you have any wall space anywhere you could utilise?

You are very nice to even consider keeping the moon sand BTW, I refuse to buy it and if someone bought it for ds it would be going in the shed as a garden toy to play with on a dry day. [evil mother]

That's a good idea. I'll have a look.

Someone must have cracked it though. Lots of parents must want something that keeps it all tidy without it turning into yet another toy box in the front room. Maybe it's a business idea!

Ooh that's nice MrsBovary. I used to drool over stuff like that when I was child minding. Not for paints though, I'm not that fond of redecorating brave!

I am extemely tolerant of carfty bits as DD loves it so much and it's one of the only things we can do together that baby DS doesn't trash - or he can trash his own wee bit and I'll hoover afterwards.

I prefer not wall mounting stuff as our house is very small and it would be easy to feel overlooked and overcrowded. Thats one reason why I want something sleek and grown up looking to hide all the multi coloured bits and bobs, like a proper piece of furniture, rather than the motley assortment we have now.

what about this www.betterware.co.uk/4-drawer-rattan-storage-cabinet.html?promotioncode=FROOGLE&gclid=CNLg4dTM660CFUNTfAod4FV64A ?

freestanding unit that could be reused in a bathroom or bedroom in the future? I use cheaper plastic drawer units for all my DC's art stuff and most toys, but this is more grownup

I've just bought DD a tower similar to this - but cheaper!

Top drawer has paints, glue, stickers, sequins etc (all the little bits and pieces
2nd drawer - small "kits" she's been given
3rd drawer - pens/pencils/erasers etc
bottom drawer - craft paper / pads etc

this is prettier but needs to go on the floor as does this

I too won't have moonsand in the house - or playdough either