Watercolor Paints – My Creative Organizing Hack

Visible + Functional organization

For years, I’ve been on the hunt for a system to organize my watercolor paints in a visibly pleasing as well as functional manner.   I’ve tried many different methods of organizing my paints – from storage bins, hooks, and even creatively organized drawers.  But all of these methods just didn’t hit that creative spark that I desired.  

You see while most watercolorist use their paints directly from a palette; personally I love to work with paint fresh directly from the tube.  This is one of my secrets for obtaining vibrant and rich colors in my paintings.  That being said – I do own a watercolor palette and use it often – but my rich vibrant colors can only be achieved directly from the tube.  As a result, I need to have my core colors visibly organized as well as easily accessible.  This allows me to grab a paint color quickly during my painting process.  

MY SOLUTION

So, with some creative thinking – I came across an inexpensive jewelry pocket organizer on Amazon which seemed to fit my needs.  The pockets were about the same size as many of my 14ml paint tubes – but it also had larger pockets at the bottom for some of my larger paint tubes.   Since this jewelry organizer hung on a hanger – I next purchased a simple hook from Anthropologie for $14.  

MY system

Then, I painted small square swatch cards of all the colors I desired to hang in my organizer and then placed each card with it’s corresponding paint tube.  And that is how my paint organizer system was born.  It took roughly two hours to hang the hook on the wall and organize the paints with their corresponding paint swatch cards.   

So if you are looking for an inexpensive and easy way to display as well as organize your paints – I highly recommend this creative little system.  I’ll make sure to link the items I used down below ? 

click to here to see jewelry pocket organizer

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