apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This drawer organizer from DickBlick is very nice.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz512/44/

I've transformed an older piece of furniture (a secretary) into an art cabinet for the whole family. I keep all our supplies, paper, art books, photo albums, and portfolios in there. It's been great to get everything in one location. I keep it in the basement but bring up a few supplies in a smaller portable drawer for weekly use. When we're all watercolored out, I return the watercolor supplies and replace it with clay or play dough. It's worked so far.

I'd suggest checking out the pictures of how Lisa Mahar (owner of Kid O) organized and arranged art supplies for her kids, linked here:

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/blogging/new-york-social-diary-lisa-mahar-home-069959

There are more detailed pictures in the article itself which I found pretty inspirational.

If you are looking for a free-standing unit, The Container Store (containerstore.com) is a great place to start. Also IKEA--a wealth of clever and affordable storage options. I personally like options for kids that aren't too complex--a place to dump crayons, a place to dump doo-dads, a place to dump scissors and glue. Bins and buckets are ideal because each category has it's own place but nothing is too tedious to put away.

I love Snapware containers for this - you can always add on, the kids can open and close them on their own, and the handle on the top makes it easy to move from room to room.
http://www.organize.com/medcraftbox.html
I found mine at Target, in the section with ironing boards and sewing supplies.

I like hanging shoe pockets for art supplies too, if you have the wall space. I cut one in half and put the two halves next to each other on the wall above the free art table when I was teaching preschool. It was great!

Here's a nice looking one:
http://www.target.com/Michael-Graves-Design-Over-Door/dp/B000KHPITG/sr=1-13/qid=1232056443/ref=sr_1_13/175-6319362-7267632?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Ahanging%20shoe%20organizer&page=1

We use an old dresser for our arts and craft materials: here is a link to a post about it if you are keen to see how we do it:

http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/08/14/organizing-school-and-craft-stuff-in-se7en-layers

I have three of these "Helmer" drawer units ($40 at IKEA), two for the kids and one for myself. here's a link...it comes in white and silver too. Love the way they look and they do a great job of organizing all the little stuff.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40107872

i have the Dick Blick drawer organizer at work and can't say I'd recommend it - it is not very sturdy. at home i use some old Ikea wooden drawers (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelulubird/2405708705), but have been wanting their newer Alex drawers (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30104322) so I can store papers and things.

not sure why those links didn't work... here they are again...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelulubird/2405708705
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30104322

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions so far! We don't have an Ikea in our whole state, but it looks like the Alex and the Helmer can both be ordered online and I like those a lot!

Thanks also for the snapware suggestion! That was the type of thing I was imagining at first and would be great for keeping some of the smaller items contained.

Katie

I've tried alot of different kinds of boxes/bins etc...and they never did work great because my daughter would put her various collections in them along with the crayons/markers(like beads, shells etc.) NOW the thing that I found is working amazingly well is a 3 tiered carousel that has many divided sections. It's the kind that is on a lazy susan. So the shortest sections contain her crayons, all organized by color. The second tier has her markers and colored pencils, and third, in the middle holds a few regular pencils, glue stick, sissors, & a ruler. She & I had a blast putting it together AND most importantly she uses it and keeps it organized!!!! When she wants to draw she grabs the carousel and has everything she needs.

Here's another idea, similar to some already suggested: a rolling cart.

If you don't have space for a free-standing organizer, you might try something like a Caboodle. My son has mine from the late 80s in pink. It works well for writing tools and keeps them all visible and portable. Some other type of cosmetics or tool organizer or possibly a tackle box might work well too.

http://www.caboodles.com/products/?D=C