Q: Hi there! Apartment Therapy has been my one-stop reference for all things neat and nifty in home organization, and I feel that if the community on here can't answer this question, then an answer just doesn't exist! My question is on nail polish storage - being a makeup junkie, I have over 100 bottles (eeks), but I don't want to store them in boxes where I can't see what colors I have or buy those acrylic wall racks. Are there cool, creative options out there?
Sent by Judy
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i have that same problem with nail polish... im a junkie too. i saw once on this blog where a bookshelf was converted into a place for storing polish.
kind of big and this lady has a ridiculous amount of it, but could be downsized easily.
http://chloesnails.blogspot.com/2011/01/custom-polish-book-case-flakie-funpic.html
oh also i was going to say put a door on it. maybe use one of those bathroom cabinets you can get anywhere these days.
I used to have mine on a cool spice rack that I built.
I keep mine in plastic trays (I think from the container store) in the bathroom cabinet. I can pull out a tray and see all the colors from the top of the bottles. I am lucky enough to have plenty of bathroom cabinet space though.
I purchased metal spice racks from IKEA and hung them on the inside door under my sink in the bathroom. You can get individual rows...so that you are not purchasing a large unit that might not allow you to close your door.
The refrigerator is the best place to keep nail polish!
I know you don't want to put them in "boxes"... but the Alex drawer sets from Ikea are the perfect height for polish bottles. If you have a lot, you can store them by brand or color. I just re-organized using the tall Alex here http://www.jennstaz.com/2011/05/makeup-re-organization-and-collection/ but the short one would probably work best because it's made out of all shallow drawers.
I have an Ikea HELMER unit and it has perfectly sized drawers for storing my nail polish, in my opinion there is nothing else better out there for organizing a large amount of polish. Before I got my HELMER I used a clear plastic shoe boxes organized by polish color.
i bought a dark brown wicker caddy (i think it was maybe a remote caddy, silverwear caddy, or something similar) that had a handle on either end and three compartments. i use the large compartment for polish, one of the smaller for utensils (clippers, files, etc.) and the third for special creams. then, when i feel like doing a mani or pedi, i pull it out and everything i need is right there. when i'm done, i put it back on a shelf in the closet.