How do you store your nail polish collection?

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I recently tried out the Swivel Store spice rack for storing polish. I love it! It's not pretty, but it's very practical for me. I'm not looking to display my polish really, just have good storage and easy access while still being able to look at the bottle with a view other than just the top of the caps (that's the reason I didn't want the Helmer or drawers). I can store at least 28 polishes per rack (for OPI and China Glaze size; more for Julep and Zoya sizes) in only 4 inches of horizontal space. The depth is perfect for my closet shelves. I can pull it out and swivel it to look at the polishes, then swivel it back to storing in a narrow space. They retail for like $17.99, but I found mine at Ross for $7.99. There are some on eBay and Amazon. Here are two of them in my armoire (closet for Tried and armoire for Untried):
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And in action, sliding out and swiveling:
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I figure I would need about 15 racks total for my whole collection, although I haven't counted how many polishes I have for quite a while.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I recently tried out the Swivel Store spice rack for storing polish. I love it! It's not pretty, but it's very practical for me. I'm not looking to display my polish really, just have good storage and easy access while still being able to look at the bottle with a view other than just the top of the caps (that's the reason I didn't want the Helmer or drawers). I can store at least 28 polishes per rack (for OPI and China Glaze size; more for Julep and Zoya sizes) in only 4 inches of horizontal space. The depth is perfect for my closet shelves. I can pull it out and swivel it to look at the polishes, then swivel it back to storing in a narrow space. They retail for like $17.99, but I found mine at Ross for $7.99. There are some on eBay and Amazon. Here are two of them in my armoire (closet for Tried and armoire for Untried):

And in action, sliding out and swiveling:



I figure I would need about 15 racks total for my whole collection, although I haven't counted how many polishes I have for quite a while.
I like this.  I would not know where to put them though.  I may have to get one to put on my desk for my most frequently used ones.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Christa W /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I recently tried out the Swivel Store spice rack for storing polish. I love it! It's not pretty, but it's very practical for me. I'm not looking to display my polish really, just have good storage and easy access while still being able to look at the bottle with a view other than just the top of the caps (that's the reason I didn't want the Helmer or drawers). I can store at least 28 polishes per rack (for OPI and China Glaze size; more for Julep and Zoya sizes) in only 4 inches of horizontal space. The depth is perfect for my closet shelves. I can pull it out and swivel it to look at the polishes, then swivel it back to storing in a narrow space. They retail for like $17.99, but I found mine at Ross for $7.99. There are some on eBay and Amazon. Here are two of them in my armoire (closet for Tried and armoire for Untried):

And in action, sliding out and swiveling:



I figure I would need about 15 racks total for my whole collection, although I haven't counted how many polishes I have for quite a while.
I like this.  I would not know where to put them though.  I may have to get one to put on my desk for my most frequently used ones.

Yes, you need to put them on a very stable surface; a sturdy shelf, table, desk, maybe a dresser or bedside table. They are not terribly sturdy. They won't easily break, either, don't worry. But they definitely need the support of a strong flat surface underneath them. I was easily able to carry them around between my closet and my armoire, so the portability is pretty good, too. I don't think I would carry them in the car, though.

I like that they will fit a lot of different bottle sizes and shapes. Juleps and Butter Londons were no problem. I'm not sure yet how I want to do it, but I want to have swatch sticks incorporated, too. I just recently started on swatch sticks. (Every time I say 'swatch sticks', my brother laughs because it sounds like 'swastikas' to him because it's a completely foreign term to him.)

 


Hey.This is my first post here. As you can see I love nail polish. There are about 500 polishes in this picture.

The shelf is expand a shelf from container store. It was about $15.

The tiered stand is from Michael's. I got them only black friday for $15 each. Normally $36. Its from the same collections as the melmer. 

 
Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Quote: Originally Posted by Christa W /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I recently tried out the Swivel Store spice rack for storing polish. I love it! It's not pretty, but it's very practical for me. I'm not looking to display my polish really, just have good storage and easy access while still being able to look at the bottle with a view other than just the top of the caps (that's the reason I didn't want the Helmer or drawers). I can store at least 28 polishes per rack (for OPI and China Glaze size; more for Julep and Zoya sizes) in only 4 inches of horizontal space. The depth is perfect for my closet shelves. I can pull it out and swivel it to look at the polishes, then swivel it back to storing in a narrow space. They retail for like $17.99, but I found mine at Ross for $7.99. There are some on eBay and Amazon. Here are two of them in my armoire (closet for Tried and armoire for Untried):

And in action, sliding out and swiveling:



I figure I would need about 15 racks total for my whole collection, although I haven't counted how many polishes I have for quite a while.
I like this.  I would not know where to put them though.  I may have to get one to put on my desk for my most frequently used ones.

Yes, you need to put them on a very stable surface; a sturdy shelf, table, desk, maybe a dresser or bedside table. They are not terribly sturdy. They won't easily break, either, don't worry. But they definitely need the support of a strong flat surface underneath them. I was easily able to carry them around between my closet and my armoire, so the portability is pretty good, too. I don't think I would carry them in the car, though.

I like that they will fit a lot of different bottle sizes and shapes. Juleps and Butter Londons were no problem. I'm not sure yet how I want to do it, but I want to have swatch sticks incorporated, too. I just recently started on swatch sticks. (Every time I say 'swatch sticks', my brother laughs because it sounds like 'swastikas' to him because it's a completely foreign term to him.)


Yay! I found a ton of these at Big Lots for $5.00 each. Yeah, I bought 12. My husband laughed. I didn't tell him that I still don't think they are going to fit all my polish.
icon_redface.gif
 I've filled up 11 so far, including the 2 I had bought before the Big Lots trip. That is without organizing, though, just putting polish in. I think I can fit the most if I organize by brand/bottle shape. I am used to organizing by color, though. I think I want to somehow hang the swatch sticks on the outside; not sure if it will be practical.

A couple days ago I told myself that I was done buying polish for a while, and I didn't feel bad about it. Then llarowe.com had a 30% coupon for one day on certain brands...then I had Extra Bucks at CVS and they had new polishes displayed...then TJ Maxx had some very appealing Sephora by OPI shades...
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Quote: Originally Posted by climb2thesky /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 

Hey.This is my first post here. As you can see I love nail polish. There are about 500 polishes in this picture.

The shelf is expand a shelf from container store. It was about $15.

The tiered stand is from Michael's. I got them only black friday for $15 each. Normally $36. Its from the same collections as the melmer. 
Welcome to the party! You have a very nice collection. I like the look of the tiered stands.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Yay! I found a ton of these at Big Lots for $5.00 each. Yeah, I bought 12. My husband laughed. I didn't tell him that I still don't think they are going to fit all my polish.
icon_redface.gif
 I've filled up 11 so far, including the 2 I had bought before the Big Lots trip. That is without organizing, though, just putting polish in. I think I can fit the most if I organize by brand/bottle shape. I am used to organizing by color, though. I think I want to somehow hang the swatch sticks on the outside; not sure if it will be practical.

A couple days ago I told myself that I was done buying polish for a while, and I didn't feel bad about it. Then llarowe.com had a 30% coupon for one day on certain brands...then I had Extra Bucks at CVS and they had new polishes displayed...then TJ Maxx had some very appealing Sephora by OPI shades...
eek.gif
w00t.gif
wub.gif
2.gif

Do any of you guys know how many Julep polishes will fit on here? I have a lottt of Julep polishes! Thanks!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I recently tried out the Swivel Store spice rack for storing polish. I love it! It's not pretty, but it's very practical for me. I'm not looking to display my polish really, just have good storage and easy access while still being able to look at the bottle with a view other than just the top of the caps (that's the reason I didn't want the Helmer or drawers). I can store at least 28 polishes per rack (for OPI and China Glaze size; more for Julep and Zoya sizes) in only 4 inches of horizontal space. The depth is perfect for my closet shelves. I can pull it out and swivel it to look at the polishes, then swivel it back to storing in a narrow space. They retail for like $17.99, but I found mine at Ross for $7.99. There are some on eBay and Amazon. Here are two of them in my armoire (closet for Tried and armoire for Untried):

And in action, sliding out and swiveling:



I figure I would need about 15 racks total for my whole collection, although I haven't counted how many polishes I have for quite a while.
Do you think you could estimate how many Julep polishes would fit in there? Thanks!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Alley Victoria /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I recently tried out the Swivel Store spice rack for storing polish. I love it! It's not pretty, but it's very practical for me. I'm not looking to display my polish really, just have good storage and easy access while still being able to look at the bottle with a view other than just the top of the caps (that's the reason I didn't want the Helmer or drawers). I can store at least 28 polishes per rack (for OPI and China Glaze size; more for Julep and Zoya sizes) in only 4 inches of horizontal space. The depth is perfect for my closet shelves. I can pull it out and swivel it to look at the polishes, then swivel it back to storing in a narrow space. They retail for like $17.99, but I found mine at Ross for $7.99. There are some on eBay and Amazon. Here are two of them in my armoire (closet for Tried and armoire for Untried):

And in action, sliding out and swiveling:



I figure I would need about 15 racks total for my whole collection, although I haven't counted how many polishes I have for quite a while.
Do you think you could estimate how many Julep polishes would fit in there? Thanks!

It would fit a lot of Julep polishes. I would think 64 or more.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by sleepykat /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  It would fit a lot of Julep polishes. I would think 64 or more.
Awesome! Thanks so much!!

 
I have gotten a ton of polish since I first posted here.  I think my collection is nearly doubled to over 810 and counting.  I am definitely going to get the 4 foam racks pictured replaced with acrylic ones when I can stop buying polish and buy them instead.  The left to the far left doesn't have anything on the top or bottom shelves because they are too weak.  It can get a bit warm in my office so I have to be careful of the glue.  I bought a better glue gun but repairs only last so long.  The small rack on the desk is just Hit Polish and then I have baskets for cotton balls, nail wheels, and misc files etc that tend to accumulate.  The entire desk is two small IKEA tables pushed together.  My work desk is in this room too so I use this desk for drawing, polish stuff, kitty beds etc.  I have another drafting table for art as well that's not in use currently.



On another wall under the window I have a 2 drawer unit that is 24"x12"x15" and that holds all my duplicates, older polishes and nail stripers.  Directly across from the computer is my polish creating desk and the rest of my polish.



I have an IKEA table as well that is longer than the other two I have.  In the corner is the matching IKEA end table with my 2 Melmers.  This is where the rest of the polishes are held.  I have the two pink rolling drawers as well holding extra supplies including the cotton balls, qtips, sponges, brushes (and one has nothing but snacks!) etc.  All my stamping stuff is the little pink basket on the table.  Sorry it's such a mess, I am in the process of reorganizing it.  I have a piece of waxed paper and a baggie taped to the table for reverse decals.  I am working on my light box and will have it just to the right of this on another end table.  It's green also so if I need to use my makeshift green screen I just have to move the table and I can photograph on it. 

I hate not seeing all of my polish so I am relying more on my nail wheels to help me choose my colors.  My boyfriend doesn't think my upstairs walls can support the weight and with the rapid growth of my collection it's going to get ridiculous trying to put all of them up.  The garbage can under the table is my extra sales flyers and junk mail I put under my paper towels when I stamp.  Oh and the jug of water is what I use for my water marbling when I find the courage to do it. 

I put another wooden storage shelf under the end table in case I do fill it, not sure of the weight that the table can hold and I wouldn't want it to collapse when a cat was napping underneath it.  For what it's worth I hate the Melmer drawers.  They are not self supporting so I have to hold them up.  The handle is great for me to do that with but it gets annoying FAST!  I didn't put rubber drawer liners in because I read it can eat away at the labels on the bottom of the polish so they all slide forward.  Working on doing something with card stock like seen above but the BF says when we go to IKEA again he will buy me a Helmer and we will use the Melmer for something else.  I got it on Black Friday do both cost me around $32 and fit a need so I am OK with it for now and can always use it to hold miniature or my art supplies later on.

Just kidding.  It's more pictures of how I store my polish.
Top coats, base coats, misc polishes and nail art supplies

All 3 drawers of the bottom Melmer.  As you can see the top 2 are far from full.

Bottom shelf is completely packed.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri almost gets a drawer by themselves.



My vintage and old polishes.
 
Quote: Originally Posted by Christa W /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I hate not seeing all of my polish so I am relying more on my nail wheels to help me choose my colors.  My boyfriend doesn't think my upstairs walls can support the weight and with the rapid growth of my collection it's going to get ridiculous trying to put all of them up.  The garbage can under the table is my extra sales flyers and junk mail I put under my paper towels when I stamp.  Oh and the jug of water is what I use for my water marbling when I find the courage to do it. 
 @Christa W  It is WAY possible to make wooden shelves. My hubby made me 2, and we live in an apartment (so no work space). They were so easy to make that I could have made them if he would have trusted me with his precious tools. We customized them to fit in the space we had. You can also customize how tall and wide they are. They're made out of 1X2's and some trim. If you make them some multiple of 16" wide then you can anchor them directly into the studs of your home and there should be no reason your walls couldn't hold them then. I have about 100 polishes on each unit. They are each held up only by 2 L brackets screwed into the wall. They cost about $30 for the materials for both of them and took an afternoon to make and paint. That's way cheaper than the acrylic ones I was seeing on Amazon, and they hold way more.

 
 @Christa W   It is WAY possible to make wooden shelves. My hubby made me 2, and we live in an apartment (so no work space). They were so easy to make that I could have made them if he would have trusted me with his precious tools. We customized them to fit in the space we had. You can also customize how tall and wide they are. They're made out of 1X2's and some trim. If you make them some multiple of 16" wide then you can anchor them directly into the studs of your home and there should be no reason your walls couldn't hold them then. I have about 100 polishes on each unit. They are each held up only by 2 L brackets screwed into the wall. They cost about $30 for the materials for both of them and took an afternoon to make and paint. That's way cheaper than the acrylic ones I was seeing on Amazon, and they hold way more.
Click to expand...
A couple months ago my boyfriend and I went into Lowes with this exact idea in mind. I love the color of my walls and since it's such a light gray I didn't even want to put a back onto the shelves. I had done some considerable research on it and was eager to have him build me something. We ended up getting in a huge discussion and he got all stressed out. He thought because my upstairs walls were framed with metal studs instead of wood it wouldn't hold right and the cost of L brackets would be high since at the time we were thinking of building to shelf around 600 and it would have been 8' x 4' with around 8 shelves. I told him I could basically make them just like my foam ones in smaller sections like you mentioned and then put them together but he kept trying to be a man and find a better or different solution. I will maybe have to reconsider and do the work myself. He's a sweet guy just super stubborn so I bought the Melmer as a consolation prize LOL! I would LOVE to have either the acrylic racks or a custom shelf along that entire wall. I have a stuffed animal hammock hanging in the corner so I can't go all the way to the other wall but there is a good 16" on the left and another 10" on the right that I could expand which would put it around 8' in length. Thank you for your suggestion and encouragement. I hope that is what we can do but if not and he would rather spend the money and feel less anxious, I am willing to accept that too.
 
Quote: Originally Posted by chrysalis101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
   @Christa W  It is WAY possible to make wooden shelves. My hubby made me 2, and we live in an apartment (so no work space). They were so easy to make that I could have made them if he would have trusted me with his precious tools. We customized them to fit in the space we had. You can also customize how tall and wide they are. They're made out of 1X2's and some trim. If you make them some multiple of 16" wide then you can anchor them directly into the studs of your home and there should be no reason your walls couldn't hold them then. I have about 100 polishes on each unit. They are each held up only by 2 L brackets screwed into the wall. They cost about $30 for the materials for both of them and took an afternoon to make and paint. That's way cheaper than the acrylic ones I was seeing on Amazon, and they hold way more.

This is what I did (pictures somewhere on this thread). I have 2 shelves right now, but need a third desperately.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by wrkreads /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
This is what I did (pictures somewhere on this thread). I have 2 shelves right now, but need a third desperately.
LOL I actually saved those pictures when I was your santa so I could blow it up and look at what you have!!!  I think it's way easier than my other half seems to think.  I just brought it up again and he was like "L brackets alone are $2.00 each"... he's annoying when he gets stuck on an idea.  Drives me nuts.  I always have to prove him wrong or he won't budge so I guess I would have to actually assemble them myself (I have no crafty friends of family near me) and show him instead.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Christa W /img/forum/go_quote.gif
LOL I actually saved those pictures when I was your santa so I could blow it up and look at what you have!!!  I think it's way easier than my other half seems to think.  I just brought it up again and he was like "L brackets alone are $2.00 each"... he's annoying when he gets stuck on an idea.  Drives me nuts.  I always have to prove him wrong or he won't budge so I guess I would have to actually assemble them myself (I have no crafty friends of family near me) and show him instead.

LOL, that's awesome.

I actually didn't use L brackets, I attached hanging loop brackets at the top and just hung on screws. I don't know the name of the brackets thingies I used, so buying them was fun. I went into the hardware store, found an older man working and told him I was looking for "hanger bracket loopy things" while making a picture with my fingers. The young guy standing with him looked uber confused, but the older guy was like "I think I know what you mean", and went and picked them right up. The young guy was utterly amazed. Moral of the story: always look for the older guy in the hardware store.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by wrkreads /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
LOL, that's awesome.

I actually didn't use L brackets, I attached hanging loop brackets at the top and just hung on screws. I don't know the name of the brackets thingies I used, so buying them was fun. I went into the hardware store, found an older man working and told him I was looking for "hanger bracket loopy things" while making a picture with my fingers. The young guy standing with him looked uber confused, but the older guy was like "I think I know what you mean", and went and picked them right up. The young guy was utterly amazed. Moral of the story: always look for the older guy in the hardware store.

LOL!  That's awesome!  I thought about doing that.  Did you only then put them on the top?

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Christa W /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Quote: Originally Posted by wrkreads /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
LOL, that's awesome.

I actually didn't use L brackets, I attached hanging loop brackets at the top and just hung on screws. I don't know the name of the brackets thingies I used, so buying them was fun. I went into the hardware store, found an older man working and told him I was looking for "hanger bracket loopy things" while making a picture with my fingers. The young guy standing with him looked uber confused, but the older guy was like "I think I know what you mean", and went and picked them right up. The young guy was utterly amazed. Moral of the story: always look for the older guy in the hardware store.

LOL!  That's awesome!  I thought about doing that.  Did you only then put them on the top?


Yes, I attached just to the top row. one in each corner. Here's a close up of the one on the purple shelf. The bottom part of the bracket ended up painted.



 

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