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There comes a point in every painter’s journey when the starter box is no longer enough.
The first dozen paints fit comfortably in a small container, and it’s easy to remember every color you own. Then another project introduces a few new shades. You discover metallics, washes, Contrast paints, weathering products, and eventually another manufacturer whose paint range catches your attention. Before long, you’ve accumulated years of colors from Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, Two Thin Coats, and perhaps a few specialty brands besides.
At first, the growing collection feels exciting. Eventually, it becomes something else. Paints disappear behind one another on crowded shelves. Favorite colors become difficult to find. Duplicate purchases happen because you forgot you already owned that particular blue. Even choosing a color scheme becomes harder when most of your collection is hidden from view.
I’ve gradually realized that paint organization has very little to do with keeping a hobby room tidy. It’s about reducing friction. Every minute spent searching for a bottle is a minute spent not painting. Over hundreds of hobby sessions, those small interruptions secretly interfere with your workflow.
The best storage system is the one that helps you spend less time organizing and more time creating. Sometimes that creative process means putting paint on a miniature. Other times it means simply standing in front of your collection, noticing a combination of colors you’ve never paired together before, and imagining what they might become.
My Current Paint Organization
Like many painters, my organization has evolved over time rather than following a master plan.
Most of my Citadel paints live on a bookshelf in labeled plastic containers. Each container represents a color family – reds, blues, greens, metallics, Shades, and Contrast paints – making it reasonably easy to locate the color I’m looking for.
My Vallejo and Army Painter paints currently occupy their own containers. They aren’t yet organized beyond separating them from my Citadel collection, largely because I expect those ranges to continue growing over the next several years.
My complete first edition Two Thin Coats collection sits in a wooden retail display. One of the things I appreciate about that range is how the paints were designed around coordinated shadow, midtone, and highlight triads. Keeping those relationships together makes browsing colors remarkably intuitive.
For whatever miniature happens to be on my desk, I also keep a dedicated project tray. Rather than surrounding myself with every paint I own, I simply gather the bottles needed for the current project. When it’s time to paint, everything is already within reach.
Although this system has served me well, I don’t think it’s the system I’ll be using ten years from now, maybe not even months from now.
Like many painters, my collection continues to evolve, and ultimately my storage and organization needs to evolve with it.
Build a System That Can Grow
One mistake I see in many paint storage discussions is the assumption that your collection will stay roughly the same size. Anyone who has painted for several years knows that simply isn’t true. Every new army, every interesting tutorial, and every manufacturer introduces another handful of colors that eventually find their way into the hobby room.
If you’ve been painting for any length of time, you already know how quickly a few paints become a few hundred. Every new army, every interesting tutorial, and every manufacturer introduces another handful of colors that eventually find their way into the hobby room.
That’s why I think modular storage deserves far more attention than it usually receives.
Rather than purchasing one large rack and hoping it will always be enough, a modular system allows the storage to grow alongside the collection itself. New paint ranges don’t require replacing your entire organization system. They simply become another section of it.
That flexibility is what first caught my attention when I began researching the Plydolex modular paint storage system.
Instead of designing one oversized rack, Plydolex has created individual components that can be combined into a storage system tailored to your workspace. Desktop shelves, dropper bottle holders, paint pot racks, brush storage, drawer units, and accessory organizers all share the same design language, allowing the entire system to expand naturally over time.
I haven’t made the transition myself yet, so I can’t offer long-term impressions. What attracted me to the system is the underlying philosophy. Rather than forcing painters into a single storage solution, it allows the workspace to grow naturally as the collection grows. That’s exactly how most hobbyists build their painting space over time.
- Durability of Plywood – our miniature painting hobby paint rack is made of real plywood, which grants higher longevity than MDF, HDF, chipboard, particle board or any other kind of pressed sawdust for our mini paint organizer, which allows this paint storage rack to keep your Vallejo paints in order and quick access for years and years, even if there is a need to move the art supplies organizer from one place to another.
- Package Details – our wooden paint storage contains a paint bottle shelf, 105 holes of 1 inch. Also our paint brush organizer has 14 holes of 0.1 inch to 0.5 inch and a tray for paintbrush storage. In addition, this paint holder organizer has two craft storage drawers for other miniature paint storage tools and supplies. Also, it has 6 stands for figurines painting. Finally, this organizer for art supplies has a shelf on top for paint bottles incompatible with 1 inch holes – just in case.
- Perfect Solution for Your Desk Space Organizing – this wooden paint organizer puts together all of your paints, brushes, other tools and accessories in order. Our paint stand allows you to have all your miniature paints in order and in quick access with our wooden paint holder organizer, and the 6 figurine stands allow you to hold and display the miniatures in work.
- Convenient Design – our miniature paint holder has 6 plywood rows of holes compatible with 17ml Vallejo, AK Interactive, the Army Painter, Apple Barrel and other similar airbrush dropper paint bottles, a shelf for painting brushes and big paint bottles on top of it, two drawers under the shelves for tube paints and similar painting supplies, and a paintbrush tray in between to keep all you need in order, in quick access and occupying little space to make your hobby more pleasant.
- Easy to Assemble, No Glue Needed – this wooden paint storage organizer with a paint brush holder space goes with a step-by-step manual to set it up. Our paint holder does not need glue to get it together – it has sturdier wooden clamps instead: they forgive mistakes, unlike glue or screws.
One thing worth noting is that this particular module is clearly designed with dropper bottles in mind. If most of your collection consists of Citadel paint pots, you’ll probably want to pair it with one of Plydolex’s dedicated Citadel modules instead. That’s one of the advantages of a modular system – you can choose components that reflect the paint ranges you actually use rather than trying to force everything into a single rack.
- Package Details – PLYDOLEX wooden paint organizer contains a paint brush tray, 24 small holes of 1 inch diameter, 20 medium holes of 1.37 inches, 12 large holes of 1.57 inches and two extra large perforations – these slots give space for 2 fl oz, 10 ml, 12 ml, 17 ml, 18 ml, 24 ml, 59 ml and 60 ml paint bottles for our plywood paint rack. Also our paint holder contains 2 drawers for other tubes or tools you may need and 4 painting stands for your minis.
- Durability of Plywood – our paint bottle and paint brush holder is made of real plywood, which grants higher longevity than MDF, HDF, chipboard, particle board or any other kind of pressed sawdust for our mini paint organizer, which allows this paint storage rack to keep your Citadel paints in order and quick access for years and years, even if there is a need to move the art supplies organizer from one place to another.
- Easy to Assemble, No Glue Needed – this Warhammer 40K compatible wooden paint storage organizer with a paint brush holder space goes with a step-by-step manual to set it up. Our wooden shelf organizer does not need glue to get it together – it has sturdier and more mistake-forgiving wooden clamps instead.
- Lots of Space – our organizer for art supplies has a removable upper holder section, if the bottles do not fit perfectly. If you need a place to store some big bottles, like paint removers, there is a shelf on the back of our wooden rack. Also, this paint station has 2 drawers, one of which has a removable 8-part divider, to keep all your small supplies in place. And, there is a paint brush tray above the drawers, so that the brushes and similar tools and accessories are in quick access.
- Convenient Design – our miniature paint holder is designed to organize your hobby work station by putting your paint bottles, airbrush droppers, brushes, paint removers and any other tools and supplies in simple and strict order, so that your painting process could get easier and more pleasant.
Visibility Encourages Creativity
One lesson I’ve learned is that hidden paints eventually become forgotten paints.
I’ve purchased duplicate bottles because I forgot I already owned them. More often, I’ve found myself reaching for the same familiar colors simply because they were easiest to remember.
A visible paint collection changes that experience entirely.
Walking past a display filled with organized paints naturally encourages experimentation. A color you haven’t used in months suddenly catches your eye. An unusual combination suggests itself without planning. Instead of relying on memory, your entire collection becomes part of the creative process.
For me, that’s one of the strongest arguments for open shelving. Dust eventually settles on every hobby desk. Forgotten colors are much harder to rediscover.
Organizing by Paint Range
If I were beginning my collection again today, I wouldn’t organize everything strictly by color.
I’d organize first by manufacturer and paint range, then by color family.
Modern paint lines are increasingly designed as complete systems. Two Thin Coats was intentionally developed around triads. Army Painter Fanatic groups colors that naturally work together. Vallejo’s ranges follow similar logic. Preserving those relationships makes it easier to build recipes and compare neighboring colors without searching across several different storage containers.
Within each range, I’d still separate paints into familiar color families, but allowing each manufacturer’s system to remain intact makes the entire collection feel more intuitive.
As my older Citadel paints gradually reach the end of their lives, I expect more of my collection to move toward dropper bottles. I’ll continue buying Citadel whenever they produce a unique color I love, but the convenience and longevity of dropper bottles make them an increasingly attractive choice for everyday painting.
Every Project Deserves Its Own Workspace
Permanent storage is only one part of organization.
Once I decide what I’m painting, those paints leave the shelf and move into a dedicated project tray alongside the miniature, brushes, basing materials, and anything else required for that build.
Before long, the tray becomes a physical home for the project itself. Everything associated with that miniature stays together, making it easy to sit down and begin painting without spending the first ten minutes gathering supplies.
When I sit down to paint, everything is already prepared. When the session ends, the tray returns to the shelf until inspiration strikes again.
It’s a remarkably simple habit, but it eliminates dozens of small interruptions that would otherwise accumulate throughout every hobby session.
Since the original Citadel Project Box is no longer available, a project tray like the Pixiss Model Paint Tray offers a similar approach. It’s large enough to hold paints, brushes, and the miniature itself, making it easy to move an entire project from shelf to desk – or even to a friend’s house or your local game store.
- 🎨 HOLDS 60 ROUND BOTTLES – Works with miniature paints, Vallejo Paints, Army Painter Paints and other popular brands. Your personal paint station. (Paint Not Included)
- 🎨 PAINT RACK – The Pixiss model acrylic paint storage case is the perfect place to store all your craft and hobby paints. It includes 60 slots to hold up to 60 bottles in 5ml through 17ml sizes. Perfectly holds 0.5oz bottles of paint, ink, glitter glues and more.
- 🎨 PAINT HOLDER TRAY- The foam insert paint stand keeps all of your model paints safe and secure in place when transporting them in this model paint holder.
- 🎨 MINIATURE PAINTING BRUSHES – Extra fine detail paint brushes are fit for watercolor, acrylic, oil paints, etc. The set comes with 6 different sizes of brush (4#, 2#, 1#, 0#, 00#, 000#) and 4 different dimensions of length are 19, 18.8, 18.5, 18cm (7.48”,7.4”,7.3”,7.1”). Easy to distinguish and use.
- 🎨 CRAFT PAINT STORAGE – The case and model paint organizer holds an entire model paint kit plus more. Up to 60 bottles.
Recommended Plydolex Components
One of the reasons the Plydolex system appeals to me is that it allows painters to buy only what they need today while leaving room for tomorrow’s collection.
If I were building a hobby space from scratch, these are the components I’d begin with:
- Desktop Paint Rack — Keeps frequently used paints visible and within easy reach.
- Dropper Bottle Module — Ideal for Vallejo, Army Painter, AK Interactive, and other dropper-style paints.
- Citadel Paint Module — Designed around Games Workshop’s paint pots while they’re still part of your collection.
- Brush and Tool Organizer — Keeps hobby knives, sculpting tools, brushes, files, and other essentials together.
One feature I particularly appreciate is that none of these modules feel like isolated purchases. They become part of a larger system that can continue growing as your hobby evolves. I invite you to go check out their store on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
A well-organized paint collection does far more than keep bottles off the desk. It creates a workspace that encourages creative flow, reduces unnecessary interruptions, and makes it easier to return to the hobby whenever inspiration strikes.
Every improvement that helps you find a color more quickly, remember a forgotten bottle, or begin painting with less preparation removes another small obstacle between inspiration and action.
No storage rack will improve your brush control or teach you to blend highlights. What it can do is make painting feel more inviting, and over the course of hundreds of hobby sessions, those small improvements have a remarkable way of adding up.
Every improvement that helps you find a color more quickly, remember a forgotten bottle, or begin painting with less preparation removes another small obstacle between inspiration and action.
No storage rack will make someone a better painter.
A thoughtfully designed workspace, however, can make it much easier to become one.
