Nail Polish Storage Guide | The Ultimate Guide

With the new year on our doorsteps, many people take the opportunity to do a bit of a cleanup, to start the year fresh and organised. One common question that I see being asked is how do people organise and store their nail polish? There are quite a few different methods that you can use which depending on your own circumstances each can have varying pros and cons. So I’ve created this ultimate nail polish storage guide to hopefully inspire you on methods to store your polish collection.

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Nail Polish Storage Guide

Before I get into detailed options lets do a quick overview. For this post, I will focus on nail polish storage and touch a little on accessories. However, for those of you who also enjoy nail stamping, I will release a second post just focusing stamping plates and accessories. So stay tuned for that.

I’ve tried to include as many ideas that I could think of. However, there could be more out there. If you think of any please comment them below. Not all ideas will work for everyone. As with any storage system you will need to work out what suits your situation and style. For some like myself, you may be limited by your living arrangements where you’re unable to attached shelves to the wall.

The main options for nail polish storage include:

• Shelves attached to the wall
• Display Cabinets/Shelves (this one is great if you’re renting)
• Drawers
• Boxes

I’ll explore each in depth below and cover a little on the pros and cons.

I hope you find this helpful!

Wall Storage

This is probably one of the preferred methods to store nail polish as it takes up less room and can look really cool. This storage method involves attaching narrow shelves that are wide enough for nail polish, to a free wall. Quite often this is used when people have a dedicated nail art room or spare wall in a study.

There are a lot of pre-built options or you could get something custom made.

One really popular option is this metal circular frame decorated with a tree. The storage looks beautiful and adds such a nice character to the room. Some people have put two or three of these shelves on the wall. The only downside is that you wouldn’t be able to fit as many polishes as a square-shaped shelf.

If you’re looking for something larger a square-shaped shelf may suit better.

As noted above you could also get something custom made, similar to what Simply Nailogical created.

Pros:

• Can be cheap
• Doesn’t take up too much room
• Able to see all polishes to easily select your preferred shade

Cons:

• Have to drill holes in the wall. If your renting or don’t have suitable walls this might not be an option
• Can be expensive especially if they are custom made
• Difficult to move around the room if you wish to redecorate

Display Shelves and bookcases

This is the option that I have opted for as I can move it around the room and I don’t have to attach anything to the wall.

In the early days when I was beginning to build a collection, I started with a four-tier acrylic shelf that I stored in a small bookshelf. I’ve since upgraded to 3 acrylic shelves each with 6 tiers, similar to this style:

The shelves are then stored in an Ikea Kalax 4×1 unit. I use the fourth space to store some of my accessories.

(Yes there is lego on the top, in case you were wondering)

Other options could include a narrow bookcase where you insert a small shelf or piece of wood at the back so that you can create two visible rows of polish.

Pros

• Easy to move
• Don’t have to screw anything into the wall
• Can store a lot of polish and see each polish easily

Con’s

• Takes up a lot of room
• Can be costly
• There is a bit of wasted space from underneath the shelf

Drawers

Another popular option is the Helmer Drawer from Ikea. This drawer is set on caster wheels making it easy to move around as needed. Similar to the display shelves it also has the advantage of not needing to be screwed into the wall making it a great option for renters. The size of the Helmer is perfect for nail polish storage which is why so many people recommend it.

A similar option is this tall storage unit which is also on wheels and easy to move around

Pros:

• Moveable
• Doesn’t take up too much room
• Affordable

Cons:

• Can’t easily see the colours
• Can be an awkward shape meaning space is waste

Boxes

The last of the polish storage options is the humble box! For me, this was my storage solution before I really heavily became involved in nail art and started to purchase more polishes. This can be a great way to store a small collection. Or if you are limited on space you should show some polishes on display and others can remain in a box.

There are two main options. Firstly the basic storage box. I recommend short boxes so that you can create a single neat layer of polish.

The other option is specialised storage boxes. These are great and a really efficient way to store your polish. However, take care if you have a lot of tall nail polish bottles as they may not fit so you may need a different box for the taller bottles.

Pros:

• Efficient storage
• Often boxes are clear making it easy to find colours
• Good for transporting

Cons:

• May not fit tall or odd-shaped bottles
• Can be hard to see the polishes in the middle
• Some boxes don’t stack well making it hard to keep things looking neat

Nail Polish Storage Guide for Accessories

I currently storage my accessories using two different methods. For smaller items, they are either stored in a small box or a Carry case/toolbox like this one here:

For large items like my stamping plates, makeup up remover cotton pads and other large items I keep these in the bottom of my storage unit (see the picture under display shelves and bookcases).

I find the toolbox to be great for storing brushes, stickers, practice wheels and other small items. I love using the small box for glitters and stampers.

In Summary

I hope you found this post useful and hopefully it gave you some ideas to create the ultimate nail storage solution for you!

One thing I didn’t mention is if I sort my polishes by brand or colour. Personally, I prefer sorting my polishes by brand. Let me know in the comments what your preference is.