Earlier this year I noticed some of my artist friends talking about their craft carts and sharing photos. I was so intrigued! What was a craft cart? How did others use them? Did I need one? (Short answer: Yes, yes I did!)
So You're Thinking About Buying a Cart
I thought I'd share some of my research and questions I used when starting to think about buying a craft cart. (By the way, this is not a sponsored post of any kind; I don't get any compensation--even a thank you--for anything I mention here!)
- Art teachers or volunteers in schools often use them to move from classroom to classroom. (See Tales from the Traveling Art Teacher and Teaching Art From a Cart for ideas)
- Nursing homes and hospitals also use them. It's a great way to bring crafting materials to those who can't easily go to a classroom.
- Museums use them to offer activities related to current exhibits.
- Craft carts are very popular with parents. It's easy to move a cart to the kitchen table for the afternoon and then tuck it away before dinner. Plus, it lets parents curate the crafting materials to those that children can safely use on their own. (If you put glitter on your craft cart, don't complain when the dog starts to sparkle when he moves!) Tinker Lab offers suggestions on how to set up an art cart for kids.
- They work well for small spaces and even let artists more easily work outside as the Dreamist mentions in her blog.
- Artists who work in multiple techniques use them to keep their supplies separated and tidy. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer shares 4 different art carts she has in her studio.
Cart Types and Features
- Open tray storage
I agree with this post Craft Carts ... Why Are We So Obsessed? that at least part of the appeal is that many crafters are visual people. Storage that lets you see all your supplies is ideal. This can help you keep your craft supplies under control, as you will be less likely to buy multiples of items you already own.
This type of metal cart with three trays seems to be the most common. (Frankly, this is what I picture when someone says the words "art cart." Some of the other rolling storage units may labeled as carts, but I'm not entirely convinced they are!) Pictured: IKEA's Raskog Utility Cart - Drawers
Some rolling storage does have drawers if you prefer to have items tucked out of sight. Craft Room Storage Ideas shows several examples of how to use drawers. (Note how nicely all the drawers are labeled for her Cricut supplies!) - A Mix of Drawers, Trays, and Other Spaces
Interestingly, it seems fairly common to have a cart will all drawers or all trays; it's rare to have them both. Pictured: Wrapping Paper Storage and Rolling Craft Cart - Built-in (or Removable) Hooks, Baskets, Extra Storage
Some carts may come with additional storage or organizational features such as hooks or baskets. If it doesn't, but your cart is made of metal, you might be able to stick your own magnetic hooks to it. Some crafters go the extra mile like Emmely at Infectious Stitches who added pegboards to her IKEA cart so she could store her rulers and scissors. Pictured: Gramercy Rolling Cart by Simply Tidy - Construction Material
Carts may be metal, wood, plastic, or a combination. The material will affect how heavy the cart is when it's empty, but also how long it might last and how it might fit into your life. If the cart is going to be sitting out in your living room you might have different standards for what it looks like than if it's something you're planning on stashing in a closet. - Weight
You'll want a cart that isn't so heavy that you can't move it when it's empty. (That shouldn't be an issue with most carts sold for crafting, but some of those sold in hardware stores can be quite substantial.) You'll also want to check the weight that each tray or drawer can hold. A cart that will work for holding your yarn stash might not be the same one that works for your metalworking tools. - Colors
Prefer neutrals, brights, pastels? It's probably out there! If not, you may be able to modify the one you bought (see Spray Painted Rolling Storage Cart DIY for inspiration). Pictured: 10-Drawer Rolling Cart by Simply Tidy. - Wheels In my mind, wheels are essential to a cart. Otherwise, isn't it a different piece of furniture (a dresser, a cabinet, a bookshelf)? The wheels most commonly used seem to be castor wheels which are the kind that spin around and can move in different directions. The wheels may have a locking function, which could be handy if you're using this cart with kids.
- Size
Consider the height of the cart, as well as the size of the trays or drawers. Measure any supplies that you know you want to store. The unhappy customer reviews I saw mainly dealt with carts that were not the right size for the materials (particularly large scrapbook paper) they wanted to store. - Cost
You'll find a huge range from around $30 to $500 or more. Carts often go on sale or can be purchased with a coupon, so it pays to shop around.
Organization Tips
There seem to be a few variations on how crafters and artists organize their carts. At the macro level, you might store every craft material you own on a single cart (often the case with carts for kids) or you might sort by material (all paints on one cart or on a single tray) or by project/technique. A Look Inside My Circuit Craft Cart is a great example of a cart focused on a single technique. My Craft Room Tour includes 2 focused craft carts: one for screen printing and one for her Cricuit Easy Press machine. (Note how she's added a power strip to one so she can easily plug in her machine as needed.)
The open trays on carts are often further organized using baskets, mason jars, and boxes, with plenty of labels to go around. Here are a few blog posts with different organizational ideas:
- The Art Cart (kids)
- Organized Craft Cart (kids)
- 10 Ways to Organize Your Rolling Cart
- What's in My 3-Tier Cart
Where to Buy
The short answer: practically everywhere! Seriously, all the large art and craft stores carry some kind of utility cart, plus organization stores such as The Container Store, office supply stores, hardware stores, kitchen & bath stores, and general-purpose stores like Target. They might not be marketed specifically for crafts, but for home offices, bathrooms, kitchens, or other uses, so be sure to look around. IKEA carries one (the Raskog utility cart) that seems particularly popular among crafters. (Read A Love Letter to Rskog The Turquoise Kitchen Cart to see an example of this devotion.) Search for 3-tier cart, storage cart, utility cart, rolling cart or other descriptive phrases to find them all.
My First Cart
My goal for this cart is to wheel jewelry making supplies from the unfinished part of the basement to the finished part, particularly in the winter when it's quite cold and I want to work in a warmer place. I have no plans to permanently store anything on this cart; I'll just pull out boxes or supplies as needed.
I bought this cart by ADOVEL on sale at Amazon (around $45). What drew me to this cart was the side panel with magnetic hooks and baskets because I felt nervous that 3 trays alone wouldn't be enough space. Although I still haven't quite figured out what to do with all the hooks and baskets so far, I have enjoyed using the hooks for my scissors and resting my jewelry making pliers on the edge of a wire basket. It makes the tools easy to grab--and much less likely that I'll sit on any tools in the future, which sometimes happened when I just piled materials on the sofa! I do like that I can move all the hooks and baskets independently on the side panel.
One nice surprise was the amount of space between trays. I actually had room to put my sketchbook in the middle tray. The top tray shows one of my many project containers. It measures 11 inches square to give you an idea of space.
This cart like most carts has ventilated trays. While the size of the holes wouldn't be a concern for other crafters, with all the tiny jewelry parts I use, I knew that any open hole in a storage unit is just begging for trouble. My cheap and quick solution was to cut colorful cereal boxes to line the bottoms of the trays. I wanted something recyclable that I could replace on a whim and these do the trick. I could cover these pieces of cardboard with contact paper if I wanted to be fancy.
The wheels on the cart have a little trouble moving over thick carpet; they seem a little smaller than those on other carts of similar size. (In the photo, the cart wheels are the white ones on the left.) Also, while the frame is metal, the trays are plastic. It was a surprise that they weren't metal (I didn't read the product description that closely), but it's not a dealbreaker for me.
The cart was easy to put together. For some reason I didn't realize that it would require assembly (I was shocked at how small the box was when it arrived!), but looking around afterwards at other carts, I'd guess that most, if not all, carts will need to be put together.
My Second Cart
Of course no more than a week after my first cart arrived ... I bought a second. (Didn't see that coming, did you?)
I'd been thinking that I wanted a metal cart to store my paints. I've been storing my paints on my work bench and under another table where I did most of my painting. It wasn't ideal in many ways. I could never remember which colors I had and ended up buying duplicates and when I did want to paint, rather than pull out everything, I'd try to guess what colors I might need, which sometimes meant frantically looking for another color mid-painting.
I thought I'd wait awhile before buying another cart, but when Jo-Ann had this one by Memory Keepers on sale for half off plus free shipping (a grand total of $30), how could I resist?
I held out for a mere 24 hours before ordering.
Forget crafting. Apparently my new pandemic hobby is buying and assembling carts!