Cup it!

I have been diligently working to turn my garage into a studio for my projects for months. As a mother of a very active 4 year old boy, co-owner of an electrical company, part time duck rescuer, Habitat Restore Blogger, it's clear to see that having things quickly accessible for use is a must. Spray paint cans have been my biggest storage with "grab and go capability" that I have been struggling with. If you haven't already gathered, I am a avid spray painter with an inventory and color selection that may rival a small hardware store. Lining them up on a bookshelf wasn't really working (mostly due to the fact that I always end up losing the cap that tells me what the color is), putting them in cardboard 6 pack beer holders took way too much room and still didn't provide me with the ease I was looking for, and the price of a PVC pipe large enough for the can to fit inside is a little absurd, not to mention the fact that it would then have to be cut and mounted which just sounds way too time consuming. I have tried just about every affordable way I could think of or find on Pinterest to no avail, which brings me to my latest midnight brainchild....

I had picked up a sleeve of 20 of these large plastic cups for $.50 back in February from my local Habitat Restore thinking that I may have use for them in the wedding decorations that I was working on for my brother-in-laws upcoming wedding. (needless to say that I did not end up using them for that but) While trying to select a color off the shelf I have caused yet another landslide of spray paint sending cans all over the place and one ended up landing inside of one of these cups. It was at that time I discovered that the bottom of the cup perfectly held the spray paint can and I could lay it on it's side and even stack the cups!

I simply lined the cups up on a scrap piece of plywood and screwed them down using a small wood screw and a washer. These are pretty durable cups that don't crack when you squish them but I figured the washer would help disperse the weight more evenly across the bottom. I then mounted the board to the wall and filled the cups with spray paint cans and found that I could even fit a can in the dead space between each cup. Now I have I can quickly see my color choices and make a selection without the fear of breaking a toe!