I've never done a post about how my collection is organized and stored, but I just bought my 2nd Ikea Helmer and figured I would share some pictures. I have my polishes sorted by color, because I usually have some vague idea of what color I'd like to wear next. Like, I'll be in the mood for a purple. My 12 Helmer drawers are: red, orange/yellow, green, green/blue, blue, purple, purple/gray/taupe/white/black, pink, metallics, multi-colored glitters, Lynnderellas, untrieds. Within each color drawer, I have brands grouped together. At the front of each drawer is OPI, NOPI, and SOPI (simply because I have the most of those usually). Then the orders change depending on the color, but usually next is China Glaze, Zoya, or Essie. Then drugstore brands like Sally Hansen, then indies and random HE brands. The first picture is my red drawer, I was happy to see I have room to grow in that drawer with about 45 reds.
Above is my orange/yellow drawer. I have about 43 oranges and 18 yellows. I say about because I was counting pretty roughly and I was also arranging things after taking these pictures, so I may actually have more!
This is my precious green drawer. As you can see, it's pretty full with 80 greens, so I do have an empty drawer (not pictured) that will be green/blue overflow when that is needed. Below is my also pretty full blue drawer (84 blues). I'll be needing that overflow drawer soon!
Next up is purple and I was not surprised to find out I have more purples than any other color, although not by much. I have 85 purples (pretty close to blue). Not much room here either!
This next drawer will be overflow for purple soon, and also contains grays, taupes, browns, blacks, and whites. I have about 37 of these. I added several more to this drawer after taking these pictures, so it might be closer to 40.
Next up is the pink drawer, with 65 polishes. This drawer probably needs a purge, as I rarely wear pink. I basically refuse to ever give it a second drawer.
Then we have one of my favorite drawers, the metallic drawer! This includes golds, silvers, coppers, etc. This drawer also has glitters that are obviously one metallic color (i.e. a silver glitter in a clear base). I have about 65 metallics. Golds and coppers went at the front, silvers at the back. I tend to wear the warmer metallics more often.
Now we have a pretty small drawer, but I think it'll keep filling up. This is the multi-colored glitter drawer. This drawer is for glitters that have too many colors for me to figure out where to put them. Some of these are indies, others are RBL, Wet n Wild, etc. I counted 31 here, but then I think I added more after counting. We'll go with 31!
Next we have my Lynnderella drawer. Don't hate, it's my Helmer, and I wanted them to have their own drawer. The front section is organized by color, starting with red. Behind the makeshift divider are Lynnderellas I haven't tried yet.
The 12th drawer is my untrieds drawer and it was a bit messy looking, so I just didn't feel like taking a picture. I have 34 polishes in there, but I also have some various nail art supplies that I haven't posted on the blog yet and some polish stickers/appliques.
My neutrals, some pale pinks and pale grays all reside in a separate box in my mom's room. There are probably about 50 in that box. I'll have to take pictures of that some day! So all in all, I have something like 690 polishes. Not too bad, I was assuming it was almost 700, so I was right on the money! Let me know if you see any polish in this box that you haven't seen on here and want swatched!
I'm really impressed with your level of organization! I'm surprised enough that I've manged to sort my drawers by vague colour groups, but I'm always still searching for the specific bottle I want. Definitely need a more detailed system like yours!
ReplyDeleteYour stash looks great! I have mine done by brand right now, but I love the idea of doing it by color. I may try that.
ReplyDeleteIt took all day to get them like this Elizabeth, but I can already tell it'll be worth it. I went looking for OPI Stay the Night after organizing and found it in about 2 seconds!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sasha! I do love having them by color, and now it's also nice to have them by color and brand!
I have my Helmer organized by color as well and I LOVE IT!! I have one dedicated to untrieds, Lynn's, Blues, Purples & Greens (SO FULL), Orange/Yellow/Pink/Red & lastly, Metallics & Neutrals(with my multi glitters tossed in for good luck, ha!). Then on top I have a box with all my stamping plates & nail art tools! Definitely craving a second Helmer, lol!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love seeing stash shots :) I have mine organized by brand but it would be nice to see how many of each color I have.
ReplyDeleteSo jealous of you lynns. I live outside of America so Can not get them anymore :(
ReplyDeleteIsn't it fun to have it by color Angie? They all look so pretty together! I'm so glad I finally got my 2nd Helmer, sounds like you need one too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! I've never counted by color until now, it was pretty interesting! I would not have guessed that I had so many blues! :)
Where do you live Lisa? She's starting to ship to some international locations. You should ask Paul in the eBay store about it!