Feeling overwhelmed with all your nail care supplies? Do you struggle to find the right color and nail care supplies when needed? Small things can quickly become obstacles for many when organizing their homes. We tend to manage these items last because of the overwhelming feeling of the massive number of small things. But really, they should be the first. This post will give you some fantastic nail supplies organization tips. Follow along and explore the various products and hacks available to enhance your self-care routine (Affiliate Link) and make it more enjoyable and relaxing.
Jump to:
- Let's Organize the Small Things
- Benefits for organizing small things first, like these nail supplies.
- Do this before organizing nail supplies.
- Nail Supplies Organization Hacks
- Place cleaning your nail products in the same area.
- Place all nail treatment items together.
- Gather Bottles of Nail Polish and Place Them in a Container in a Bathroom Cabinet or Drawer.
- Maximizing Your Nail Supplies Organization in a Small Home
- Repurpose Organizing Products
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (Affiliate Link), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
Let's Organize the Small Things
I have a series called "Organizing Small Things" that helps you organize small things. You can see the complete list of organizing small items here. This includes all the little things in your home that lay in drawers, desks, cabinets, closets, bathrooms, etc.
Benefits for organizing small things first, like these nail supplies.
There are many direct and indirect benefits to organizing small things; below are just some of them.
- It will take less time to do those little projects.
- It saves you money because these are small items. You are more likely to go out and buy a new one instead of looking for the ones you have.
- It makes you feel happy when you look for something and find it immediately.
Do this before organizing nail supplies.
Now, it is time to remember that before you organize your supplies, clear out any dried nail polishes, files used, or creams that are dried up or finished. Remember, decluttering is essential and will save you money when looking for the proper nail supply organizer (Affiliate Link) to hold everything. Below are some questions to ask yourself to reduce regret when purging supplies.
- Do I still love this color/product?
- Is it expired or dried out?
- Do I have multiples of the same shade?
- Are any nail tools (Affiliate Link) broken or damaged beyond repair?
Be ruthless with yourself. A smaller, well-loved collection is much easier to manage than a massive one.
Nail Supplies Organization Hacks
Now, on to organizing nail care supplies. I am not just talking about nail polish. Taking care of yourself doesn't just mean eating healthy and staying fit. It also means taking care of those smaller daily/weekly tasks, what I call "Taking Care Of The Details." Even if you have super long nails and never cut or file them, you must care for them to keep them healthy. Below are tips on organizing your nail supplies.
Place cleaning your nail products in the same area.
Have one place for your clippers. If you have toenail clippers and nail clippers, put them together. Determine an area where you can put your clippers/nail files. If you share them with your family members, ensure it is a location that works for everyone. Common areas are in a bathroom mirror or a bathroom sink drawer. Below is a list of items that could be added to this area.
- hand moisturizer
- cuticle remover
- nail files
- cuticle oils
- hand soap that you may use for soaking your hands
- bowl
- buffers
- clippers
- nippers
- Nail polish remover
- cotton balls/pads
Below are to-go bags that store everything from nail care products to nail polish. I particularly like them because I like to do my nails in different rooms of my home.
Nail Polish To Go Organizer - Holds 12 Bottles (15ml)
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Buy Now → (Affiliate Link)
Place all nail treatment items together.
These nail treatment items are usually used before you add the polish—base coats, strengtheners, cuticle oils, and growth serums. Some people apply these items right after they clean their nails, so keeping them separate but in the same area as the cleaning products works nicely.
Gather Bottles of Nail Polish and Place Them in a Container in a Bathroom Cabinet or Drawer.
Whether you have a lot or just a little, go through them and weed out the dried-out, unliked, and empty ones. There are many well-designed nail polish organizers on the market now. I prefer the ones that help you see all the nail polishes (gel polishes) in one view. They can either view the side of the bottle or the top of it. They have tiered organizers, drawer insert options, clear acrylic drawer options, and rotating carousel ones(Amazon (Affiliate Link) Affiliate).
Add other products used during the nail polishing phase.
Also, add the top coat polish to this area since it is used after the nail polish. The dotting tools (Affiliate Link), nail art stickers, glitters, rhinestones, striping tape, foil wraps, UV light, and such should also be stored in this area.
Below are nail polish organizer options I found on Amazon (Affiliate Link) (Affiliate).
Nail Polish Holder Organizer Clear Acrylic Nail Polish Tray
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Nail Polish Holder Stackable Drawer Organizer, 3 PCS
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Maximizing Your Nail Supplies Organization in a Small Home
It can be more challenging to organize these items in tiny homes. If you have a small house, you may want to consider wall-mounted organizer products or over-the-door (Affiliate Link) organizers. Below are a few to choose from.
Nail Polish Over The Door Hooks Organizer
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Nail Polish Rack Wall Mount Nail Polish Shelves
Buy Now →(Affiliate Link)
Repurpose Organizing Products
If you want to save money, look around your home for organizer products, bins, and flat trays to help you manage all these items. Small jars, cups, tin cans, and glass cylinders are great for nail care tools (Affiliate Link). Customize them by using permanent colorful markers, Mod Podge (Affiliate Link) glued stickers, or glue some gems to the container.
Ziploc bags also work well for grouping similar nail care supplies, especially flat nail files.
I hope this post helps you organize your nail care supplies and enjoy doing your nails again. Please leave a comment or question below. I would love you to share this on your favorite social media platform. Thanks.
Below are other beauty supply organization posts!
Diane Quintana says
This is a great reminder, Sabrina, that it's the small things that are the biggest source of clutter. Plus, the small things take time to review because there can be lots of them. It's much easier and you make much more visible progress when you're decluttering big things.
I like the way you advise the reader to be ruthless. You must remove things that you know you won't use or that are expired.
This article is packed with great tips!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Thanks, Diane for stopping by and commenting. I really appreciate it.
Janet Schiesl says
Good information. I'm not a nail person, so a lot of this stuff was new to me. I like the looks of the nail polish suitcase. The idea of keeping everything contained and being able to carry it around seems good to me.
Julie Bestry says
What a novel idea for a blog post! My nail supplies amount to having an emory board EVERYWHERE (bathroom, kitchen, purse, work bag, car) for the inevitable broken nail.
But I have clients who have dozens, maybe even hundreds of polishes, and all of the other nail accoutrements. They absolutely need the purging/editing element, and I love the variety of attractive organizing resources you've included.
Linda Samuels says
Grouping all of your nail supplies is so helpful. It's good to distinguish how you will store the supplies based on your available space. If your bathroom doesn't have adequate space to house your tools, then using a container that can be stored elsewhere makes more sense. It also makes the 'nail station' more transportable.
That editing piece is also vital. Often, my clients have nail polish that is dried out or old. In addition, they acquired multiple nail clippers and tools because they've been searching for the 'perfect' one. When they find their favorite, they also keep the ones that don't work well. Again, a ruthless edit will make finding the supplies and organizing them easier.
Sabrina Quairoli says
So true, I totally agree, Linda. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Cathy Borg says
Great tips on nail supply organization! Your advice on decluttering first and organizing small things early rings true. Love the practical container suggestions and how you've broken down the different categories of nail supplies for better organization.
Sabrina Quairoli says
Thanks, Cathy, I really appreciate your comment. =)
Jason B says
This seems like the beginning of a wonderful series. I can't wait to read the next post.
Sabrina says
Thanks Jason, I'm excited about it.
Sabrina says
Good for you, Tuhin! The simplest way is always the easiest to do and maintain. Thanks for commenting.
Rose Mary Griffith says
I have one bottle of polish and remover. Yep, low maintenance that way. But I know exactly who I'm sharing this with on Facebook! She will totally love it!
William Rusho says
I do not have any nail car products, but your recommendations and tips can work for a lot of little things I have. It seems like when I do not organize the little things, it makes a big mess.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Jeri says
Offering a series of posts on organizing small things is such a good idea. My nail care supplies consists of a pair of nail clippers and that's it though. I haven't painted my nails in years and years and years, which is funny because I collect makeup like it's going out of style.
Sabrina says
Thanks for commenting. Makeup will be another small things organizing post. =)
Ken Dowell says
My nail care supplies consist of one thing, a pair of nail clippers. Well maybe two because I have a pair of toe nail clippers. Everytime I can't find them I buy another pair. Eventually that solved the problem because I must have five pairs in my medicine cabinet now.
Sabrina says
Thanks for commenting, Ken.
Erica says
Very nice! I don't use nail polish anymore because I got rid of all my chemical filled cosmetics and it is too expensive to buy all-natural everything. For that reason, I let nail polish go. I can't live without mascara so I kept that. Needless to say, these are great tips for organizing and can be applied to lots of small things that you can easily misplace and lose. I keep all my cosmetics that I use daily in a little bin and it really helps.
Sabrina says
Good for you for clearing out the chemicals in your home. That is awesome! I purchase low toxic nail polish when they go on sale at Whole Foods at the end of the seasons. =) Cosmetics can get out of hand quickly. That's great that you use a bin for them. We have a drawer and it is divided up into sections. My daughter has one side and I have the other. It works well. Thanks for commenting.
Marquita Herald says
Great advice Sabrina! This would have been a really big deal for me a couple of years ago when I was working out "in the world" - wearing suits and attending meeting after meeting. But these days I mostly go without nail polish and my supplies are limited to the absolute basics. My sister on the other hand will absolutely love these tips so I'm forwarding your post to her right now! Thanks for the inspiration.
Sabrina says
Thanks so much, Marquita. I really appreciate you sharing my content.
lenie says
Sabrina, this is a great idea. I know growing up we always had a 'junk' drawer where we tossed everything that had no real place or that we couldn't be bothered putting back where it belonged. Needless to say this was not the most efficient way to organize. I like that magnetized drawer insert - that would save a lot of searching.
Sabrina says
I love the magnetized drawer insert one too. Thanks for commenting.
Phoenicia says
Brilliant idea!
Smaller items need to be stored well as they can easily go missing. I become twitchy when looking for an item and cannot locate it in my home.
My nail varnish bottles were kept in my drawer but after having children, I moved them to a high shelf.
I dream of having a closet/vanity room just for me, a la Carrie in Sex and the City! One day soon...................
Sabrina says
That sounds like a lovely dream. Thanks for commenting.
Susan cooper says
I'm not big into painting my nails. But there is nothing more annoying than digging around trying to find a nail clippers everytime you need it because others dont put them away. I think your organizing system might save alot of headaches and grief. 🙂
Sabrina says
I know what you mean, it drives me crazy when someone doesn't return the clippers. The more people in the house, the more likely the clippers are not returned. Thanks for your comments. =)
Seana Turner says
I'm not much for nail care... I seem to ruin my nails before I even walk out of the salon. But I do have a few items, and I agree that a small project can be very rewarding!
Sabrina says
Thanks for commenting, Seana! Nail care supplies is an instant gratification organizing project. =)
Catarina says
Have, for as long as I can remember, had everything for nail care stored together more or less along the lines you suggest. It works and makes it easy to find what you need swiftly for instance if you need to file a nail. Usually have a nail file in my bag as well, just in case so I don't ruin tights.
Sabrina says
Thanks for mentioning a nail file in a bag! I too have a nail file in my bag. I also like to place one in each car, just in case, my husband or kids need it and I'm not around. =) Thanks for commenting.