Pen and Marker Storage

Long-time penpal Beth asked me how I stored all my pens and markers. Rather than send her an email, I will post here, in case others are interested.

I inherited this handy drawer unit from my daughter. The drawers are 11" wide by 14" deep.

I have labels in the front to help me remember what's in each drawer - as I do tend to move things from time to time. The unlabeled drawer has nibs and ink that get used most often. There is another box of nibs and ink -huge- in an under-the-bed storage unit.

The top drawer is divided - front row, back row. I make my dividers out of card stock and leave them floppy - so that as groups come and go, they can wedge inwards and outwards to accomodate more or fewer.
Right now we are heavy on the silver and white sections and light on the gold. I like that they are flexible.

There is another lid on top of the drawers. I use lids to keep things that I have pulled out and will be using for a few days. Once a project is complete - I put everything back.

Recently, I bought one of those over-the-door shoe hangers and I love it. Mr.Wilson buys large coffees in styrofoam (judgy glare) and brings them home. I have one hard plastic watermelon cup that is the same size and if anyone knows where I can get more of those, I would love to find some. The size of the large red Solo cup - but a harder plastic. The Solo cups do not work.

Sharpies are the only markers that are OK to store point down. All other markers need to be stored flat. Once they are getting pretty dry, then you can stand them on end to get the last bit of ink out of them. You can see that pocket - at about two-o'clock from the doorknob.

Colored pencils are also in these pockets. Glasses, glue, paint brushes. My yellow Mont Blanc pen that was a gift from my daughter - from back in the day when she spent way too much time downtown Chicago.

Don't miss the skeleton in my closet. It is a maquette for a life size paper skeleton that I constructed for a Day of the Dead celebration at the local art museum - back in the day when I did things that were completely nuts and I wish I had taken more photos. Shout out to the people I roped into some of those projects. Sorry.

Here is one more box - a bit larger than a shoe box. I get a lot of nice boxes from wedding invitations. I made dividers - the floppy kind - and most of my gel pens are in this box because I ran out of room in the 6-drawer unit. This box is on a shelf in the closet.

All the ZIGS are in matching boxes - in the closet. I'm allowing one shelf for pens and markers in the closet. And there are two huge under-the-bed storage boxes with stuff I don't use very often. They could easily get dumped on my grandkids some day. Or maybe go to the garage in marked BankerBoxes. I still have too much. But, little by little I am doing the Kon-Mari method of sifting, sorting, and storing in logical fashion. Obviously - if we ask - "Does this spark joy?" The answer is almost always yes. There are a few really nasty cheap pens that I can toss with ease. But most of the time, if it writes, it sparks joy.

Back to the drawer unit: the 5 bottom drawers have mostly markers and pens, stored in lids that nest.

G-Tecs are in the front row. Colors on top and black on the bottom.

There is an empty box in the back - looking for something logical to be assigned to that spot.

I did not intend to do all the drawers - but here they are.

Nibs and ink - if I need something quickly.

Copics are big, so they are just in the drawer. One floppy divider keeps grays in the front. For some reason it is nice to have all the grays together.

Miscellaneous in the back - Tombo in the front. They are long.

Random in the back. Small blacks in the front.

I need to go through and test and pitch some that are dried up. Notice how I am currently putting a date on each pen or marker when it is new. Very helpful for grabbing the fresh ones.

Here is a video of my floppy dividers, in case the still shots do not make sense.

Now that I have discovered how easy it is to upload videos, I will probably be doing more. 

I might even talk. The thought of listening to me rant in person scares even me.