By removing some kitchen cabinets I was able to open up my kitchen a bit. The cabinets were in use but not in a good way. They were full of junk, things that needed to be put away and things that we did use but were buried under the things that needed to be put away. It was a mess.

A lot of the items that we did use were art supplies for my kids. Some of these items went in the drawers under the new banquettte bench and some waited for a new home.

I’d been eyeing the IKEA Raskog cart for some time….

I’m not sure if it is the wheels, the industrial look or the colors I like more. Regardless I knew it would someday, somehow find its’ way into my home. I’ve seen it used for kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, craft rooms and everywhere in between. With a couple containers it could be the perfect art cart for our kitchen. 

First it needed to be assembled. From start to finish the entire cart was put together by my five year old and eight year old, after the mandatory bubble wrap popping. 

It is extremely sturdy and each shelf is the perfect height from the one below it. Some carts you find like this are crammed too close together with no room to fit much of anything. It is a heavy metal and not flismy at all.

In order to create some organization I purchased the small buckets from the dollar section at Target. I’ve used these buckets for party favors before and at one dollar each they are great for corralling and organizing and gifting. They come in all sorts of patterns and colors, including seasonal designs. I bought the simple striped ones and removed the handles. Twelve buckets fit perfectly on one shelf of the cart.

The top shelf holds crayons, colored pencils, scissors, pencils, glue sticks, markers, erasers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, dot markers and pens. The second shelf holds some stencils, stickers and drawing paper. The third row has coloring books.

I could have purchased the fun turquoise color but I figured the items in the cart were colorful enough! It is kept in the kitchen where it can be wheeled to the table for homework or to color. We’ve been using it for about two months now and it is staying very organized. My kids are keeping the crayons with the crayons and the markers with the markers! If they want to just color with colored pencils they can take that bucket straight to the table as well. The wheels make it fun to wheel to the table or onto the three season porch. It is used everyday and I think they are coloring and drawing more now that their art supplies are right in front of them.