7/27/2004: This is the current arrangement in my bathroom. Most of my makeup is stored in the etagere (over-the-toilet) cabinet. I have organized my cabinets using the Eldon Shelf Savers system. I discovered this system when I was in charge of the supply ordering and storage for a large statewide organization, and decided that it would also be perfect for home!

The Shelf Savers are a modular cube system. They make several different roughly 6-inch cubes that clip together and can be stacked easily. They have plain cubes, double cubes, cubes with shelves, cubes with X-shaped dividers, and cubes with drawers. They run from about $4-10 (US) per cube depending on which one you want (plain are cheap, drawers cost more). You can find them at Staples or almost any office supply store/website. I really like having things right by the sink, and the cubes are portable if I need to take them from the room!

Check the captions for more info. I hope this inspires someone!

The Whole System
With cabinet doors open. You can see the six cubes inside the cabinet, and the three on the shelf below. I also use the tops of the cubes for storage, as you can see.

Inside the Cabinet
The cubes with X-shaped dividers are perfect for cylindrical objects like lip gloss, liners, crayons, mascaras, concealers, etc. The plain cubes or cubes with shelves easily hold stacked items like powders, blush, palettes, compacts, jars, etc. Next to the cubes, I have my brushes in two containers: a pencil holder and a juice glass. (No need to be fancy, right?)

Inside the Drawers
I keep the cubes with drawers below the cabinet. These are great for things that don't readily stack in the cabinets above, like tubes and pots. Here's a close-up on the inside of a drawer... this one contains my Cream Colour Bases and some pressed powders.

Lipstick/Lipgloss Case #1
I keep many of my lip products upright in a special case made by Sharodan. This is a super-cheap acrylic box with dividers. Lipsticks are very visible and it's just tall enough for MAC lipglasses to stand upright!

Lipstick Case #2
This was my original lipstick case -- an ammunition box designed to hold 12-gauge shotgun shells! I think it's pretty stylish, being rugged and camoflauged. And it was only $7 at a hunting supply. But it was too short to hold some brands of lipstick, and no lipglosses would fit. Still, it's useful...

My Traincase
Tucked in the corner of the bathroom, I store extra products and things I don't use often (like travel bags) in a big aluminum traincase. This is a case I picked up on eBay for only $60 (including shipping), and it's 30% bigger inside than a MAC case. I really like it.

The Face Case
This huge aluminum traincase, decorated entirely with make-up photos, holds my travel kit of glamour and special effects make-up. You can find out more about the case and its decoration by visiting this page.

The "Hair Etc." Cabinet
I have a small floor cabinet in the bathroom to hold my hair products, and some of my makeup has spilled over into that. In the top right corner, you can see where I've stacked my MAC 15-pan palettes, and in the shelves below I have some loose bottles (tints, mixing medium, etc.) and travel bags. I keep things on top, too, like the lipstick cases and some skincare products.

The Rack
Last, but not least... The Rack. This is my MAC pigment and glitter collection, which I store in an acrylic rack manufactured to hold nail polish bottles at nail salons. It's perfect, though -- nail polish bottles and pigment jars are very similar in size! Pigments are on the top shelves, glitters are toward the bottom, with NYX Ultra Pearl Mania (a pigment-like loose eyehadow) in that bottom row. I should have enough room for almost every other pigment or glitter MAC has ever made.