DIY Redux – Tiered Stand for Paints

Last summer, my studio was featured in the Cloth Paper Scissors Studios Summer edition.

In that article was a picture of a tiered stand I had put together from some silver plated trays and a threaded lamp rod as the support 'spine' of the stand (as indicated by the arrow, below.)

Post-publication, I decided that the stand was too wobbly. It was like a demented version of the Mad Hatter's chapeau, with paints swaying this way and that. So I've redesigned my DIY and wanted to share the details with you.

My stand was inspired by two organization pieces. The first was from Pottery Barn, a 3-tiered galvanized cake stand that sells for $69.00. The second, from Ranger, the Inkssentials Craft Spinner. I had the latter, and felt it was taking up valuable space on my work table. So I combined both ideas into one.

In order to stabilize the stand I drew inspiration from my own back yard. An umbrella can be supported wonderfully by the heavy stand with moderate support from the table.

So in order to stabilize the threaded lamp rod, I added some PVC pipe. The most important thing is to make sure that your PVC is tall enough to accomodate your supplies. Thankfully, your hardware store can cut these lengths for you.

I bought PVC in three sizes to 'nest' inside of each other. 1/2", 1" and 1 1/2" diameters. To make them snug, I wrapped duct tape around the center of the two smaller pieces so that the threaded lamp rod won't 'sway' as it had in the past.

I had three silver plate trays which I had drilled with a hole in the center of each. To further stabilize the base, I placed it on top of a 'lazy Susan' for turning, and screwed the threaded lamp rod through a thick piece of felt to place on top.

Then I placed the tallest set of PVC pipes on top of the threaded lamp rod and threaded on a nut, level with the PVC. Next I placed a smaller silver plate tray on top, with a washer and another nut. Screw it on tightly. Repeat.

Thread another nut, flush with the top of the PVC 'nest' and place one of the craft spinner 'wheels' on top.

If you have taken apart your craft spinner, you will have a spindle with the topper that you can leave attached to the second spinner and simply screw onto the threaded lamp rod on top of the other one.

So now the stand is much more stable! But I thought of another way to take advantage of the surface of the silver plate trays and get even more functionality from the stand. The sides of the trays have a pierced metal design. I kept thinking, how can I use this decorative feature to my advantage?

The one thing that my tiered stand didn't accomodate was paint in TUBES. I have small and large tubes of paint. I decided to use some Advantus by Tim Holtz large swivel clasps attached with long paper fasteners (brads) through the pierced metal work to hang my paint tubes. The swivel clasps fit around the necks of the paint tubes, and once the lid is screwed on, stay in place nicely.