During a recent Friday Artwalk, 007 was sweet enough to purchase me a piece of jewelry at my favorite store here in Fairhope. I came home with an addition to my collection, which helped me get started organizing jewelry. As I began to unpack my purchases, I realized that I needed to purge and access my needs. So I began the task of going through EVERYTHING!
Organizing Jewelry
Here a few ideas of how to organize your jewelry. My friends, Denise and Hope were also kind enough to share some of their tips as well.
As it happens, our precious little Shih-Tzu sat down in a bed of fire ants on this particular morning, so I needed to nurse her and keep her from chewing the bites.
So…. I hauled all my jewelry out on the porch – it was a beautiful morning – and began to separate.
1. Separate Your Metals
The first thing I did was place all of my favorite pieces together. Then, I divided everything into 3 separate categories.
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Mixed Metals – jewelry with both silver and gold accents.
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Gold Jewelry
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Silver Jewelry
All of my colored pieces went to another jewelry box or were donated because I’ve started wearing mostly metals and very little color. I wanted all of my favorites easy to find and quick to put on.
2. Store by Color
From there, I separated everything again within the categories above.
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Mixed Metals: a) earrings b) bracelets c) rings d) necklaces
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Gold – same
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Silver – same
3. Collect by Jewelry Type
I put my everyday rings together in one place.
4. Assemble by Gemstone
Pearls of all colors, styles and shapes are stored together.
5. Stack in Trays
All of the gold pieces are stored in the bottom tray because I wear more mixed and silver than I do gold.
Once I organized this tray, I realized that I need another tray for my earrings. I can’t see all of my earrings easily, since they are all located in one compartment. (Second from the top on the far right.) My trays were purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond.
Then I stacked the next tray on top with the mixed metals and silver pieces that I wear most. In the back of the drawer are my pearls, rings and oversized pieces.
6. Use different boxes as part of the collection
Here’s a great option and the search will be half the fun. Look for vintage or antique storage boxes and store different metals or styles in a different box. This one from Etsy is one I have my eye on. Another idea is to pick up jewelry or jewelry boxes when you travel. Each piece will have a special meaning.
When Cozi Rosie isn’t traveling the south, she models all of my belts for me.
Currently, I have all of my scarves stored in pretty boxes in my closet, but I’m searching for new ideas. Every time I want to wear a scarf I have to dig through the boxes and then they are wrinkled and not ready to wear. How do you store your scarves?
Here are a few more ideas from my friends.
Denise:
Denise is one of my most organized friends. She is the mother of two young men, married to “Handy Dan” himself and has a beautiful home that she decorates herself. I’ve featured her basement update here.
7. Choose Tackle Boxes
In her dresser drawer she has several tackle boxes that she uses to store her grand jewelry collection.
8. Hang Your Jewelry
She also uses a hanging jewelry organizer.
And my personal favorite idea of hers: a sock drawer organizer. This is such a great idea. In addition to bracelets, she stores some of her belts here as well.
9. Sock Away Your Jewelry
My sweet friend, Hope from Crafty Hope is an artist when it comes to jewelry. She designs, makes, sells and organizes her craft. Here are a few of her storage solutions:
Hang with Christmas Ornament Hooks
Brilliant idea! This is a baker’s cooling rack hung on the wall to hang all of her dangling earrings.
Another brilliant idea from Hope is to hang her necklaces on Christmas ornament hooks. If yours are stored away, you could also use straightened-out paper clips.
10. Dangle Earrings on a Screen
Here she painted a frame, stapled on some screen and voilà, lots of earring storage! Check out many of her ideas on her Pinterest page.
Mission accomplished. My little Latte (shih tzu) is feeling better and my jewelry re-organization has taken the sting out of searching for what to wear every morning. Thank you so much, Denise and Hope for sharing your ideas!
Great post! Made me put organizing my jewelry on my to do list. I did take all my earrings and hung them on a piece of woven gold colored ribbon that I hung on my closet wall. Now I can see them all at a glance and (before Covid) wear them much more often!
Thank you, Ann. I absolutely love when something I write inspires someone. I love the idea of gold ribbon for earrings.
Oh my, so many pretties. Love the way you organize it all.
My favorite way to organize is to give away a lot and often…clothing, costume jewelry, and household items. It’s wonderful what it does for the mind. Learned tons on the subject when I volunteered for the Alzheimer’s Association. That said, a girl can never have too many rings. teehee Well, they are small you know. 🙂
I agree. Purging is good and should be done often. It benefits everyone concerned!
Sounds like you had some fun sorting out your jewellery!
I have a hanging pocket thing like Denise, a jewellery box a little like yours, a hanging earring thing I made and tubs for my bangles. It an ongoing process though isn’t it? You get new items that need a home, see a brilliant new idea on pinterest!
Yours look like it will last for a while though, and it’s nice to be able to see exactly what you have.
I just love a good organization project Kim! Love your belt model!
Thanks for sharing these great ideas for jewelry storage. I think I need to find some of those trays you used. I can see that helping me in a huge way. I need to check out Bed, Bath & Beyond anyway since they’re moving…or have they already moved?
Judy
Yes, they have moved. Great new space.
Sounds like your jewelry will end up being more organized than mine in the end. Thank you so much for including me in your round up. I so appreciate it! 🙂
Brilliant! No matter how I organize, after a while it all needs to be re-done. Thanks for the tips!
Good job. Congratulations! I envy you because my jewelry is a mess. Organizing it has been a project I have put off until retirement but, I think, I need to get on with doing it. Thanks for lots of good ideas.