Worth repeating: Improving my jewelry storage

27 March 2017

In 2014, I made a huge improvement in how I store my jewelry and I blogged about it, complete with before and after pictures. I’m still using this system, though I have a very limited selection of jewelry, now that I’m doing Project 333. Unlike my clothes, I have not packed away my jewelry. So I still select my earrings (from the few pairs in the collection) from that jewelry box and pluck the one necklace I wear from the rack. I wanted to share this post again, because this system has worked well for me and stood the test of time!

I don’t have a ton of jewelry, but I have my share. I wear earrings virtually day and on some days I also wear necklaces or bracelets. As a result, how well my jewelry is organized really has an impact on my daily life.

For years, I’ve limped along in this regard. I’ve tried lots of different jewelry boxes and sometimes had several different jewelry boxes littering the top of my dresser.

Most recently (probably two years ago), I came up on this solution, which worked pretty well for awhile.

I kept my earrings in the little four-section swivel organizer. I divided them into three categories that worked for me (colored, metal, dressy) and used the bottom section for brooches. I kept necklaces on a tree-themed jewelry stand.

That still left bracelets to be stored and they sat on the bureau in this little inappropriate tray. (The cream-colored box contains my grandmother’s pearls.)

It worked for awhile, but usability issues soon formed. I found I had trouble finding the earrings I wanted, especially in the morning when my husband was still sleeping. He’s a light sleeper and I knew that my pushing around the earrings trying to find mates was disturbing him. I also usually had trouble finding the necklace I was looking for.

I’m delighted to report that I’ve a solution that I think is going to work really well this time. I purchased three jewelry stacker boxes at the Container Store, after seeing them at a client’s house.

In the top section, I keep the earrings I wear most often, plus the brooches (which I actually don’t wear very often).

In the tray beneath that are earrings.

And in the bottom, deep section are bracelets and watches.

For the necklaces, I mounted this tie rack on the wall next to the bureau. Now the necklaces are separated (one per peg), so I can easily find them.

Before this month’s jewelry reorganization, this is how my bureau looked on a good day (this is an after picture from a post on decluttering my bureau top):

This morning, I took this photo. (I moved my grandmother’s pearls, which I rarely wear, as well as the little plastic containers of shoe- and clothing-related accessories, inside the bureau.) I’ve literally never had such a clear bureau top, and this makes me very happy!