If your jewelry area looks like a hot mess you are not alone because that is the case for many of my clients. I love accessories more than anything else and I have spent a lot of time organizing them.
You will not wear it if you cannot see it, so the best way to keep your jewelry assortment well organized is to collect, de-clutter, and display your items.
Collect
Gather all of your treasures in one place and inspect the items to make sure nothing is damaged. I buy costume jewelry that ruins easily so as soon as an item fades or develops a strong smell of metal I throw it away. Set aside a “keep” bag of items to be repaired as soon as possible and discard anything you would not spend the time or money to fix.
If you are saving jewelry from loved ones purely for sentimental reasons, you can remove these special items from your active collection by gifting them to a family member who might wear them, displaying them somewhere in your home, or storing them in a memory box or a safe deposit box.
De-clutter
Contrary to common belief, organizing is not synonymous with throwing things away. The goal is to get down to the best of the best so you love everything you have. That may or may not mean that you have to get rid of things since something is only clutter if you do not use it.
Lay your accessories out and separate things into jewelry types, such as necklaces, bracelets, and so on. Keep matching sets together if applicable. Then put similar colors and styles together within the groupings, such as all gold rings and all silver rings. See if you need to edit anything out of the collection.
I believe categorizing like items allows for easier decisions because we typically choose our outfits according to color. If the day’s outfit calls for black earrings and you have a favorite pair or two that you always wear, why not get rid of the other four pairs that you never wear and just stick with the favorites?
Display
The goal is to create a beautiful display of adornments so you can see what you have and know where to put things away. It should feel like your very own jewelry store! The key is to have categories of items together, such as all watches, all pins, and so on.
All jewelry will either hang or lay flat. The most important note is to keep things separated so they do not get tangled up. You can use plastic sandwich bags, the boxes that the items came with or organizing products (I love the soft velvety ones). Jewelry boxes come in all shapes and sizes and any box or bin with dividers will work just as well.Each organizing solution varies depending on your pieces, likes and dislikes, as well as the space you have to work with. You may have to use a few different products to get the job done, but as long as all of your stuff is in the same general area of the room you should not have any trouble getting ready.
A great solution is to buy furniture pieces that already include space for jewelry storage, such as dressers and vanities that have shallow drawers. Regular dresser drawers and other flat surfaces at eye level are also good places to stack trays with compartments. Another favorite is a mirror that opens up just like a medicine cabinet and holds jewelry inside. I have seen ones that hang on the back of the door, on the wall, and freestanding for sale online.
Tabletop racks that look like small trees with branches can sit on a dresser, table, counter or bookshelf. Just make sure they are big enough to hold your stuff or use it only for everyday items. Hanging jewelry organizers have multiple small pockets on both sides and can live on a closet rod, hook, or nail. The Container Store has a large assortment.
When a door is available try using a rack that hangs on the back to add some extra storage space but beware of the noise this will make when the door opens! There are also hooks or racks that hang on the wall for necklaces and grids for earrings. Choose a style that matches the décor of your room.
No matter which solution you select, make sure to keep up the system by putting things away after you take them off.
I hope you feel the same excitement I do when I look at my collection of bling. Happy Organizing!
Tatiana is a Miami-based Professional Organizer and owner of Neat with Knight. Call (305) 502-6391 or visit www.neatwithknight.com for appointments. Watch Tatiana on Lifetime’s “Designing Spaces” each month.