Stash your sparklies!
By La Petite AcadienneConfession time: I am not an organized person.
Don’t get me wrong. I am pretty organized when it comes SOME things. When planning an event, my colour-coded spreadsheets are a thing of beauty and a joy forever. My closet is impeccable, sorted by dresses, shirts, pants and skirts, and with all of the pairs of shoes placed toe to heel so as to maximize space.
However, there are gaps. And my jewelry collection is a major gap. It is not organized.
I currently have two necklace trees that house my mishmash of good jewelry and costumey fun stuff. Some of my earrings are in their original cases, some are in my jewelry box, and some are all thrown together in a gigantic orange plaid box from the dollar store. The same goes for my rings and bracelets. And I think my watch is next to the bathtub, from when I remembered at the last moment to take it off before giving The Wee One his bath.
I am doing SOME things right. My pearl earrings and pearl pendant are in their original case, so that they don’t get roughed up or scratched against any other jewelry. My necklaces are at least hung up, so that they don’t get all tangled. And my little diamond studs are always stored in the same place mainly so that they don’t get lost.
However, there is major, major room for improvement. And I am thinking that this should be my New Year’s resolution: to get my jewelry collection organized once and for all, so that it’s not all stored in a bazillion different places.
The first step in any fit of organizational madness, of course, is to pare down what you’ve got. So, it will be time to take a good, hard look at what I have. I must limit my collection only to that which I actually wear, or that which has priceless sentimental value to me (such as my grandmother’s pendant watch). Everything else will be 1. offered to friends and family, 2. pawned, or 3. given away to charity. (I can always buy more designer jewellery from Whaton Goldsmith.)
After that, it’s to decide how to store it. I love the idea of a jewelry armoire. It just seems so decadent to have a piece of actual furniture devoted solely to storing one’s jewelry, no? And, it would allow me to store EVERYTHING in one place, as opposed to having a jewelry box here and a necklace tree there, etc.
However, floor space in my boudoir is rather limited at the moment, due to the presence of a piece of exercise equipment that rhymes with “Gisele”. And no, I do not think that the fact that these two loathsome, spindly objects rhyme is a coincidence. I am convinced that it is subliminal messaging: that by using one, I will look like the other.
But I digress.
My floor space is limited. Hence, a compromise: an armoire-esque jewelry box that can sit on top of my dresser, but that still is tall enough to hang most of my necklaces gracefully.
Something like this would fit the bill rather nicely, I think:
So how about you? How do you store your shiny things? Do you have a system, or do you just biff it all in a drawer and hope for the best? Are you admirably organized when it comes to your jewelry, and if not, is that on your “must do that someday” list?
Bisous,
LPA
December 30th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I am reasonbly well organised, although I too would *love* an armoire! Curse the lack of space…
I have a large leather case and a smaller one in which everything I keep everything filed. The smaller one contains my various pearls, and the former contains everything else. I have a small bowl by the bed into which I put things as they come off at night preparatory to either being put away or reworn the next day.
The one disadvantage is that necklaces are not hung, so do occasionally (if the box gets tipped!) for an unpleasant heap of KNOT. I need a spaghetti injunction…
December 30th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
I use a tackle box with the compartments lined with tissues. Beautiful, it ain’t, but it is organized, spatially-efficient, and not a theft target! 🙂
December 31st, 2010 at 6:55 am
I have a beautiful handmade box made of curly maple – but I’ve outgrown it and it’s really best for rings and bracelets. I really should get another one and keep my fine jewelry in one and my costume in the other.
December 31st, 2010 at 4:44 pm
I have 2 boxes; one for “good” stuff and one for costume/silly stuff. What I’m more proud of, though, are the two shadow boxes I hung on my wall to display some of the vintage things I inherited that I don’t necessarily wear all the time. In one I have mostly brooches and earrings, and in the other, gorgeous old necklaces. I love being able to see them every day.
December 31st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Random random storage. In my closet, a hanger full of hooks for ties, on which I hang necklaces & bracelets. In my nightstand, a couple of plastic organizers that hold most earrings and a few smallish pins, one per compartment; they are both full. Also in my nightstand, some free-floating pieces that don’t fit into the earring boxes–a teal bracelet, a pair of Lunch at the Ritz earrings in their original box, a baggie full of costume jewelry that once belonged to my mother-in-law. In my closet in a compartmented box, the jewelry I never wear, because someday I will again, or so I tell myself. On my desk, the statement earrings I bought for my daughter’s wedding–they are too big for the earrings boxes, and too often used (who knew?) for deep storage. Now that the holidays are over, I will apply myself to the solution.
January 1st, 2011 at 9:38 am
@penguinlady: What a nice idea — turning your vintage baubles into an art display! You clever boots!
January 1st, 2011 at 10:11 pm
I’m very organized when it comes to my jewelry. I don’t have anything too truly valuable. But I do my best to keep them in their original boxes and try to keep it all contained within 1/3 of one dresser drawer.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
I learned recently, with the return of 80s’ style as “vintage”, that I should not have gotten rid of all of my 80s costume jewelry. Everything old is new again. I say hang onto it, even if you just stuff it in a box labeled “2010 jewelry”, because when you unearth it in a decade, I bet you’ll find things you want. That said, I’m not sorry I tossed my ancient jelly bracelets. Some things are so cheap you can just re-buy them if they come back in style. But those awesome big plastic geometric ones? I totally wish I still had them.
Here’s my jewelry situation: I have a lingerie/jewelry dresser from the Bombay Company, probably 10-12 years old, with 2 lingerie drawers and half a dozen various jewelry drawers. It only has one earring/ring drawer, so I have a lot of earrings in plastic “tackle” type boxes, purchased at Office Depot for a few dollars each. Each box is about 4″ x 10″, with 1″x1″ sections, approximately. I have three of these, stacked in one of the bigger drawers. They’re transparent, so it’s easy to find what I’m looking for, and I put one pair per section. The Really Good Stuff stays in its original box and goes in one of the larger jewelry drawers. There’s also a wide but shallow drawer at the bottom that is perfect for laying out necklaces. In that drawer is another of the plastic tackle-style boxes, this one with only half a dozen sections, for smaller necklaces.
I might steal that shadowbox idea from penguinlady, though.