How to Organize Your Jewelry
Tips and tricks to get the most out of your jewelry collection
The key to organizing your jewelry is to stop thinking about organizing and start thinking about displaying. Think of your jewelry collection as your own private jewelry store. When you get ready for the day, go shopping in your store for the prefect accessories to match your look. If all of your jewelry is piled in a drawer, it will be easy to forget about, and you’ll wind up wearing your favorite pieces less often. It’s a simple truth: if you see your jewelry, you’ll wear it. So, have fun with it, go crazy, make your own mini-showroom and rediscover all those great pieces in your collection
Necklaces
Necklaces can be one of the most difficult fun pieces of jewelry to organize effectively. If you’re like most, you will have necklaces of considerably different lengths in your collection, so you will need a system that works for a wide range of sizes. Fortunately, the internet is full of creative ways to organize and display your necklaces. Check out Pinterest for some inspiration.
In general, hanging necklaces is the best way to both appreciate your collection and prevent them from getting tangled. You can group them by style or length to create a fun display. Coat or key hangers work great for this kind of thing. Just make sure to mount your hanger high enough to accommodate your longest necklaces.
Bonus tip: going on a trip? You can thread your thin, easily tangled chain through a (clean) straw to help protect it and totally prevent it from tangling.
Bracelets
Nothing takes up space in your jewelry collection like bracelets. One good solution is to take a tip from jewelry stores and get (or make) a simple bracelet display. It’s essentially a wrist sized cylinder mounted horizontally on top of a post. This way, you can easily see your bracelets and easily access the one you want. Another creative solution we’ve seen is to use an empty glass bottle and stack your bracelets around it. This can be a cool look, but it might be a bit more difficult to get to that one near the bottom.
Rings and Earrings
A traditional jewelry chest can be a great way to organize and display rings and earrings because many of them have specially designed felt holders for these pieces. If that’s not your style, a simple set of small drawers can store a lot of pieces in a compact space. If you do decide to go with drawers, consider adding some internal dividers (like these) to keep each piece separate. That way, you don’t wind up with a mixed up pile of jewelry every time you open and close the drawers.
Remember, you want to think about displaying your collection in a way that you engage with. Make it fun to browse through your rings. Group them by color to help you coordinate with your outfit. Group them by size so you can know just where to go when you want to make a statement. Hang your dangle earrings around a coffee mug for a unique look (who doesn’t have an extra coffee mug or two). Whatever you decide, make it reflect your unique style.
Your Engagement Ring
Your engagement ring is, for many people, the most important and special piece of jewelry you own. Since it spends most of its time on your finger, you might wonder why we’re talking about it here. Any jeweler worth his salt will tell you to remove your engagement ring when you’re doing certain activities. Things like gardening, washing dishes, carpentry, punch bags, etc. can damage your ring, and you should try to remove it for these activities. The question is: where should you put your ring when you take it off?
For many of us, the answer is: wherever you are when you think about it. The problem with that answer is that we’ve all had that moment of sheer terror when we realize we have no idea where our ring is. To save you from this, I recommend you designate two or three spots around your house as special ring zones, preferable near areas where you will likely need to remove your ring (e.g. by the kitchen sink). Anytime you take your ring off, take the extra time to make sure you put it in one of these areas. You can even make it a part of your decor with fun ring holders.
Lastly, your jewelry is valuable. Don’t forget about safety and security when organizing your jewelry collection. If you have a home safe, it might make sense to store some of your most valuable pieces in it. And while we’re on the subject, if you need an appraisal so you can include your jewelry in your insurance policy, we would love to help with that.
What’s your favorite jewelry organization tip? Let us know in the comments section.
