Last week I posted this tip about getting knots out of necklaces, to which Maggie replied in the comments, “What I want is a way to store them without them getting all knotted together.”
Good question, Maggie. And while I am no organizing guru, I have a serious case of sparkle tooth, which gives me some self-appointed authority on storage concerns. Go me! In my closet, the accessories take up more room than the clothes. By a lot. It’s not that I don’t like clothes, I just find it easier and more economical (read: fun) if I concentrate on addressing the frosting instead of the whole cake.
I’m really good at frosting.
So. Hay. This is my closet. Let’s just take a sec here to say it is THIS is how it looked this morning. Yes, I have a thing for striped cotton shirts. And yes, I have a lot of crap. No, it’s not styled up like the Container Store catalog where three pairs of earmuffs takes up a whole shelf, so don’t be making comparisons. I could have tidied up a bit more but sometimes we just need to keep it real. My sparkles are bustin’. And I love it that way. Every inch of this closet is getting some mileage. One day maybe we will do an in-depth tour, but for today we are talking about necklaces…
For a long time I tried to keep my jewelry bits in little baggies in boxes (and if you look in the drawers of that pink dresser you’ll still see plenty of that), but for stuff that gets used more often, which is usually the cheaper stuff, I just like hooks. Lots and lots of hooks. Hooks on the underside of this shelf, hooks along the side of the wall, hooks on the back of the door. I’m a hooks type of gal.
No color coding, no clasping, no special arrangements. I know myself too well. If it takes me more than a single arm movement to put something away, I won’t bother. And that makes a mess. So, while this might look a little “hectic” to some, it keeps things accessible and visible to me, which means I don’t waste time trying to put away stuff, or finding it next time around. Hooks are my all-occasion solution to minimizing mess.
There used to be a tension bar for hanging clothes under this shelf – I just ripped it out and put up necklace hooks. Cost me about $5 down the Home Depot. I painted the background green and trimmed the shelves in stripes to make is sassy (here is what it looked like before). The shelf is now sagging a little, but it gets the job done. If you don’t have the space for a spare under-shelf in your closet, it’d be pretty easy to install a bracket shelf (like this one from Ikea) somewhere in a bedroom or dressing area.
Or if you don’t have space for a shelf, just hang some nails on the wall and go to town. This works especially well for hanging necklaces with delicate chains, or super chunky necklaces that take up too much hook space. Small nails prevent me from piling them on (my natural tendency) which is helpful for keeping things untangled. Plus it doubles the underspace. Plus sparkles create their own kind of art. Plus if you see them more often you’ll wear them more often, and that just benefits everyone. So really, this isn’t so much about necklace organizing as it is a service to the community.
So, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who outgrew their dinky jewelry box a long time ago. How do you organize your sparkles?
i do the same concept. i hang the chains on a metal binder ring, and hang the ring off a command hook. chunkier necklaces just hang straight on the command hook. everyone’s neat and i can see what i want to wear 🙂
Oh, wow – you are the first person I ever met who has as many necklaces as I do! All the hooks are wonderful. I do have some of those, but you have made me think about where else I can put some! I also have a big wall of curtain rods and a whole bunch of random tie racks. I know lots of experts say “never ever store necklaces hanging,” but I say fiddle dee dee to that. I’m glad you belong to the sisterhood of fiddle dee dee.
We are soul sisters in costume jewelry, Michelle 🙂
There was a time when virtually all of my jewelry was purchased in Israeli shuks (markets). I hung everything from nails on one bedroom wall — fiddle-dee-dee style. I interspersed a few mirrors framed and backed with Bedouin embroidery. Then I started buying colorful Indian pieces — belts, tassels, etc. — not to wear, but to hang on that wall. Almost everything is in storage in my studio now, but just thinking about how much I loved that wall — I’m gonna recreate it….with the addition of a ton of chamsas which I’ve made in the meantime. And I owe the motivation to your baby powder blog and Kaylin’s “favorites on the wall” response. Thank you, ladies.
Lynne
Well goodness! You found it all in the same spot 🙂
I went into the forest near my house and found a 3′ interesting looking tree branch, with lots of little branches and bends. I got it to stay up on my bedroom wall above my dressed with 2 picture-hanger hooks (miracle! In 1 try!) and I hand all the necklaces I wear often on the bigger branches, and the earrings on the little ones. Now I don’t have nearly the collection you do, but it works for me. Sort of art-meets-jewelry storage and no more maddening tiny jewelry box.
Sounds super boho — love it!
I don’t have enough space for a jewelry box, so I screwed a boatload of cup hooks into the frame of a weird collage I made in college and one of my dad’s wood burning pics from the 70’s – hung it all up together (looks weird and funky – exactly what I was going for).
Perfect! Keeps them from getting tangled AND reminds me that I actually own necklaces! Haha, I always forget what accessories I have, so this is great. Plus, it looks pretty!
At the rental we used to live with my husband I hung necklaces on the door knobs of closets and had shelving with boxes for the earrings and bracelets and other stuff (don’t ask, there’s more). Now in our very own apartment which is still under construction, I keep everything in boxes in the closet because I don’t even have shelves yet to make some storage for my jewelry. But I believe I’ll do that soon.
As far as necklaces go, I use hooks, but for earrings, I have a piece of plastic canvas hanging on the wall over my dressing table. It’s great, because I see them when I’m getting dressed every morning.
I use the 3M little hooks on the side of my dresser in the walk in closet to hang all my necklaces. Since they have that little tab that you can pull at the bottom and remove them (or reposition) I dont worry about it ruining the furniture.
I think you might like this closet. Joanie Webb of the blog Cote de Texas gave a tour of her sister-in-laws closet a couple of years ago. It has a Tex-Mex vibe, but anyone who has Day of the Dead dolls and a tequila bar in her closet is a woman after my own heart.
http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2012/01/closet-to-end-all-closets.html
DI YOU SEE THEM BOOTS?! Oh my gawd. Wants! Wants!!!
I love Cote De Texas. I nearly forgot. It takes ten minutes for the photos to load, but I love it!
I use a metal over the rack with 6 hooks that I bought at family dollar for $3.
I have a lot of bead necklaces that I’ve strung, & the nylon line can get a kink in it, if it hangs from a hook. So I mounted tin cans on wood, then hung the wood on the wall. As easy as a hook, but my necklaces don’t get kinked, & I have the space inside of the cans to sore the odd doodads, like connectors, or the occasional bangle (I don’t wear them much)