People always ask me what’s the “best” way to do something. I also say — it depends. Different methods work for different people.
When it comes to jewelry, the most important factor is that you want to see everything that you own so that you can decide to wear it. (This goes for clothes as well.) There are multiple ways to accomplish this.
I’ve recently helped three clients organize their jewelry, so I can tell you some caveats.
Let’s start by talking about necklaces. Some of my clients were storing their necklaces bunched together in a bag or a box. The end result was a lot of tangling! This is not just an impediment to seeing your jewelry, but also to wearing it once you find it.
I am an advocate of hanging necklaces. They won’t tangle, and you can see them easily. I wrote about this in a post several years ago (see Hang Your Necklaces). Command™ makes some products to facilitate this, which I wrote about in the post.
If you don’t have the space to hang them or don’t like how it looks, then another possibility is to lay them down. If you search “necklace tray” in Amazon, you’ll see a lot of options.
Now let’s talk about earrings. Is there anything sadder than an earring that has lost its mate? I like this set of earring trays on Amazon that keeps each pair of earrings in its own little compartment. It can also be used to hold rings or pins.
Another very cool option is a hanging jewelry organizer with necklaces on one side and earrings/rings on the other. This can be hung in the closet on the clothing rack, or on a hook inside the closet door. Here’s one option at Amazon.
I advise against keeping your jewelry in the small opaque boxes that you get from the jewelry store. This is okay for just a few special pieces, but if you keep many items that way, you will never wear them because you won’t see them.
Two important things happen when you can see all of your jewelry easily. One is that you get to enjoy more of your pieces rather than wearing the same few items over and over again. The second is that you start to notice which pieces you aren’t wearing. Perhaps your style has changed, or it was a gift that you never liked, or it needs repair. Whatever the reason, taking action on it (by giving it away, selling it, remodeling it, or getting it repaired) will enable you to enjoy your jewelry even more.
