Taming the Jewelry

This winter I am focusing on following through with a lot of small house projects.  The projects have included cleaning, sorting, purging, lighting changes, and oftentimes organization-based problem solving. I have vacillated between focusing on one room, trying to see it to the end and flitting from room to room tackling things willy nilly.  Recently, one project forced its way to the top of the list.

I have gone through many arrangements for keeping jewelry organized and accessible.  Most recently, I had a temporary (possibly enacted more than a year ago!) solution of a tree branch propped up in a wide and deep glass vase.  The vase was filled with black beans to counter balance the jewelry.  I hung a lot of necklaces from the branch, but was careful not to overload it.  I had generally found the balance between loading the branch as full as possible but still making sure the base outweighed the necklaces.  I frequently brought it RIGHT to the limit.

One night, as I was walking away from it after having just closed the door to the cabinet it sat on, I glanced back in time to see everything shift just enough that it got knocked off balance.  In sloooooow motion, the branch started to tip, taking with it all of the necklaces, the glass vase and the black beans.  At first just the branch and necklaces fell to the floor.  Then, the vase, which had spilled some of its content on top of the dresser started to roll.  It proceeded to spill the rest of its contents as it fell to the floor, coming to rest next to a floor heating vent.  Yep.  Black beans and necklaces were everywhere.  I was too far away to stop it, but close enough to watch it all happen.

Leading up to this moment, I had been having one of those nights where I was super productive and was feeling on top of it.  You know that feeling?  The feeling where you know you are going to get everything on your list done AND get to bed on time.  That was the place from which I was yanked as I saw what amounted to a mighty hefty cleanup job.

As I stood there looking at the enormous mess, I had a fraction of a second to decide if I would laugh or cry.  I laughed and then I summoned Paul to view the scene.  After he got over the shock and awe, we proceeded to clean it up together.  There were beans in the heating vent, beans under the bed, under the bookshelf, under the dresser (which is completely on the other side of the room) and even inside of the cabinet I had just closed.  A few of the necklaces were broken in the fall, but all things considered, the damage was minimal.  I had learned my lesson.  The branch was not the answer.

I decided to think long and hard about my next jewelry solution so that it would meet my needs, be super secure and not a total eyesore.  It is important to me to be able to see my jewelry.  If it was put away, I probably wouldn't wear it very often.  Inspired by this idea, I searched around a few stores and found what I needed at Ikea (Fintorp Series).

The hooks are secured on the rod, so they slide back and forth securely.  The hanging white thingie holds chunky bracelets and shawl pins. My bracelets are hanging above that.  I think it is about as organized as a massive amount of cluttery stuff can get.  I may weed out some more things that I don't wear anymore, but that project is for a different day.  Hopefully not prompted by this falling off of the wall!  (We hung it on studs, so I think I should be covered.)

The full arrangement looks like this!  The green box is the same one that is in the first photograph.  It was the color inspiration that largely drove my color choices in our bedroom.  It holds my rings.  The tins underneath it are watchmaker tins.  They used to hold spices, but now house my earrings.  Some of my earrings smell sweet and some smell savory, depending on which tin they come out of.  I've washed and washed and washed them., but it seems the smell will always be there.

When I was up there photographing the jewelry, I disturbed Fanny's bath time, hence the foot in the air.

This is one project I am really glad to have done.