Simplify & Organize: Your jewelry

I love jewelry.  One of the most fun things about writing this blog has been learning more about jewelry design and our local jewelry designers.  As much as I love jewelry, I find that I gravitate to the same few pieces daily –  My go-to’s.  I bet you are the same.  It’s the 80-20 rule: we really only wear 20% of what we have.   I think I’m more 50-50 in jewelry, but none the less, this post is about simplifying your jewelry organization to save time and mind in the a.m. hours.  My one stop for jewelry organization?  Don’t laugh (well, OK, laugh): it’s PBTeen.

It’s the new year and cleaning up your jewelry is kinda like a mini-closet makeover and will leave you feeling like you have accomplished something BIG!

My favorite way to display and organize my jewelry is this Dress Frame Jewelry Organizer, $59, PBTeen:

I like the wrought iron three tiered display shown here as well.  It all depends on the amount of room you have balanced with the amount of jewelry you actually wear.  Even if you have all the room in the world, mentally you still need to pare down your basics and separate them out.  This way, your busy morning routine can be streamlined.

I keep on my dress frame:

Earrings: The dress frame comes with five large pins to stick into the bodice, creating an easy catch for earrings. Mingle Sliver Hoops from the Perfect Pair, gold drop earrings from GoodmanSpalding, wired hoop earring with garnets from All Strung Out Designs, Judith Bright Gold and Topaz earrings, Rowanne Designs gold & turquoise earrings and a small pair of silver and gold earrings from Silpada.

Necklaces: Gold chains from GoodmanSpalding and All Strung Out Designs; silver chain All Strung Out Designs; small delicate gold necklace from Stella and Dot; platinum chain with diamond encrusted cross; silver cushioned square chain from Tiffanys; fun long necklace from GoodmanSpalding; gunmetal multi-strand necklace from Fabu, and a cloudy-clear chunky necklace from Rowanne Designs.

Bracelets: Silver Cuff from Banana Republic (this link is to a gold bracelet they have right now that I think is fabulous); Gold cuff from What’s N Store (in Franklin, I promise I paid $3.50 for it and I wear it at least once a week); three sandalwood bead bracelets from Judith Bright; and one pearl bracelet from All Strung Out Designs. Missing: I will have a cuff (click here) from All Strung Out Designs….I know Carol (owner), I just need to order it…like I’ve been saying I would do for months!!!

As you can see, I gravitate more to metals than stones. The few stones I have are almost always green. That’s just me.  It’s like my boring closet: neutrals and and some greens and a little orange.  But, I know that’s what I’ll wear!

So, the moral of this tale is this: pare down your jewelry to what you honestly wear most days with a little variation for inspiration.  Place these go-to’s somewhere easily accessible that does not require you to open a box.  Then, put the rest in those boxes and jewelry drawers.  This way, you will always have access to your things, not just one earring or a tangled necklace, when flying out the door!

As a last little hint, as I do wear metals so often, I love this little cleaner cloth from The Container Store. A simply way to keep your metals at their best, $5.99

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