PeaceBang spent the afternoon of her day off cleaning and organizing: a nice Advent activity. I note with some interest the emphasis in some liturgical materials lately on Advent as a period of waiting, but I believe Advent actually means coming. As in “Veni, Sancte Spiritus,” or “Veni, Little Baby Jesus.” Some Advents feel pregnant and hushed. This one feels more bustly for me, like an adopted baby is coming and I don’t quite know the day or time, I’m just excited and getting the nursery ready.
I also worked on my cluttery closet (with cat hair galore on the floor, I noticed, so that if one drops a black cotton garment one picks up an angora sweater in its place, courtesy of Ermengarde, who likes to snooze down there behind my boots) and vanity table. My daily uniform tends to be black pants, camisole, cardigan or blazer and scarf and boots, so there’s no challenge there. I keep my clothes hanging by color (Black and Other), my scarves displayed on a hanging rack where I can see and access them easily, and my boots downstairs lined up at the basement door. Socks and tights and such live in a drawer in relative order. But the real irritation in my life is jewelry. I love it and swear several pieces every day, and it winds up all over the place.
I have catch-all jewelry trays on my vanity table and bedside table, and display hangers and hanging jewelry bags in the closet. I have a jewelry box for my “legit” pieces (of which I have blessed few – one pair of diamond earrings and some pearls — everything else in my life is sterling silver or semi-precious stones or blingy costume pieces). After twenty years of collecting, it’s all getting out of hand. I have all my old New Age goddess and horoscope pendants as well as fifteen years of trying-to-find-my-style professional wear pieces, many of which I ought to give away. Maybe we can organize a kind of swap here on BTFM? Nothing I own is worth anything but a lot of it looks really pretty. As some of you know, I give out pieces on loan, too.
I cannot stand trying to type with bracelets or watches on, so a little pile always lives on my desk.
In an effort to create a situation where there is “a place for everything and everything in its place,” I found some affordable jewelry storage boxes from on-line retailer Joss & Main. I like Joss & Main a bit too much (and today unsubscribed from getting their tempting e-mail alerts), but they have good items for sale and their shipping and customer service are excellent. Anyway, these are on sale for another couple of days. I like that they CLOSE, because I’m tired of looking at the jumble of shiny mess (also, I almost only wear silver and it tarnishes when exposed to the air).
I got one of each:
Here’s the link to buy them. Full disclosure: I get a $15 credit for referring you if you make a purchase. That’s how I rake in the millions, my friends. But really, I just really like these jewelry boxes and I thought you might have a similar need.
With both my office and my bedroom closet, I was lucky enough to use the services of a friend who was starting a de-cluttering business. She didn’t do much, just kept me on task, and held up items saying, “Keep, throw, give away?” With the clothes, she brought big garbage bags to collect items for the latter category. My fave part of her service was that she actually went to the Goodwill with them.
I don’t know if I can or how to include a photo with my comment, do I’ll email it to you (to do wth as you will). I also have been needing to organize my earrings and necklaces. I bought a small “thing” with hooks on it (designed to hold car kets by the back door) and use it to displace my necklaces. The dangling earrings are in a piece of screening that was tacked into an antique-style picture frame that was then decorated to jazz it up. It’s a gift from my cousin Melissa but easy enough to pull together yourself, I’m sure. These two pieces are on my bedroom wall where I am reminded about the pretty jewelry I own. and I’m wearingit a lot more often!
I’ve been through so many attempts at organizing my jewelry that I could stock a shelf at The Container Store with all my rejected and abandoned trays, hooks, boxes, trees, etc. It’s a problem.
But I LOVE the idea of organizing some kind of jewelry swap. I too have accumulated a LOT of costume pieces in my search to discover my jewelry style. Nice stuff that would look great on the right person, but probably won’t be worn by me anytime soon. Could be a great get-together for local PB devotees in the new year!
I’ve hung my necklaces on push pins on the wall of my closet — all there and easy to access and cheap. For my bracelets I found a great bottle with a long, long neck (actually it’s a vase, but I was looking for a bottle when I was shopping for it) that sits on my dresser and holds them all. It’s a little putsy getting one off the bottom, but it’s easy to put them on and keeps them from being spread all over the dresser.
I have a foot-long length of really interesting lace that I tack up on the wall and hang dangly earrings from. It’s art for the wall, it keeps the pairs together and out of my way.
I love these ideas! But I’m wondering… do the commenters share a bedroom with a man? If I lived alone, I would SO love to hang a piece of lace on the wall and put my dangly earrings through it. But I share my room with a lumberjack-type guy, and it’s SO not him! I have my jewelry in a gorgeous hand-crafted wooden jewelry box that he gave me for our first Christmas, and some longer necklaces hanging unobtrusively from a strip of pegs over my dresser (sorta like Penny’s, I suspect). All of the earrings are in a bowl on my dresser, which makes for a Royal Pain to find them; I always have to dump the whole thing out on my bed. I’d love to make my bedroom more girly with this stuff, but alas, I think it’s not to be.
Hi Judy W, about the gender-balanced bedroom decor question, yes, I do share a bedroom with a man. No, my current jewelry system involving lots of delicate-looking metal hanging pieces, is not “him” in the slightest. It’s ME! Because it’s my bedroom, too. If you don’t put anything in your bedroom that’s feminine because isn’t him, and (I’m assuming) you don’t put anything masculine in there because it’s you, what are you left with? I always think of the goal as being a blend of masculine and feminine elements, not the absence of both. Why not make a feminine jewelry display one of “your” elements, if it’s something you want? Here are some good examples of what I mean (I Googled “gender-balanced bedroom decor”):
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1693631/list/A-Bedroom-for-Both-of-You
I keep all my hundreds of pairs of earrings in a nails and screws box which I bought for a few pounds down the market. It has six drawers with five compartments in each, so that I can arrange them by colour, making it very easy to find them in the morning. Studs are all together in a small box, stuck into a piece of foam, again so that I can see the colours easily. Bracelets and necklaces are hung on a chrome mug tree. Love the idea of a jewellery swap though …
I loved your post and was really caught by the Advent comments about pregnancy and adoption. My husband and I adopted a baby last Advent and [wo]man, was that a bustling season for me; and I’ve never felt so close to the coming of Christ. Your words truly struck to my heart. Thank you.
This season is more of a “waiting” for me. I think perhaps your desire to de-clutter might inspire me to do the same as we “actively wait” for the coming of the little holy one.
I store my ear rings in a little plastic box (it – or rather they) were originally filled with Jelly Belly sweets. It has compartments in it which are just big enough for one or possible two pairs of ear rings, and they stack in a drawer. Dust-free, out of sight, easy to find a pair without dumping stuff on the bed….(I think that you can buy similar boxes for fishing tackle – particularly for keeping flies in.)
…but can I encourage you to spend a little time photographing every single pair of ear rings and every piece of jewellery that you possess in a decent close up, next to a ruler to give some idea of scale and with something which is clearly identified as being “yours” (drivers licence? passport) also in the picture. Because I have been burgled twice this summer, and I had no record of what I had and therefor of what is missing, and it is very difficult to make an insurance claim for items you cannot prove you once had.
I am determined to organise my life somewhat. There’s so little over which I have control, that when there’s something I can control I seize it.
Recently I’ve claimed a room in the rectory that is just mine. I have my suits in the closet that stores off-season coats and bought a garment rack for the skirts, pants, dresses, clerical shirts and blouses. I took a standard wire 4-shelf unit and in a couple of hours transformed it. Using the top shelf, I fastened the necklaces along the side so I can see what I have.
Scarves have been woven along the back of the unit, making it look like a beautiful multi-coloured curtain. Two ceramic bowls contain earrings, while pins, hair do-dads and the like have their own basket. It was awesome to put everything in one place. Now I need to round up the bling that is throughout the house and put it away.
FINALLY, feeling like some sense of control. AND this should be easy to maintain.
Thanks PB and to everyone for the inspiration!
Advent Blessings to y’all!
As far as organizing jewelry, I use a bead organizer from a craft store for earrings and small necklaces. It works great!