7 Tips to Organize Your Jewelry
Helpful suggestions for organizing the family jewels!
Did you get any new bling for a recent holiday? Did you recently celebrate an anniversary or birthday and get a new bauble? Is it time to take stock of your jewelry box?
Here are 7 tips to consider when organizing your jewels.
1. Have a System in Place
Are you an Iny-y or an Out-y when it comes to your items? If you're an out-y, you like to see your jewelry in plain sight. Consider a jewelry tree that you can display atop your dresser, wall-mounted hooks or a pegboard. If you're an in-y, you like your pieces put away. There's a range of options for jewelry boxes and velvet lined trays for drawers. Determine your organizing style and find a solution to fit your needs. Also consider how to organize within your system, whether you want to categorize items by type, metal, occasion, etc.
2. Inventory the Goods
Catalog your jewelry for insurance purposes using lists, photos or video. Keep the original receipts, appraisal paperwork and maintenance instructions in a file. Keep these documents in a safe deposit box, a fire proof safe or digital cloud storage.
3. Create a Landing Zone
At certain times of the day it's inevitable that we need to take off our jewelry, whether to wash our hands, when we go to the gym or for applying lotion. We should have a safe place for our jewelry to land during these times. Keep a velvet pouch in your purse for such occasions. Place a hook by your sink or a decorative dish by your nightstand.
4. Protect the Jewels
Keep valuables in a secure spot, not in a place a thief would easily look (ie; nightstand, top of dresser, bathroom vanity). Explore the option of a safe or metal lock box with a key or combination. Invest in a diversion safe. These are items that look like everyday objects (ie; a can of cleaner, a stack of books), but are actually safes.
5. Get a Check Up
It should be said that you remove jewelry when putting on lotion, applying hairspray or cooking as the residue from these things can diminish the quality of the metal and stones in your pieces. Be sure to regularly clean your jewelry. Develop a system such as cleaning them every week before church services or on laundry day. Be sure to always dry your jewelry after a cleaning as you never want to put an item away wet. Moisture is the enemy of metal. Schedule regular maintenance check-ups seasonally to make sure chains and prongs are in good working order and stones are looking their best.
6. Safe Delivery
When traveling you should plan your accessories beforehand and choose wisely. There's no reason to take your whole jewelry box on vacation. And consider the area where you'll be visiting because if it's an unsafe location you may want to take your costume duds instead of the genuine articles. Travel gear for your baubles can be as simple or as creative as you like. Think fancy pouches and leather jewelry valets to days of the week pill boxes or recycled sunscreen containers. (Now that's a good diversion tactic!)
7. Assess the Assets
When taking stock of your goods, consider when was the last time you wore it and do you still like it? Is it outdated or no longer in style? Is it broken or without a mate?
Follow some of these suggestions and you just might find them to be worth their weight in gold. Be a gem and share with me some of your jewelry organizing tips!