I tend to collect and hoard jewelry. I have dozens of necklaces and bracelets and probably hundreds of earrings. And when I came to college, I felt the need to bring nearly all of it with me. You never know what you’re going to need, right?
One thing I learned pretty quickly about college is that both space, and time, are limited. You’re never going to bother to wear any of your beautiful jewelry if you have to dig through a tangled heap on your dresser every morning. Here are my tips on how to organize your jewelry in ways that keep them accessible and add to the décor of your dorm room:
(photo credit: flicker/apple_pathways)
The trick is to make use of your vertical space! Almost all of my jewelry is hanging from my wall in one fashion or another.
Earrings
You may have seen my recent article on how to make your own lace earring holder. These cheap and customizable earring holders are a great option if you have an absurd amount of earrings, and are willing to get a little creative.
For those of you less in touch with your crafty side, Claire’s usually sells a great variety of hanging or standing earring holders.
(photo credit: flicker/decor8girl)
Necklaces
There are a variety of ways you can hang your necklaces. You can buy a hanging necklace holder, such as the ones they sometimes sell at stores like Claire’s. You can get a corkboard and hang your necklaces from thumbtacks, or you can simply hang them from Command Hooks.
I like to use the Command Small Wire Hooks, because they can hold more necklaces and are less obtrusive than the thicker plastic hooks. I put about five of these hooks in a staggered zig-zag pattern right below my lace earring holder. I hang about 3-6 necklaces per hook, organizing them by color. Make sure you leave enough space to let them dangle to their full length, and don’t put them close enough to tangle!
Bracelets
If you have a few, thin bracelets, you can hang them the same way as your necklaces. However, if you have a lot of bracelets, or several thick ones, you might have to get a bit more creative.
Personally, I own a lot of bangles, which are very difficult to keep organized. I have several different sets of anywhere from 5 to over a dozen bracelets. What I do is wrap a twist tie around each set of bangles to keep them all together. Then I take my several sets of bangles and thread a ribbon through them. I tie the ribbon in a bow, and then hang the ribbon loop from a hook next to my necklaces. This method works for thick bracelets, too!