DIY jewelry organizer ~ #storestuff

Stuff. Lots of stuff. Organizing, storing, managing stuff. As long as the stuff has a place and can be pretty easily accessed and returned to that place, I’m good. I like to use my stuff. Jewelry is a whole category of stuff for me, and I wear it every day. There’s one group of jewelry I’ve collected on vacations and trips, and it outgrew its box, so I needed a new jewelry organizer. I keep the good stuff jewelry in actual jewelry cases ~ this is my weekend stuff, so something casual would work just fine.

A bunch of random drawer knobs from other projects had become a pile of stuff with no specific place, so it seemed a good idea to turn them into a jewelry organizer. I found some unfinished wooden plaques at Home Depot ~ though they could easily be made from scrap wood ~ buying them ready-made, I knew the holes would be in a straight line! If I drilled the holes, there was a 50/50 chance they would be a little wonky. 🙂

Making the knob plaques was easy ~ a little paint and screw the knobs in place with the provided screws. How to use them was a little harder. I didn’t want to mount them to the wall, as I like to move my jewelry around, depending on my activities and the season. But even as I move things around, I want to keep the categories together, so the finished knob plaques sat around for a while ~ until I finally I decided to mount the plaques on a framed pad. 

I wanted a non-standard finished size {of course, it had to be a non-standard size!} so it took a while to find a suitable frame, that was in the right price range. Finally I spotted a good size, inexpensive poster frame at Michael’s. and with a little MacGyver change-up, my jewelry organizer came together. There are some how-to details at the end of the post. 

For the moment, I’ve leaned it on a small table in my bedroom, in front of a large Vermeer print hanging on the wall. It may not stay there, but I want to look at it for a while until I decide. Even in its ad-hoc spot, the jewelry organizer mostly fits in my decor mix shared in this post ~ useful storage, mahogany table from my Grandmother, island wicker chair, a little bling from the crystal knobs ~ and color from the jewelry itself. The neutral background is nice, but the turquoise and coral make me happy. 

Before this, I kept this group of jewelry in a cloth pouch and displayed some pieces on the cast metal jewelry tree from West Elm ~ but the necklaces were always in a tangle and it took too long to find what I wanted. Patience is not my strong suit. I want to see it, wear it, and put it back when I take it off ~ with minimal fuss. Mission accomplished! And now the metal display tree works as it should for a small group of favorite necklaces and bracelets. And as long as the stuff has a spot, I can contain the clutter. We know I’m #notaminimalist!

I love this set of Chrysalis Oceania bracelets ~ a gift from Bluwaterguy last Christmas. He knows what I like! For now I’m happy with this location, though I know it will move when the moment strikes. No more sorting through tangled necklaces with this bunch!

And here are the how-to tips! An easy project that has lots of potential uses ~~~

1 ~ The poster frame was a glossy black finish, so I brushed on a coat of chalk paint as a base. Just slapped it on, as it would be covered with other paint, but I did use a color that would work as a base for the other planned colors. It dried almost as soon as I painted it on.

2 ~ I had painted the knob plaques in a neutral and metallic dry-brush finish, so the frame would be similar, but darker ~ more brown, less gray.

3 ~ I found some neutral burlap in my fabric stash and used that to cover the back-pad from the frame. I made sure to pull it smooth and then taped in place with masking tape.

4 ~ This was the only slightly tricky part. Normally, the plaques would mount with screws front-to-back. Hmmm ~ I needed the screws to mount back-to-front so the back would be smooth. My Fiskars hand-drill did the trick. Measured for placement and taped to hold the spot. A few layers of cardboard under the pad to protect my table, and I drilled through the existing hole in the plaque to the frame MDF backboard. So much quicker for me than getting out the power drill! I did use shorter screws so they would not extend past the front of the plaques.

5 ~ A few dabs of hot glue to be sure the screws stayed in place, and then flat river pebbles hot-glued over the holes to cover the openings. Done! Ready to hang, lean or display however you choose! 🙂

You may have noticed the #storestuff hashtag in the heading. I’m planning to share some other storage and organization things from here and there around the house, and thought to use the hashtag to group them together. Yes, it’s organizing the organizing posts. Hey, there’s more than one way to manage stuff and I need all the help I can get! 🙂