Happy Monday to you all!   Today I’ve got a follow-up to a post I wrote back in 2009 about how I organize my jewelry. As I look back on that, not only are the photos better from the original post, but so is the lighting. Ugh. It was like pulling teeth to photograph in our bathroom (which is also somewhat tomblike, despite the fact that it has a large window) this time around. Note to self: get new lightbulbs. Yish.

Ok, moving on. As you know, I am in the throes of getting this house back in control. One of the items on that list was reassessing my jewelry organization.  Since I did that original post, I am happy to say that this is a system that works perfectly for me. It’s my perfect storm of form and function: I am able to see what I have and grab it quickly and the overall appearance is attractive and works within the scheme of our bathroom.  I had one large shadowbox mounted on the wall next to the bathroom vanity. But, as it is now 2012, my jewelry collection has grown exponentially. Let’s face it – Hi, my name is Rachel, and I have an accessories addiction. ::waves to the group::

So it was time to add on. One trip to Michael’s later, and I now have another  shadowbox to add to the collection. Of course, as luck would have it, my new shadowbox is about an inch too short compared to the existing one. UGHHHHHHH  But right now despite my perfectionistic tendencies – and my perfectionistic darling husband – I’m going to choose to ignore that. Because the system IS WORKING, PEOPLE.

There are only a handful of pieces that I own that are too heavy or large to fit into the shadowboxes. Those get to be artfully arranged elsewhere, such as on a tray on my bedside table.

Surprisingly enough, all of the pieces are held up in the shadowboxes on straight pins. They look somewhat flimsy, but they hold remarkably well. Plus, the shadowboxes are lined with some type of linen covering foamcore, so they stick in there pretty tight.  Any type of post or stud earring merely gets poked through the fabric and stays mounted securely to the board.

In short, I love that each piece looks like a piece of art. I think ideally you could probably do any type of fabric you want for the background; I chose the linen because it works well with the decor of the bathroom (that we would, frankly, die to change as we are soooo over the brocade).  Also, if you’re not too sure on the whole straightpin thing, try fun push pins.

I’m curious – what do you use to organize your jewelry? What happens when you run out of room?