A Coral Reef and An Egg Carton

How’s that for a funky title? 🙂

First of all, welcome to Organization Week! It’s spring and I am craving clean and tidy, so we’ve been sprucing up the place. And getting our affairs, er… junk, in order. If you missed us yesterday, you might want to check out this post about organizing the insides of our drawers (plus, there’s a VIDEO!). Today is the Part Two to that story. The peanut butter to its jelly, if you will. Let me give you a hint…

See that jewelry organization? A mess. The dresser was clean, at least- free of its usual stack of books, tissues, pens, cords, etc. But the jewelry was starting to drive me nuts. So some changes were in order. You see, way back when, my brother (thanks Clint!) got me that jewelry holder for Christmas or a birthday. I had showed him the one I wanted and he delivered. It has been well-used for years now, but the time had come for something new.

I wanted something a little cleaner and simpler. The hardest part about using it was the earrings holder- it took some time and patience to get the earrings into those little holes, so inevitably, earrings just ended up in piles on the dresser. I knew that if I had something easier- something a little more “throw and go”, I would be more diligent at properly storing pieces so they don’t end up in tangled messes at the end of each week. And thus, my hunt for a new system began. I’ll fast forward and show you what I asked for (and what Santa Mitch brought for) Christmas this year!

Let’s start with the faux white coral (you can find it here!). Um, I love it. It’s clean, sculptural, kind of beachy, and interesting. Plus, it’s perfect for hanging simple strands of necklaces and a few rings on. All of my bigger, bulkier costume jewelry is stashed in the top drawer of that dresser (see how I keep that organized here).

Oh, and if I ever get the urge (and I can see this happening as soon as summer hits) to bring a little beach to a shelf or stack of books in another room of the house, this baby could definitely double as decor. I’d just have to figure out where to stash the jewelry…

And the egg carton? I definitely did not come up with this idea- it’s all over the place as people have been using them as handy jewelry, coin, keys, everything (even eggs- hey!) holders. I just jumped on the bandwagon. And let me tell you, it has made my life SO much easier.

Now, instead of having to individually hang earrings up, thread them through impossible to reach holes, etc., all I do is drop them into their spot. Each pair has a place and it is so much easier to maintain. I’ve had both of these things since December (sorry for being so late to tell you all, but I wanted to make sure they worked!) and keeping my dresser clean of jewelry has been a cinch. These guys are sold everywhere, but you can find one here if you’re looking.

Oh, but WAIT- there’s more. One more, actually. Just a simple white vase that I stash some of my bracelets on. I think it came from Ikea.

The best part? It can also hold a few blooms to brighten things up in here!

So that’s how I’ve been keeping the jewelry monster at bay…

It is so interesting to me how the state of the spaces I live in can directly influence my stress levels. So the picture below? Ahhhh, consider my mind at peace!

Now about that dresser makeover… posting pictures of it definitely lights a fire under my tush to get moving on giving it a little TLC. Isn’t it funny how looking at pictures of something shows you things that you don’t catch in person? Like that annoying piece of tape on the top drawer. Or the streaks and dents in the top. Yes, a makeover is definitely in order. Sometime. 🙂

Anyone else have a system that they use to keep things under control? Also, does organizing things make you want to pull out all the stops- like putting fresh flowers everywhere? Me too.