The Best Jewelry Storage Ideas To Preserve Your Treasures

Jewelry can be used to express personality, mood, and sentiment. If you’re a jewelry lover then you want to take care of the pieces you’ve collected through the years. It’s not only frustrating, but upsetting, to lose a favorite or sentimental piece because you don’t have a good system to keep up with it. These jewelry storage ideas will help keep your treasures organized, safe, and in good condition so that you can enjoy them for years to come.

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See if you can relate to this scenario. You’re rushed getting dressed for work. The kids are screaming for your attention (or at each other). You need to look especially nice today and it never fails…..you can’t find that particular piece of jewelry that sets off your outfit.

Or you can’t find the mate to your earrings.

Or the necklace you wanted to wear is tangled in a big knot and you just don’t have time to undo it.

Arrrg! There has to be a better way to get out the door with your sanity – and your accessories – intact.

Now I’m going to admit right up front that I love, love, LOVE jewelry. I come by it naturally because my mom was a jewelry hound extraordinaire and passed that love of sparkly things on to me. As a result, I have a nice collection of baubles and bling (thanks, Mom!).

But one thing that used to drive me nuts was trying to keep my collection organized. I started off with a small jewelry box as most of us do, but it wasn’t long before that box was much too small.

Since giving up my jewelry addiction was not an option, I had to find ways to keep everything together and somewhat organized. Through the years I’ve tried just about every system there is. These are some of my favorite products that I think do the best job of keeping your jewelry organized so that you can find what you want when you want it. That certainly makes mornings (or any time you’re getting dressed) easier.

My favorite jewelry storage option

My absolute all-time favorite jewelry storage system is my mirrored jewelry armoire. The one I own can either go on the back side of a door or be hung on a wall. The one my mother had was freestanding like the one below.

Both of the ones shown have a mirror on the door. That makes the piece useful as well for checking the overall look of your outfit. It also means you don’t need to have a full-length mirror somewhere else in  your bedroom or bathroom.

I love pieces that serve dual purposes.

(This is a picture of the one hanging in my closet. You can see that it holds quite a bit.)

Another thing I like about my armoire is that it locks.

A locking cabinet is great for several reasons. First off, it makes it less likely that small kids will decide to come play dress up with your nice pieces. The lock keeps kids out and jewelry in.

It’s also nice to have a locking cabinet for times when you have strangers – or semi-strangers – in your home.

For example, when we were showing our previous home for sale I felt confident that none of my pieces would “disappear”.   Granted, someone could pry the cabinet off the wall and haul it out the door (although we’d have certainly noticed that), but for most situations the lock is adequate. It’s a nice little bit of extra security and peace of mind.

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Other jewelry storage options

There are times, though, when you might not have the space for a bigger jewelry armoire.

This hanging jewelry organizer will go over the back of a door and then roll up for storage or travel.  It could also be hung permanently on a wall by removing the door hangers. At 22 in x 50 in it seems a bit large, in my opinion, for travel, but it definitely looks like an option for those who don’t have the space for a bigger piece of furniture (I’m thinking dorm rooms, apartments, and smaller homes).

For years before I treated myself to the bigger jewelry armoire, I used a variety of jewelry boxes and organizers to help me keep things where I could find them.

This is another jewelry box I’ve used for the past few years (except that mine is oak) and I really like it. It’s small enough to sit on top of a dresser or a shelf yet large enough to hold your best  pieces. One thing I really like about mine is that the lid has hooks to hold your daintier necklaces while there is an elasticized pouch at the bottom to tuck the pendant into safely. This helps keep those more fragile chains from getting twisted and tangled (which just makes me nuts!). It’s also lined inside which keeps precious metals, stones, or pearls from getting scratched.

Jewelry storage ideas for travel

Since I am a jewelry lover, I never leave home on a trip without planning my outfits and then deciding what jewelry I want to take with me. I’ve used a couple of different types of travel jewelry organizers, but this one that rolls is my favorite. I like that it’s small, that it has compartments to keep your jewelry separated (which prevents tangling and scratching), and that it’s easy to tuck in a variety of bags. The one I have is red eel but is set up exactly the same as this one.

I’ve also used hard sided jewelry cases when I travel but they’re not my personal preference. However, the nice thing about the hard sided ones is that they can also be used at home if your jewelry collection is small or if you just like to have a selection of your jewelry closer within reach. A hard sided case could also be easily tucked away in a safe or tamper proof box.

Jewelry storage ideas for drawers and display

For those who have more drawer space then wall space, there is a wide assortment of jewelry trays to use in your drawers (or on shelves). Before I got my jewelry armoire I was gifted with several jewelry trays one Christmas by my sister-in-law. They were perfect for my needs and space at the time.

I liked using the jewelry trays and would still be using them if I hadn’t treated myself to the jewelry armoire. The nice thing about them is that you can get them with a variety of different sized compartments to fit your specific jewelry needs. They’re also lined to keep your items looking good.

Now I’ll admit that I’ve never been one who liked my jewelry stored out in the open. I’m too prone to knocking things over and I’ve never had enough horizontal space (that wasn’t taken up with books and such) to find a system useful. But lots of people do like the “boutique” look of having their jewelry on display and using it as decorations. If your this suits your style, this  jewelry stand is 12″ by 16″ tall and would hold a decent amount of your treasures.

How to chose the best jewelry storage option for you

Ultimately, how you decide to store and organize your jewelry depends on personal preferences and needs. You’ll want to consider:

• How large is your collection?
• Do you like open or closed storage?
• How expensive are your pieces?
• Are you worried about theft or loss?
• Do you have pieces that need special protection from scratching or tarnishing?
• What are your space requirements and limitations?
• Do you have small children who might knock items over?
• How often do you have strangers in your home?
• Do you have more wall, drawer, or shelf space?

The good thing is that there are a multitude of options to meet your needs. There’s no reason why putting the finishing touches on before you get out the door has to be a major morning headache. And anything that makes life easier when you’re getting dressed for work or a special outing is a good thing in my book. Time is frenzied enough.

It’s also important to keep your jewelry clean. Just the normal course of wearing jewelry gets them dirty even if we don’t think about it. Body oils, perfumes and lotions, and every dirt and grime tend to get in the tiny spaces of our jewelry and can dull or mar their appearance if we don’t take steps to prevent that.

I use each of the products shown in the ad below and have found them perfectly adequate to keep my pretties looking great. Do we aware that the liquid silver cleaner has a strong odor though. I know that lots of people swear by jewelry cleaning machines but I’ve never used one. Having said that, I’m pretty religious in cleaning my jewelry frequently so that oils and dirt don’t get build up in the first place. But if you tend to ignore your jewelry for long periods then a machine might be just what you need to make those baubles shine like you just walked out of the jewelry store.