Summer School = Organizing & DIY Opportunities

So, I've been a cleaning & organizing machine what with both the boys in summer school for the first time ever!!  Inspired by a blog post I ran across here on the Mini Manor Blog, and fed up by all the searching for "that necklace" or "those earrings", I decided to clean out & organize my personal stash of jewelry.

I'd been storing my jewelry in these shallow top drawers of my dresser:

 Here's just one of the drawers, in two shots:

:

As you can see, what used to be organized jewelry drawers had become a hot mess!

I decided to both clean out & reorganize my drawers & to add hanging bamboo cutlery trays (a la Mini Manor Blog) to my walk-in closet for all my necklaces & my favorite rings.  I opted out of painting the trays, as I have both white & oak accents in my walk-in & figured the natural bamboo would look fine.  I did not use screw-in hooks, but rather some Command adhesive hooks--I went with silver hooks on clear bases.  Here's a picture of the cutlery trays with hooks applied:




I also added hooks to the bottom of one of the trays to hang long necklaces from (oops--forgot to take a before pic).

Here's what the drawers look like all organized.  I organized by metals, type, color.  Cue the angel choir!!

Drawer Number 1 in two shots:

 Drawer No. 2 in two shots:

That's all well & good, but what about the cutlery trays, you say?  Wait for it...

Here's the blank space in my closet before:

And, here it is after:

There are actually 4 trays end to end--I just screwed them into the wall--but my closet isn't deep enough to get all 4 in one shot.  Here are some close-ups of the cutlery trays in action--see how the long necklaces hang from the hooks attached to the bottom of the bottom tray?  :D

I am now positively giddy about picking out my jewelry for the day!  How about you?  Have you come up with any creative storage solutions?

~Melissa

A Whole New World...

So, my baby started Kindergarten summer school this week, along with my now 3rd grader, which means that for the first time in almost 9 (nine!) years, I have the entire day to myself--at least through the end of June, when summer school ends.  This will begin again--permanently--in August.  In the meantime, I'm driven to accomplish a long list of household organization & cleaning.  For years, I've thought, if I ever had a whole day to myself, I could accomplish so much...  So far, I've taken 5 bags to Goodwill, moved around the master bedroom, cleaned out & reorganized the master closet, including switching to those thin velvet hangers (Love.Them).  Next, I'm cleaning out the mass of jewelry...  Pics & more posted soon.  Happy Weekend!!