Managing jewels

I love costume jewelry. It's like ties for women. 

I had a recent comment from someone who needs advice on how to store her ever-growing collection of jewelry. I ran into that problem a few years ago too. Here are two possible solutions.

I ended up getting a kitchen storage bin (one used in drawers for large utensils) that slid open/closed to create more or less storage space. I put this in one of my dresser drawers and used it for my overflow. The great thing about it is that the large openings work great for the chunky pieces that weren't fitting in my jewelry case anymore.

There is another idea that I also like. If you have wall space in your room or closet this looks and works great and is affordable. Take a bulletin board (size depends on your wall space and jewelry collection size) and cover it with beautiful fabric (in addition to going to fabric stores, there's a great online site that I've used...I will find the address and post soon). 

Simple, lovely and functional. Now get large push pins and hang your jewels like the art that they are! This is great because it puts everything in front of you, so you see all of your options. Hang necklaces, earrings, bracelets and whatever else is a part of your collection.

You and your jewels will look fabulous!

Books taking over?

Addressing another comment, here's how to manage overflowing bookcases and piles of books.

Again, my first piece of advice is EDIT. I go through my bookcases a few times a year. It's amazing what books I've packed, moved, re-shelved and never opened. We're supposed to read books, right?

The problem is we can't make others edit their books...and that's where husband clutter can come into play. Mine always says I should be happy he likes to hold onto old stuff versus tossing it -- seems that indicates he'll be keeping me around when I'm old too!

Do what you can in this department. Take all of the books you are keeping off of your shelves and group them -- by size and category. If you have any nice picture/coffee table books put those aside for other decorating (we'll address that later). Review piles and edit more if you find you have several of the same type of books.

Put the nice books back on the shelves. You can arrange them by height, color or stack some horizontally alongside vertical stacks. Add a piece of pottery or picture to a shelf or two if you have room. This just adds some visual interest. Please do not add any fake plants. Please.

If you have a stack of paperbacks, or text books, or other less attractive books find a shelf in a storage space, closet, garage, etc. where you can stack those. Better yet, put them in a box and toss them in the attic if you can't part with them. 

If you have any coffee table books you can use those as decor in any room. Stack them on any surface - by size and color or category. I also like them stacked on a simple chair. 

As far as managing piles of often-used books such as text books, I found some great "leather" open boxes at Target or Marshall's and have a few for my husbands collections. One is in our bedroom for books and magazines and the other is in our kitchen as a "catch all" container. If leather doesn't fit your room's style, go for metal or wicker. 

I'll look for pictures and post those soon. I hope this helps. Happy editing! And, remember, libraries have tons of free books, so you don't need to buy every book you see.

Kid-friendly, adult-pretty living spaces

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your great comments, turns out starting and running a business takes a lot of work! ;)

I've had several comments all relating to storage issues. I'll address each of them in separate posts. Kids clutter solved here!

First things first, EDIT your belongings and those of your kids. We all live with too much stuff and I know that when I'm faced with a storage problem the first thing I do is pair down what I have. 

Go through your kids toys (when they aren't around) and put everything they don't love or play with on a regular basis into one of two boxes. The first box is for things he/she has outgrown and won't play with again. You can put those away for younger or future kids, or donate them to someone who will play with them. Be fierce in this editing. Keep items that are sentimental in a box (in storage, attic, etc.) for each kid (really for you!).

The second box is for things you aren't sure about and he/she may miss them if taken away. Keep that box of stuff, but hide it and see if your child asks for "X" item. After a few weeks go through the box, keep what you love and rotate it out with other toys every once in a while. That will refresh his/her toys on a regular basis. Donate or give the other items to a friend.

Many of our families give us way too much stuff for our kids. It comes from a good place, but aside from finding room to store it, it can overwhelming to kids and can teach them that they "need" all of this stuff. My kids play with the same few items -- many of them simple, everyday things -- day in and day out.

Okay, you've edited and now you need storage for your living space. My first preference is to use adult furniture to store kids toys in a living room. I have three tall bookcases that have drawers on the lower half and shelves on top. I use the drawers to store the kids toys. I put their books on my cookbook shelves in the kitchen (where they can reach them). That keeps our living space kid-friendly, but adult-pretty.

If you don't have any such options in your living room try one of these, depending on your decor, leather ottomans that open for storage, wicker baskets with or without lids, metal  bins (found at Home Depot, very affordable and modern looking), or baskets that fit in shelves you already have. Consider putting large pieces that can't go in a drawer in a bedroom.

As far as placement of these containers, try to arrange your furniture so that you can place a few behind a sofa or bookcase -- using the sofa to create a "wall" for your storage space. This won't work if your sofa is against the wall, because you want space for your child to access the toys and put them away. 

Also consider what toys can go to a grandparent's house if they live close by. I will look for some pictures of storage items I've described and post those soon.

Hope this helps a little. Edit, sort, donate and find adult-friendly storage. Good luck.