12 Jewelry Storage Ideas to Keep Accessories Tangle-Free

Learn how to organize jewelry to keep your collection tidy, untangled, and ready to use.

Jewelry requires special storage to ensure it remains safe and tangle-free. Because they vary in size and shape, different types of jewelry might need to be sorted and stored separately—long necklaces, for example, will be organized much differently than your stud earrings. Whatever you do, you should never toss your jewelry into a pile!

Before you begin organizing jewelry, inspect your collection for damaged pieces or those you no longer wear, and discard, repair, or donate unused items. This is also a good time to clean your jewelry so the pieces are polished and ready to wear before you put them away. Then, follow these ideas for storing jewelry safely and effectively.

Related: How to Clean Jewelry with Ingredients You Have at Home

1. Designate a Jewelry Drawer

Assign a drawer in your closet or bedroom for storing jewelry. Shallow drawers typically work best so the pieces are easily accessible. Use a jewelry drawer organizer with compartments in multiple sizes so you can sort necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more within the separate slots. If you have space within the drawer, stack another jewelry tray on top of the first to double your storage.

2. Reuse Vintage Finds for Jewelry Organization

Find creative ways to store and display jewelry using flea market finds. A vintage frame fitted with a mesh screen, for example, makes a clever organizer for dangly earrings. Add small S-hooks for hanging long necklaces or bracelets. Antique dishware, including bowls, trays, or even teacups, provides a pretty spot to store bracelets or rings.

3. Make Everyday Accessorizing Easy

Organize your everyday jewelry in plain sight near your getting-ready station to make it easy to grab your favorite accessories. Keep necklaces knot-free by hanging them on a makeup mirror or wall-mounted hooks or knobs. Place smaller items in decorative trays, dishes, or bowls that are big enough so pieces won't intermix. Keep a small vessel on your nightstand as a safe place to drop the earrings or necklaces you forgot to put away before getting under the covers.

4. Keep Your Jewelry Collection Visible

Give every trinket its own spot so pieces won't get broken, misplaced, tangled, lost, or inadvertently tossed. Store earrings, necklaces, watches, and bracelets in specialty jewelry holders that are open to view. Seeing your treasures lets you do a visual inventory, which will alert you when something's gone astray. For an easy DIY jewelry organizer, stack chunky bangles and wide bracelets on a standing paper-towel holder or a bottle's neck (fill the bottle with sand to keep it steady).

5. Store Necklaces on Hooks

Hanging necklaces individually prevents snarled messes of pearls and pendants. Placing them where they can be seen means you'll wear them more often. The simplest solution? Attach decorative hooks directly to a wall in your dressing area to display necklaces. Alternatively, purchase a hanging jewelry organizer designed to be mounted on the wall.

Related: The 13 Best Jewelry Organizers to Safeguard Your Trinkets and Treasures

6. Organize Jewelry into Compartments

A painter's palette provides a fun foundation for storing jewelry. Outfit the tray with a footed dish, a smaller bowl, and a cup to hold jewelry, makeup, and makeup brushes. Use the crannies as caches for rings, earrings, and extra earring backs. Another jewelry organizer option is compartmentalized trays and platters.

7. Try a Jewelry Organizer Stand

Avert loss, breakage, and underuse by storing earrings on a good-looking organizer set atop a dressing table or a bathroom vanity countertop. Readily available in a number of styles and sizes, these jewelry organizer stands let you easily see all your options. The versatile design allows longer pieces to freely dangle while corralling small posts as pairs.

8. Protect Your Fine Jewelry

Protect your investment by storing fine jewelry and special-occasion gems inside jewelry organizer boxes ($30, The Container Store). These jewelry storage solutions keep rarely used pieces safe, organized, and dust-free. Use stackable plastic jewelry boxes or drawstring jewelry bags to hold bulkier bracelets and necklaces.

9. Fill a Jewelry Pocket Organizer

You can find an array of ready-made hanging jewelry organizers equipped with individual pockets ideally suited to storing statement jewelry. Use hooks to suspend a jewelry or shoe organizer from a curtain rod where you get dressed. These hanging organizers are not meant for holding delicate or valuable jewelry pieces; they're best suited for storing chunky bracelets or necklaces and fashion rings.

10. Use Divided Jewelry Organizers

Shop for drawer inserts equipped with compartments and slots that sort your baubles by type. Use specialty jewelry drawer inserts or repurpose kitchen-drawer cutlery holders, colorful ice-cube trays, or dividers that allow you to customize a drawer's interior. Label each section so you always put your jewels back in their proper place.

11. Create a DIY Jewelry Organizer

Cover a cork bulletin board with bold fabric and add decorative mesh or metal screening to a frame to create customized jewelry organizers. Use pearl-headed pushpins for holding necklaces on the bulletin board; hook earring wires through openings in the screen. On a dresser or countertop nearby, place a bracelet holder and a divided tray to catch post earrings and rings.

12. Hang a Wall Jewelry Organizer

Purchase a wall-mounted jewelry organizer to hang above your dressing table. For a DIY wall jewelry organizer, you can also customize a shallow cabinet with paint, patterned fabric or wallpaper, and black velvet linings. Outfit the interior with hooks for hanging necklaces, slotted dividers to hold earrings, and cubbyholes for piling up bracelets.

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