Pain-free ways to detox that cluttered jewelry box
PURGING PIECES: Host a party or repurpose items to save space
Debbie Roes owns the largest jewelry box she could find, but it was still so full she had difficulty seeing her belongings. So she decided to de-clutter it as part of an overall purge of her possessions and the result made her happy.
“It used to be so cluttered that I didn’t really know what I had and many pieces I loved weren’t being worn,” said the San Diego native.
Many people accumulate extra jewelry over the years and could benefit from organizing it better. That might mean discarding, giving away, selling, repairing or repurposing pieces, said Cyndy Aldred, author of Idiot’s Guides: Organizing Your Life.
Begin by weeding out those you never wear. Roes quickly parted with 20 of her 282 pieces. She also pulled out jewelry that was broken and either had it fixed or got rid of it.
If you’re unsure about discarding something, Aldred suggested, put it in a box in a harder-to-reach location. If you haven’t retrieved it after a year, get rid of it, she said.
She also suggested having a jewelry exchange party for friends to swap pieces.
Compared to clothing, jewelry is easy to give to friends and relatives because it’s usually one size fits all, Roes noted.
Kathy Zaltas, who owns Zaltas Gallery of Fine Jewelry in Mamaroneck, N.Y., said customers often bring in their jewelry boxes or ones they have inherited, wondering what to do with the contents. Zaltas helps them determine which pieces are valuable, which could be repaired or made into something new and which could be sold.
She also works with clients to transform out-of-date pieces into something new. Carol Manire almost never takes off the necklace that Zaltas made from some of her mother’s old jewelry. She had taken several pieces into the store after her mother passed away because keeping them in a safe at her home in Port Chester, N.Y., “felt like I was not honouring her memory properly.”
She and Zaltas did a “lot of back and forth,” she said, “turning it into something I really love and is meaningful to me.”
Roes, who blogs about her efforts at recoveringshopaholic.com, has heard from readers who frame heirloom pieces or find other ways to display them.
Another option is to store sentimental pieces somewhere less accessible than your jewelry box to save space, Aldred said.
“My jewelry box is stuff that I regularly wear,” she said. “Purging and reorganizing how we store our jewelry and accessories is a great way to save time and frustration when we’re getting ready (to go out) because we can go right to the pieces we are looking for.”