I know that 2013 is over (and thus, also, is my “50 Weeks to Organized” project), but what I didn’t tell you was that I still haven’t finished posting about my last two projects.
So today, you get my second-to-last project of the year (Jewelry) that I had been putting off until the end only because I had to find the PERFECT box to hold all of my jewelry.
Now, when I started going through all my necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, I quickly realized one thing:
I had never—never!—gotten rid of any jewelry in my entire life.
I’m not even kidding—I had jewelry there from all the way back when I was in 7TH GRADE (the grade I’m TEACHING now), and I had necklaces that had been broken for 5 years and earrings that hadn’t seen their mate in about 8.
My fear-based hoarding tendencies were at their strongest apparently when it came to holding onto the lovely, sparkly baubles that are so symbolic of womanhood and outer beauty—I kept having to quash down that voice in my head that kept insisting: “But what if you FIND that other earring?” and “Surely it can’t be THAT hard to fix that necklace?!”
But quash that voice I did—I started paring down with reckless abandon, drawing upon all the de-owning willpower I had gained over a year of heavy simplifying.
So what if those were perfectly good bracelets? I had never worn them once!
So what if those chandelier earrings were cute? I couldn’t wear them for more than about 2 hours because they felt like they were going to pull clean through my ears! (a rational fear, btw, as it was something that happened to my sister)
Once I got everything sorted out (and had a stack of about 35 things to throw away or donate), I was still unsatisfied—I hated the ugly plastic drawers I’d been using to hold all that stuff before, and I hated how the top of my dresser had become a catch-all for all my lotions, spare buttons, and random socks.
But finally, after lots of throwing away and moving around and buying organizational containers, I was left to find the one last item to make this spot in my bedroom “finished”:
The perfect jewelry box.
And find it we did, for a mere $35 at the local antiques store. Not only is it well made, lined in velvet, and totally classy-looking, but it EASILY holds all of the jewelry I had decided to keep.
I smile every time I see it.
Do you have a lot of jewelry you need to get rid of? Here is the process I went through:
To-Do List: Jewelry
*Separate out all the pieces of jewelry that are broken and deal with them right now. If you don’t think you’ll be able to fix them (or are not willing to try), throw them out now. If it’s missing a piece that you’re willing to buy to fix it, put it on your shopping list.
*Sort out all earrings that are missing a mate. If you haven’t seen the other one in more than a year or two, chuck the ones you have left.
*With the remaining jewelry, ask yourself the following questions:
-is it still in style?
-do I wear it often?
-do I honestly love it?
-do I have clothes that go well with it?
-would I notice it if it were gone?
*If you answer “no” to more than one of the above questions, toss it or put it in the “donate” pile immediately (and don’t even think about taking it back!)
*If you feel on the fence about a certain piece, issue yourself a challenge that you must wear it within the next two weeks. If you haven’t wanted to wear it or found a chance to fit it into one of your outfits in that time frame, get rid of it.
I was able to get really ruthless with this particular project, and I absolutely love knowing that the only jewelry I have left is stuff that I actually love and that I’ll wear frequently. It’s so nice too that my necklaces aren’t getting all tangled up together (partly because they actually have room to breathe now) and that I’m not having to sift through a bunch of random junk to get to the pieces I want to wear.
My biggest thought when I was finished was, “WHY ON EARTH DID I NOT DO THIS SOONER?!”
Are you a jewelry hoarder? Do you still have stuff in your jewelry box from when you were a young teenager?
Come on now…admit it…
I KNOW I’m not the only one.
