apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=319047

George Nelson made a jewelry box.

I don't suggest a piece of furniture - an immediate target for burglars, and most aren't even lockable.

A lockable jewelry keep is portable and can be stashed away in a credenza, closet or home safe.

I recommend those from Rowallan of Scotland.

http://rowallanusa.com/product_categories.php?/products/dede/&collection_id=5&item_id=36-5324&category_id=6

Um wow that George Nelson is 18 grand! Did AT just post an Ikea hack of that?

My jewelry is stored in the top two drawers of my dresser in about 20 teacups and saucers. I am sure this idea was either from Martha Stewart or Domino.

The insides of the drawer are lined with cherry blossoms from the Paper Source and the teacups were $.45 each from my local goodwill. It is beautiful, practical and affordable.

I have also seen a collection of teacups in a wooden tray from WestElm that was also nice.

Bracelets and hoops go in the cups, dangle earrings hang from the rims. All of my necklaces are on pins in a cork board. Also lovely.

Good luck,
~Korin

I don't have a suggestion, I just think this post is hilarious. "Doesn't look like ass" "Kind of Taller" I'm dying.

I use vintage train cases -- two or three of them.

There was an ikea hack of the George Nelson jewelery box on AT this week.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/hi-and-low-ikea-hack-of-the-george-nelson-jewelry-cabinet-091022

Search overstock.com for "jewelry armoire." I spent several months looking for a jewelry storage method that would meet my own parameters (funny, I also wanted something that didn't look like ass) and finally found one that doubles as a full-length mirror in my small studio:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Carson-Oak-Jewelry-Armoire/3024026/product.html

Well, this is a problem I tried to solve for a long while, and never quite got it. Same as you, wanted something modern, but never saw a huge EXPENSIVE furniture piece as the solution. And really, I wanted to hang my necklaces, so it had to be big, so jewelry boxes wouldn't work, etc....

Here's what finally worked for me - I hung a few small shelves in the inside of my closet, with a bunch of small holes drilled in, where I screwed in cup hooks. Hung all of my necklaces from that, which works great.

Then, for the stuff that doesn't get tangled - bracelets, earrings, the like, I just used some nice jewelry boxes - simple and stackable and pretty. West Elm has some nice metallic ones, or you can go far cheaper in Bed Bath and Beyond versions, or pretty much anywhere.

Expensive jewelry remains in the cases they were bought. But I don't have much of that :)

Basically, give up the search for a one-holder-for-all solution, and go for several smaller ones.

I think you could hack any simple shoe cabinet or lingerie cabinet like this:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30152600

I would study the various jewelery cabinets and decide what you need. Ring dowels? chain hooks? trays? Then do some measuring and planning and get the various components you'll need to customize the various compartments.

It would be very easy to screw in cup hooks for chains:
http://www.amazon.com/HINDLEY-Brs-Cup-Hook-Inches/dp/B000HS4I2G/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1249585847&sr=1-7

Glue (or screw) in some vertically positioned dowels for rings:
http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Dowel-Rods-Wood/dp/B0000VM44E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1249585940&sr=1-1

Once I used some cafe curtain rod hardware to suspend a dowel from which I hung a kimono. The same concept could be used to install horizontal removable rods:
http://curtainrods.com/Images/J706E.jpg

You can get velvet lined jewelry trays and install them like shelves. Glue squared dowels to the sides and back like support brackets and rest the trays on the the supports.
http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/28-117-wood-dowels/1-x-36-square-dowel--636323.aspx

http://www.homedecorators.com/Furniture/Bedroom/Jewelry_Armoires/

Maybe one of the ones from the Home Decorators Collection? Most are under $500, dark brown and black, and around 43".

Jewelry cabinets attract broken chains and grandma earrings. They also steal too much floor room.

Go for a wall-mounted medicine cabinet or one of those map chests that hide beneath the bed.

You might also opt for a spice cabinet.

or how about something you could mount on the wall and paint black:

http://www.onewayfurniture.com/se-vm5062.html

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Cherry-Jewelry-Armoire/2466450/product.html

http://www.overstock.com/Gifts-Flowers/Kendall-Standing-White-Jewelry-Armoire/4026899/product.html

I have never seen a jewelry box I like and I agree that it is a target for burglars. I have a cheap, easy solution. I keep one of these, clear compartment boxes from the ContainerStore in my top drawer. http://tiny.cc/WpBNX

With lots of little dividers they are perfect for me to separate my earrings from bracelets from necklaces. You can move the spacers around in the larger version of these to accommodate the size of your jewelry pieces. You can take off the lid or keep it as it is see-through making it easy to find what you're looking for at a glance.

Jewelry armoires are like putting a sign on the wall saying "Steal the Good Stuff Here".

I keep the diamonds in a vault and daily wear in a bathroom drawer.

I'm with Korin. Get your wife to clear out a drawer or two of her dresser and use teacups, silverware trays, junk drawer dividers, ice cube trays, or a combination of all of the above to divide and organize her jewelry.

Unless your bedroom is quite large or already sparsely furnished, a jewelry armoire is just going to be a fiddly, mismatched piece of furniture to clutter up your bedroom.

I just use a bunch of these in a divided drawer:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=161&PRODID=10017411

Depending on how modern you want to go, I recently installed a Grundtal towel rail from IKEA. The hooks hold rings and earrings, and my necklaces hang on the bar. I like having everything out where I can see it, and if you really had a ton of jewelry they make them up to 4 feet long.

I second the Home Decorators Collection map chest. I have one of the narrow one. I love it! I've lined the drawers with velvet. Jewelry organization trays tuck nicely in. I can see everything laid out, so it's easy to find stuff. By laying necklaces flat, it doesn't put a strain on hooks and clasps. The drawers I haven't filled with jewelry store other stuff.

I liked Kdear's suggestion...teacups and saucers in the dresser drawer. I did a quick search and found it on Martha Stewart's website: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/stylish-jewelry-storage?autonomy_kw=jewelry

And thanks for the cute paper reminder at PaperSource!

I'm thinking of organizing my jewels (tho not the kind a burglar would be after) in wooden cutlery trays. They are long enough for most necklaces, already designed to fit in a drawer, and have smaller compartments to fit earings and bracelets. Line them with a little felt et voilá, a gentle, stackable, accessible jewelry organizer. I also like the DIY George Nelson idea and the tea cups.

i had this same issue and solved it by buying these very simple jewelry organizer boxes at organize.com - they're basically short plastic boxes lined with a velvety material and divided into sections. they stack easily and you can mix and match depending on how much of each type of jewelry you have. there's even long compartments for necklaces to be laid out flat so they don't get tangled. they fit nicely in regular dresser drawers and aren't too expensive.

I've had this problem forever and finally found a solution that works for me. For my many many long necklaces, I use the stick and release clear plastic 3M hooks, stuck on the back side of a closet door in rows.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Command/home/us_en/products/hooks/

You can alternate the row height to work with the length of you necklaces, nothing gets tangled, and the hooks aren't permanent. I love that I can see all my necklaces at a glance and I even keep hats at the bottom.

For other jewlery I use stackable trays. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=107732

If I ever have too much jewelry to fit in the two shallow top drawers of my dresser, I have too much jewelry.

Of the suggestions above, my favorite is something wall-mounted. *All* jewelry armoires are ugly beyond the power of words to describe.

The teacup/saucer idea is charming, but doesn't it waste a lot of space putting round objects in a rectangular drawer? I've sort-of divided my jewelry drawer with a thrift shop porcelain tray.

This sort of storage problem might be exactly what Ikea has a genius for solve gracefully.

Teacups was a Martha Stewart idea, and I also use that one. Though, mine are actually creamers, not teacups.

"Doesn't look like ass" is pretty subjective, but very funny. The IkeaHack is very cool.

Emily

Another vote for stick and release 3-M hooks in the closet. I put necklaces there and smaller pieces in a jewelry box.

I got a vintage tackle box on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Park-Manufacturing-metal-fishing-tackle-box_W0QQitemZ220462109025QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335490d161&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Something that looks a little more upscale would be a vintage machinists box...which are great because the little compartments are already covered in felt: http://cgi.ebay.com/BAMBOO-Tool-Chest-4-Drawer-Machinist-Wooden-Tool-Box_W0QQitemZ400062536539QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTool_Boxes_Storage?hash=item5d2595db5b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I once saw several tall exterior shutters that were used in a boutique to display earrings. With some additional hooks, they would nicely hold necklaces and bracelets. Once I get around to it, this will probably be method I'm going to use for storage. Right now I'm using a corkboard to hang everything on but finding it to be too small and kind of cumbersome.

If she has so much jewelry that you need a piece of furniture for it, I assume we're not talking about diamonds and rubies.

If that's the case, go to a "retail supply" outlet, where they sell display racks for stores. I recently went to one in Montreal (for a rolling clothes rack) and was amazed at what fabulous, chic cases they had for jewelry. With a quick Google I found this retail supply place in SF:

http://www.danielsdisplay.com/products.php?CategoryID=0003.0001.0000.0000

You can buy display boxes, inserts, stands, etc. from a jewelry supply source, like Fire Mountain Gems.

http://www.firemountaingems.com/jewelry-displays.asp

I'd just buy the velveteen inserts and lay them in a dresser drawer. Or if she really has a ton of jewelry, the glass-topped display boxes would be ideal with the chosen inserts, then stacked in a drawer.

This is also relatively inexpensive.

I have way too many earrings for regular sized jewelry boxes, and found "jewelry armoires" too twee so I finally settled on these el cheapo IKEA drawers:

(a href> http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20107873

I stuck some 3M hooks on the side for necklaces, lined the drawers with felt and divided boxes and voila - plenty of storage for all those annoyingly small accessories and/or toiletries (hairbrushes, nail polish, sunglasses, etc) in addition to jewlery.

Plus if she ever gets tired of it, you can reuse it in an office, garage, kitchen, bathroom, etc.

I got a decent one at JC Penny about two years ago. But in future, you should probably qualify what "doesn't look like ass" means, since what looks like ass to me apparently appeals to some people since it's sold in stores.

A friend found an antique dentist's cabinet at Brimfield and uses it to store her jewelry. I use a Bisley cabinet with narrow drawers and inserts in varying sizes. Works fine.

I know this solution is not for everyone b/c it sacrifices closet space, but I stashed my chest of drawers in my closet so that my (smallish) bedroom would feel a little more spacious. I converted the hanger rod that hangs over the dresser into storage for all of my necklaces and bracelets that have a clasp -- I bought a yard of cheap black velvet and sewed velcro closures so that it would wrap around the rod but come off when needed. I use one of those small IKEA 9-drawer chests for all other bracelets and earrings, and those small IKEA tealight holders instead of cups inside the drawers to hold the earrings. Works well enough for me -- I have too much jewelry for a jewelry box, but not enough for a dedicated armoire.

20 years back I bought one of the cheapo styles, similar to Home Decorators, came home assembled it, unloaded some jewelry. Hmm, it worked great, but I had too much jewelry. Ran back to Payless and bought a second unit. Well, it's been 20 years and they are still so convenient that I can't find anything better to replace these identical twin asses!! Arrggg.

Home Decorators is so cheap and convenient, just buy as many as you need, remove the "butt ugly" drawer pulls :) and paint black. Ask yr wife to keep an eye out for some cheap drawer pulls that she likes. You can add those in the future.

Things to consider: my model has those curved legs and they are so rickety that moving the units is always really awkward. After several moves they're really getting bad. Consider a model without legs. Also, I found the model with drawers is less of a hassle the the model with doors in front of the drawers. Drawers work better for lots of earrings.

Sean, be careful on this project. Once yr wife sorts, organizes, and purges all her jewelry, she might want you to take her shopping to refill the empty spaces!

I use see through hanging jewelry organizers for 3 reasons(see link below) : 1. I hang them with my clothes and they're not that obvious should there be a robbery 2. I can separate jewelry by seasons and see everything and 3. I travel a great deal for business and I can just take the whole thing instead of having to make decisions. As an afterthought, they're also not very expensive.
Jewelery armories are elegant, romantic and beautiful, but they are also attractive to thieves. The paperwork alone (and forget losing jewelery that actually means something to you) for dealing with just one robbery makes them not worth it.

http://www.organizedliving.com/product/code/4007111007.do

I store quite a bit of my jewelry on a decorative bird cage. It's a little bit of a pain because I actually hook necklaces and earrings through the wires, but the end result looks really cool. Also, the fact that it's a pain for me means it's also a pain for burglars -- we were burglarized a few months ago, and the guy didn't get much jewelry because it would've taken him too long to unhook it from the damn thing.

One thing -- make sure to have something closed for storing silver. Whatever silver I had on the birdcage tarnished very quickly, so I had to put that stuff into a box. I guess it's the air?

Burglaries? Who bothers any more unless you've got something really unusual.

http://media.csosa.gov/podcast/transcripts/?p=52

I too have been in desperate need of a taller, modern jewelry armoire that doesn't look like ass. I found a decent one at Pier1 today but I'm not in love with it. It has a geometric pattern above mirrored doors. It's about 45'' tall and has spots in the doors for necklaces. It also photographs much better than it looks in person. I live in Dallas and it's the only one left in my area. If you like it, go to any Pier1, give them the name and they can try to find one in the area or have it shipped to you. Act soon though because it's on clearance for $200 and there aren't many left.

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/carmela-jewelry-armoire