Mini-Project

I have been struggling with finding a way to organize and store my jewelry. During my move, I ended up throwing away several hopelessly tangled necklaces (don't worry- I salvaged as many beads as I could), and am constantly frustrated at the annoyance of trying to find matching earrings in my hodge-podge of a jewelry box.

Looking back through my old Blueprint mags, I came across this idea in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue:

I love tree branches anyway, and this is so rustic AND elegant at the same time. I really do plan to get this system worked out for my own jewelry (although- realistically- how many pieces of jewelry could you fit on that branch? And I know I don't have space for multiple jars with branches in them throughout my apartment).

In the meantime, I finally got fed up on Sunday, and put together a make-shift organization system on the back of my bedroom closet door:

It's not the most beautiful/stylish display right now- but I plan to maybe put an empty frame around the space, replace the standard push pins with some decorative ones, and try to make the display a little more symmetrical. Honestly, I am just glad to be able to open the closet door and find a matching pair of earrings right off the bat!

Has anyone else come across an ingenious way to store and organize your jewelry?

My new digs

SOOO, it's been awhile! I have a reason- besides the fact that work has been a particularly debilitating nightmare the past three weeks (like- 20 Excel spreadsheets open at a TIME nightmare-), I moved!

The move itself was soo much harder than I anticipated. I'd been holed up in my last place for almost four years, and it's amazing how much stuff you can amass when you have that much time and way too much space.

Just to interject a short story about the move- at 2:45 am on the last night I was legally allowed to be in my apartment- and only about an hour after Glenn and I hoisted my one-cushioned loveseat that would never find a home onto his Xterra and stealthily drove it to the dumpster and crammed it in there (feigning ignorance of the giant sign that says "Please Do NOT dispose of furniture at this recepticle)- we stood in the mostly empty apartment, feeling sentimental. It was the place I've lived for more years than any other, save my childhood house in Jonesboro. Then, we turned to leave. And promptly knocked over the 80% full can of white primer. With the top on loosely. And it went EVERYWHERE. I thought Glenn was going to throw up (he doesn't handle stress the best...) I ran out to my car, grabbed my fabric shower curtain liner (which I had PLANNED to use again- it was still pretty new), and while Glenn cut it into strips, I frantically tried to wipe the primer from the floor. Thank God it happened in the foyer, where there is this fake-wood linoleum. Somehow, 45 minutes later, we had managed to get it all up. But I could see our perfectly-preserved (to that point) security deposit just SLIPPING away as that primer spread across the floor.

So, anyways, I am in the new place. And it's great!! Right in the heart of town, in the Highlands- I can walk places! That I want to walk to!!
I wanted to post some photos here for you to see. And mention some projects I have in mind.
This is the house my apartment is in. I have the bottom left. The porch is ALL MINE!!!
One of my first projects will be to recover all the couch cushions. I love this couch, but the fabric has seen better days... I also need to figure out how to fill all the wall space- the ceilings are 12 feet. Hmmm, I also need to learn how to take better photos, lol.
This is a pretty good shot of the kitchen. I'm not crazy about the plum color of some of the wall areas- but I am still wiped from priming my last place. Painting is not very high on my list of must-do projects right now...

I just really like this door and window layout- and that's how I access my porch!! (yes, I still have random boxes laying around).
The bedroom- smaller than my last, but I like it! I have finally decided that I am old enough to have a headboard. So I am going to make one. I like this one:

And the doggy. :) But I have enough of those...

Speaking of which! Here is a gratuitous Yoshi-shot. He is chewing his new bone. Just being adorable.
He is afraid of the hardwood floors- keeps slipping on them- and he also thinks that the air vents are somehow to blame- he is REALLY wary of those...so he spends a lot of time on the rug in the living room.

So, to recap- got a new place. Lots to do, including recovering my couch cushions, creating a new headboard, and trying my hand at planting some flowers on the porch. I'll keep you updated! Now time for dinner...spaghetti with day-old breadcrumbs and anchovies....yum...