{Organization} Jewelry Storage

Hey hey friends!  It’s so good to finally be back to share a project with you – this having two kids in two different sports thing is really putting a damper on my to-do list… but it has been fun to watch them each embrace a team sport and make new friends so it’s all worth it, right?  (And season ends soon – woohoo!)

So I have one of those ClosetMaid storage systems in my closet to help corral purses and scarves, and it had turned into a drop zone for all of my accessories (not in a good way).  I finally decided to tackle the tangled mess and organize my jewelry once and for all.

After saying I would DIY a frame for my jewelry for about a year and never getting around to it, I finally just gave in and bought this one at Hobby Lobby (for 50% off).  It was a great solution to my mess of accessories.  And for the sake of keeping it real, here ya go:

I’d love to have a “real” piece of furniture here but my closet is just too small so this will have to do for now.  I’ve thought of a few little ways to spiff up this particle board masterpiece, but in all honesty, who really cares?  It’s in my closet.  It serves its purpose.  And Lord knows I have far better projects to work on… okay, well maybe I’ll just switch out the handles.

Riiiiight.

Anyhoo, here’s a few more pics:

The two Command Hooks on the side keep seasonal scarves at the ready and the vintage glass bowl holds extra long necklaces and additional flower brooches.

Like any good control freak organizer, my baubles are arranged in a ROYGBIV colourway.  It makes me very happy to look at my spectrum of costume jewelry, and it makes it easy to accessorize when I’m getting dressed.  I find I’m wearing my jewelry more now that it’s organized and accessible.

There are so many other great ideas out there for jewelry organization.  Have you come up with any great ideas?

{Organization} Family Command Center

Life is busy.  Between kids’ events, work schedules, activities, parties, and the rest of the social calendar, it can sometimes be hard to keep everything straight.  Today I’m sharing our Family Command Center, which has really helped us organize our schedules and keep our family running smoothly.

The Command Center is located in the hallway between our laundry room and kitchen.  It’s an area we pass through multiple times throughout the day so it’s perfect as far as convenience.  It’s also an area that doesn’t get a lot of natural light, so bear with me on the photos…

The wall calendar is the Daily System from Pottery Barn.  I tried finding separate pieces to put together this same type of unit, but I really liked the look and versatility of the Daily System so I ultimately decided to purchase it.  I waited until these were on sale and then used a 15% off coupon and was able to get these for a great price.  Right now I have the corkboard, wall pocket, and magnetic dry erase calendar and I’ll probably add more pieces soon in place of the chalkboards.

The small chalkboards are the plain slate kind that you can get at any crafts store.  The larger chalkboard was a magnetic memo board that I painted with chalk paint; I painted all of the borders with Duck Egg Blue chalk paint so they would coordinate.

The small chalkboards are my girls’ list of daily chores.  I’ve recently had them start sweeping their rooms weekly so my youngest added “swiffer” to her list.  A girl after my own heart…

The corkboard holds school menus and announcements and the pockets hold my and Mr. home.made.’s mail until we have a chance to look at it.

And the piece de resistance… the color-coded family calendar.

Yes, you read that correctly.  For all you doubters… try it and see what a difference it makes.  Once everyone gets used to their designated color (it will take a little bit of training), it’s so easy for them to look at the calendar and see what’s happening that week for them.

Now we all know when daddy works, what time practices and games are scheduled, and of course… when there is a holiday or school break.  (Illustrations are optional :))

I fill out this calendar at the beginning of every month and then double check the coming week each Sunday just in case something has changed or was added to our schedule.  Since implementing this, our little party of four is pretty much on the same page every week and heck, we even manage to be on time too!

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Have you implemented a Family Command Center or something similar and had success with it?  I don’t know what I’d do without mine!