Storage Ideas for your Jewelry

If you are a jewelry designer like me, you will soon end up accumulating tons and tons of beautiful supplies - headpins, jump rings, beads, crystals, chains, links, crimps, pearls, findings, clasps and what not. Not taking proper storage measures to neatly organize these little building blocks of jewelry can be the perfect recipe for clutter and chaos later on. From my experience, it is always a good idea to start right from the beginning, when you start to slowly accumulate these supplies. Start with a few stackable storage boxes and build up depending on how much your supply collection grows.

Here are some great ways to store your jewelry supplies or finished jewelry

 Divided Clear Boxes with multiple compartments

13-1/8" x 9" Clear 24-Compartment Box from The Container Store

 This compartment storage box closes tight, is easy to see whats inside without opening and has numerous little divided spaces that can each store your small jewelry beads and findings. You can also label each compartment as the dividing bars are quite tall. Or you can buy several of these boxes and stack them up for a cohesive feel to your supplies shelf. I label each box with a number, and then label each separate space with whats inside. To refer back later, I have a separate inventory book that tells me what each box (identified by its number) contains. This system takes some time and lot of patience to start, but once it is set up, you will thank the world for this system saving valuable time that you would otherwise spend trying to find that headpin or jumpring.

Non-jewelry makers can also find this box a big help : you can sort and separate all your earrings and store them in these little spaces, this way it is easy to find what you are looking for when in a hurry and the gold earrings wont mix up with the silver ones. Closing the box reduces chances of tarnishing as well.

Multi Drawer Small Cabinets

Multi-Drawer Cabinets from The Container Store

The best thing about these cabinets is that they can either be wall mounted or stored on table top. The Container Store has these efficient organizers in a variety of shapes and sizes that is worth checking out. You simply pull out each mini-drawer and store your supplies or jewelry.  These are also perfect  for storing any craft or art supplies, scrapbooking stuff or small tools.

Anti-Tarnish Bags

Pro-Tectant Anti-Tarnish Anti-Rust Plastic Bags from Rio Grande

Sometimes, you don't want to leave chain or findings made of precious metals (sterling silver or 14K gold) exposed to air in the stackable drawers. For such instances, you can add another level of security by storing them in these anti tarnish bags that are self sealed and prevent tarnish or rust formation for about 12 months/bag. I label each bags with what is inside and store several such bags in small storage bins.

What methods do you use to store your jewelry supplies? Share with me!