Earring organiser

Every girl has a thing. It might be shoes, handbags, make up, glossy fingernails or silk scarves. My thing is earrings. They're the one accessory that I can't leave the house without wearing. They don't need to be fancy or elaborate, but they do need to be worn.

I've collected a fair few pairs of earrings over the years. Some are cheap, everyday earrings and easily replaceable. Others (usually gifts) are more valuable, special occasion earrings or parts of jewellery sets. The one thing they all have in common, though, is the issue of storage.

Up until recently, my everyday earrings lived in a small makeup bag. The only way to find a matching pair to wear each morning was to dump them all onto a flat surface, pull them apart, select one then rustle through the rest in search of a partner. Often I'd select a few different options and the first matching partner I found declared that pair the winner for the day.

Which one goes with which?

I figured there must be a better way to tackle this each day.

Enter social media. Ideas like the one at the bottom of this page have been popping up in various timelines for a while. I like the way an everyday sewing box keeps pairs of earrings together without taking up too much space. They can also be tucked away in a cupboard or drawer instead of being out on display.

Last weekend, I finally got around to sorting our my earrings for myself. The process began by purging single earrings and random butterfly clasps. A $10 sewing box from The Warehouse has become an earring apartment building, where my everyday earrings happily live in pairs and can cohabit with pairs that are a different shape, style or colour. No more piles of earrings on the bed every morning!

Earring flatmates - pairs that can live with another without getting lost.

My special occasion earrings and sets still live in their boxes while my everyday necklaces and accessories are happy hanging out on their jewellery doll.

Jewellery doll

(By the way, I'm as surprised as anyone that I'm actually in a position to share a tip for organising stuff! Whoever would have thought?!)