Monday, November 4, 2013

DIY Jewelry Drawer Liner

I was in New York last week and stopped by the Chelsea Flea for an hour or two of browsing. I couldn't take any furniture home with me like old times, but I picked up a few fun pieces of jewelry (this one was my favorite find). I was excited about getting to wear my new jewelry, but admittedly I might have been equally as excited about getting home and just putting the jewelry away. :)

 photo DIYJEWELRYDRAWER.jpg

When I spruced up the Pax wardrobes for our bedroom recently, I came up with a few jewelry storage DIYs that have completely changed the way I accessorize while getting dressed. After years of cramming all of my jewelry into one unorganized box, I finally have a place for everything!

Every day this week I've got a different jewelry storage project to share with you, and first up is a few tips on how to make a functional jewelry drawer (with a liner!) in your dresser. Here's the how-to...

I've written before about wanting a jewelry armoire (this one was so pretty!), but why forfeit the floor real estate? I gave up the top drawer of my wardrobe dresser for jewelry and it's so nice to have a place that's both out of sight but easily accessible and organized.

 photo qDSC_0665.jpg

 photo wDSC_0619.jpg

It's important to line a jewelry drawer with felt or velvet to help all the jewelry and storage containers stay in place when you pull out and shut the drawer.

 photo IMG_8271.jpg

I wanted my liner to be a similar color to the wardrobe so I found a scrap remnant in my fabric stash of this teal silk velvet. I also used the IKEA box that the drawer pieces came in because I knew it would be just about the perfect size to fit inside the drawer bottom. 

 photo IMG_8275.jpg

I cut it down just a bit, to be around an eighth of an inch short on both sides (this makes a little room for the velvet).

 photo wIMG_8277.jpg

Then I used my beloved Fabritac to sort of upholster the piece of cardboard.

 photo IMG_8279.jpg

I pulled the edges tight enough that there was no need to glue in the center area of the cardboard.

 photo wIMG_8283.jpg

It's so hard to get wrinkles out of velvet! Thankfully the wrinkles let up naturally after a day or two of being pulled flat.

 photo aIMG_8288.jpg

The upholstered cardboard just slips into the drawer and sits at the bottom. 

 photo QDSC_0599.jpg

The velvet makes it so I can lay out some of my most frequently worn bracelets and bangles and they don't slide around at all.  

 photo QDSC_0608.jpg

I also added a few little containers for storing some of my earrings and rings (the black and white ring tray was a $10 Amazon find and the others were mostly from a thrift store).

 photo wDSC_0596.jpg

I'm loving having a jewelry drawer in my wardrobe dresser! I've been wearing more and different pieces of jewelry lately because it's so much easier to see what I have now that it's all laid out for me.