Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Through the Looking Glass

It's been a long time since I've made any updates to my dressing room, so I wanted to share a useful little project I recently completed.

Before:  no place to store my jewellery (of which I admittedly have a lot, but I make jewellery - I've gotta model my own product, right?  That's what I tell myself, anyway)

fun fact: I've had this full-length mirror for as long as I can remember. The frame's been painted many different colours over the years, and painting it was one of my earliest 'decor' diy projects. (That first pre-teen attempt was to paint it blue with a black zigzag. No explanation for that one)

But after some sketching and building (and, ok, maybe a little re-thinking and re-building...) I came up with this:



After: Problem solved!  Lots of room for rings, earrings, and necklaces, and the mirror doesn't have to lean against the wall anymore - I even found a mod wallpaper remnant to pretty it up a bit (just $5 for almost a full roll at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  Have I mentioned how much I love the ReStore?!).


Rings are stored on pieces of wood dowel set into the pine framework, earrings hang from a metal bbq grill found on clearance and spray-painted brown, and S-hooks are used to hang necklaces from lengths of thin metal rod.


And as much as I love my jewellery, my favourite part is how it all disappears.  As you may remember from here, this room has just about everything else stored out in the open, so I wanted to keep this part of it looking sleek and un-cluttered.  I also think this piece will look even better when I get around to painting over the blah beige on these walls, but I haven't been able to settle on a colour yet. (Suggestions?)

Anyway, though I'm reluctant to think about just how long I've been picking away at this project (it looks simple, but it definitely tested my problem-solving skills!), I think the lesson here is that eventually any project can be finished. Timely, because remember my goal of completing that project I recently gave you a sneak peek of? Yeah, it didn't exactly materialize this weekend.  :(  A few significant steps closer, but still not finished.  One day, it too will be complete!

So, what do you think of my storage solution?  Do you prefer to keep your jewellery out on display?

12 comments:

  1. I love this so much! Rings on dowels- genius. Same with the BBQ grate. It's like a mini hidden jewelry armoire... great job, really.

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  2. I think this is pretty awesome and totally want to do it in my old house now too. I too have a little room we're using as a closet and *this* idea would be fantastic for it. Was it difficult to build?

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  3. Thanks, guys!

    Amanda@geekdetails: Not sure if you're asking about the jewellery storage piece or the closet itself. Neither was overly difficult, both just took a bit of careful planning!

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  4. This is so amazing! Well Done! Any chance you can post some plans, tools and instructions and such up for the rest of us???

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  5. What about stud earrings? The BBQ grate wouldn't work for those, right?

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  6. You're right, Jenn. If you wanted it to hold stud earrings, you'd need to find something with smaller holes. I don't usually wear that style, so the bbq grill worked for me! :)

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  7. I would love some DIY tips! Thanks!!!

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  8. How did you put it on the wall?

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  9. Thanks Maryse Nicole!

    Samantha: I just drilled/chiseled out space in the back to put in some keyhole hangers (similar to these: http://www.amazon.com/OOK-50236-20-Pound-Keyhole-Hangers/dp/B008LFWNME ), then hung it on a couple of screws in the wall.

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tell me what you think!