jewelry

The materials for this project have been hiding under my kitchen table (a.k.a. my craft table, a.k.a. our microwave table) for several months and I finally had a chance this weekend to put them all together and make this pretty DIY jewelry holder!

This project only took me a few hours and I really love how it turned out. I tried some hand painting just for something different, but it would also look nice decorated with decopauged fabric or stenciled paint. The glass knobs are a feminine touch, and I’m more than happy to display my necklaces as pieces of art on my wall (most of them are by my talented friend, Bella’s Beaudoir of Jewelry).

It’s clear that I love hacking Ikea things, and this project was no exception!

Materials:

• wooden cutlery tray (I found mine at IKEA)
• paint (I used latex paint samples I bought from testing colours for our new house)
• knobs (I used pretty glass ones)
• cup hooks

Directions:

Sand the tray thoroughly (the back of this tray was laminate, so it helps paint to stick and look nice and smooth). Paint all sides and crevices carefully with a brush (I used Valspar’s Tempered Gray for my main colour).

Let the coat dry, and then paint another coat.

I chose to add some hand painted details inside the boxes of the tray with white paint (Valspar’s Ultra White) and one of my daughter’s little craft brushes, but you could also skip this step or try painting with a stencil (or painting the back panels a different solid colour). The options are endless!

One of the best furniture painting tips that I learned last year was to always finish up with a few coats of clear Varathane to protect the paint and give it a satiny smooth finish. I used two coats on this project.

Next, attach the knobs to the tops of each compartment. I used super glue instead of a drill – it was a lot easier and it seems to be holding well!

Screw the little cup hooks along the bottom of the tray (I used 5). I started trying to do these by hand, and then finally gave up and had my hubby drill pilot holes so that they were easier!

This tray happened to have a nice ledge at the back that I used to hang it, but if yours doesn’t you’ll need to attach some kind of picture hanger to the back.

I didn’t have enough knobs for all of my panels, but I’ve decided that I’ll leave the big one knob-free. It looks cute as a little brooch or bracelet shelf!

Oh, this is a much better (and prettier) way to store my necklaces than the jumbled mess I had on my dresser before!

It’s amazing what a little bit of paint and glue can do (and how much I’m falling in love with this soft, gentle gray as a potential colour for our new house)!

How do you store your jewelry?