First of all, you have to have one. Whether it’s a shoe box, dresser top style, or free-standing jewelry collection piece, there’s a need to have a safe place to store your adornments.
I have a jewelry box and a small wooden rack on the wall to hold necklaces. Some need to be hanging all the time and the small unit takes care of it. These are also the ones I wear all the time.
A few years ago, I decided I needed to sort through all my jewelry and get rid of the pieces that I don’t wear. First, I put aside all the pieces that are family heirlooms or very special gifts. Those are the first level of keepers. 
Second I took all the pieces I’d acquired from vacations or other places that had meaning and put them in a separate pile. The third pile was anything left that I had originally thought I couldn’t live without.
The next step was to go back to the must saves and revisit their place on the list. There was one that really didn’t need to be there, so I moved it to the next lower pile. That left 5 for the rack on the wall – just right. The next pile was the hardest. There were so many treasures, how was I to choose which would move down? I decided to base it on wear ability.
The pieces on the wall were my everyday neck chain with pendant, my hand beaded mini bottle, and three other pieces that need to be hanging. Those are my “go to” pieces that I prefer to have handy. The next batch are wound carefully and stored in the jewelry box. They are gemstones; solid chains of silver, gold, or copper; my grandmothers mustard seed; and various other pieces. Which did I need to have available and which could get put away for a rare appearance.
Having made that decision, I knew what was left needed to go further down the line. There’s the upper section of my jewelry box that houses group number two and the rest go in the bottom to see the light on a rare occasion. They aren’t yet ready for a new home, but will be before long. The rest of the pieces will be donated to the local thrift store.
So now I have all the pieces I want, but they may not be the ones I need. That’s a different discussion for another day. I’ll share my list of “must have” jewelry for you next week. Until then, hope you’ll take the time to figure out what’s in your jewelry box.