How to Never Lose A Ring or Necklace Again, Part 2

On Monday, I talked about the problem of misplacing jewelry and how this can be a common issue for the housekeeping impaired. If this has ever happened to you, you may want to consider implementing the solution I came up with for my home. I used to lose jewelry all the time—mostly just cheap costume items, but also the occasional really nice piece as well. Then 30 years ago I figured out a solution and put a system into place, and I haven't lost a single piece of jewelry since. Clearly, for me at least, it works!

Beside the couch

The key to solving this problem is simple:

1. Figure out where you usually are in your home (or car or office, etc.) when you remove your jewelry. Are you at the kitchen sink, about to wash some dishes? In the living room, watching TV? Driving home from work? Heading outside to do some gardening? In bed about to go to sleep? All of the above? Identify every single place where this happens.

On the desk

2. For however many places you have identified in step one, obtain that many small containers that will serve as safe but temporary holding zones for any jewelry you remove from your body. 

3. Place those containers near the spots you identified in step one, within arm's reach of the position you'll be in at that time. For you, that could mean putting one container beside the kitchen sink, another on the coffee table in front of the couch, another in your purse, another next to the back door, and another on your bedside table. Don't berate yourself if you need a whole bunch of these temporary holding zone containers. You're solving this problem by changing your house, not your behavior, and that's the key to the whole House That Cleans Itself system.

4. Force yourself to maintain this rule: My jewelry will always ONLY be either on my body, in my jewelry box (or whatever you use for your permanent jewelry storage), or in one of my temporary holding zone containers. Nowhere else! Never compromise on this, and never stop tweaking the system until you've got a temporary holding zone container in every single place where you're tempted to take off jewelry and set it aside to put away "later." There is no later. It's either on your body or in a temporary holding zone container or in its permanent location. 

By the kitchen sink

5. Once in a while, collect the various pieces from the temporary storage containers and return them to your jewelry box (or other permanent jewelry storage area.)

That's it!

A Few Caveats

• Make sure the containers are extremely convenient to the places identified in step 1 but that they're not sitting in harm's way. 

On the bedside table

For example, if you have small children, don't put a tempting little box on your bedside table, which would have it within easy reach of tiny hands. Instead put it in the bedside table's top drawer. When kids are a part of the equation, find the location that's within arm's reach (otherwise, you won't use it), but that's not going to be bothered with by others.

• If some of your temporary holding zone containers are in high-traffic areas, considering "camouflaging" them a bit, perhaps by using a hollowed-out book or other clever "fakes" like these: (click on any of the images below for more info)

Just don't make the mistake of using anything that's too hard to open and close. There are tons of clever devices made for hiding your valuables, but if they have a lock and key or are too time-consuming to implement, they won't work as temporary holding zone containers.

• Make sure the container is appropriate to the space. For example, if you regularly remove jewelry when you're in the car or otherwise away from home, get a temporary holding zone container for your purse that isn't bulky (otherwise, you'll leave it at home half the time) and that will zip or snap tightly shut (otherwise pieces might fall out in transit.) 

Unlimited Options

I must have a thing for pretty little boxes, because over the years I have collected quite a few. Many came from loved ones or were picked up as souvenirs during trips. Regardless of how they were obtained, I now have far more than I could ever need as temporary storage zone containers. 

These days, I use the non-fragile ones with my grandsons, hiding tiny toys inside for them to find. They love it! 

Boxes for You

If you have a problem keeping track of your jewelry, I hope you'll consider trying out this system in your home. Just for fun, here are some pretty containers I spotted on amazon that you might consider...

Let Me Know

Have you ever lost a piece of jewelry because you took it off and set it aside to put away later? I'd love to hear about it!

Please note that this post contains affiliate links. That means when you make a purchase I earn a small commission, which helps offset the costs of this blog.