I love wearing necklaces and earrings, and I can find my favorite pieces in less than a minute thanks to learning strategies for organizing jewelry with vision loss. I’ve experimented with a few different systems for jewelry organization over the years, including the use of a smaller jewelry box, trying out different organizers, and placing items close together, but I always go back to my favorite options for low vision organization that emphasize vertical space and keeping items in a place where I can easily see them. Here are my favorite tips for organizing jewelry with vision loss, and how I keep my favorite pieces from breaking or going missing.
Ensure boxes and drawers are well-lit
Lighting can play a role in identifying colors for people with visual impairments, as having bright light can make it easier to see differences between colors. One of my friends has a vintage jewelry box that they use for favorite pieces, but mentioned that it was difficult to look for pieces due to the dark/shadowy spaces in the box that provided poor contrast. This was solved when my friend discovered a clip-on LED book light could be attached to the top of the box while it was in use and provide illumination so that items were easier to locate. Other potential alternatives can include a flashlight or nearby lamp.
For people who prefer to keep items in a dresser drawer or similar, consider adding additional lighting to ensure the space is well-lit and that jewelry items are easier to identify. Automatic/motion-sensor lighting is one option that can respond to movement and provide additional illumination.
Related links
Hang necklaces with Pinhooks or pushpins
My favorite way to organize my necklaces is with Pinhooks, a type of hangable pushpin with a hook on the end. I hang them on a cork board or cork trivet attached to my wall, and my necklaces hang down and can be displayed without getting tangled. I can easily use the ambient lighting in my room or task lighting on my desk to further illuminate the necklaces if needed, which is easier than trying to locate them in the dark or trying to identify them through the hanging organizer pockets. Pinhooks retail for about $8 USD for a set of 40, and can also be used to hang other items such as lanyards and keychains.
Related links
Keep items together in segmented containers
One of the biggest strategies for organizing jewelry with low vision is having everything in a segmented or separate container/place, so that everything has its own designated place for storage. Some people will use egg cartons to organize small items in a drawer, pocket organizers for a closet, or other forms of dividers to keep items separated, and they all have the same benefit of making it easier to locate items and keep them from getting lost. When I take off jewelry, I always make sure to bring it back to its designated container so it doesn’t get left somewhere.
When I’m packing to go somewhere, my “hack” for organizing earrings is to store them in a pill organizer, so that I can keep individual pairs together. This also works for smaller necklaces, but for larger pieces I put them in individual fabric drawstring bags and place them in a zippered organizer with the pill box/makeshift jewelry box.
Related links
Emphasize vertical storage and items in the line of sight
One of my friends stored all of their bracelets in a box, and told me that it was difficult to look for items when they were placed on a tabletop surface that required them to lean over to look at items. Something that helped a lot was using vertical storage and keeping items within their line of sight, such as a T-Bar organizer for bracelets, a jewelry display stand, or storage hooks that made it easier to see all items in one place without them getting pushed into a corner.
Use hanging organizers to maximize visual space
I have hanging organizers for my earrings, which were a game changer for keeping pairs organized and making it easier to see them; my current organizer uses clear pockets to show different jewelry pieces inside. Instead of hanging it on a rod in my closet that may not have a well-lit area, I attach my hanging jewelry organizer to the inside of my door with a Command hook, hanging it about 6 feet (a little less than 2 meters) off the ground so that I can visually scan the organizer to locate my favorite pieces. Since my organizer is double-sided, I can also pick up the organizer and flip it to the other side, resting the hanger back on the hook.
Related links
Organize items by color and/or style
I keep my necklaces and earrings in separate areas, because some of my necklaces were too bulky to fit in the organizer. My earrings are organized by color and style, with “colored” (gemstone or patterned) earrings on one side of the organizer in rainbow order, and “metal” (silver/gold/rose gold) earrings organized by color on the other side. Necklaces are organized across two corkboards, with one corkboard having longer-chained necklaces and the other board with shorter necklaces arranged by color.
Place items on a high-contrast surface
One strategy that has really helped me with keeping jewelry organized with low vision is having items on a high-contrast surface so they easily “pop” against the background. My necklaces are darker than my wall color so I can spot them more easily when they are hanging on Pinhooks, compared to my previous use of a black hanging organizer that make them more difficult to locate. Meanwhile, my earrings are in a natural canvas colored organizer that makes it easier to focus on the items, and doesn’t have any patterns on the inside that distract from the designs.
For my friend that stored jewelry in a sliding drawer, adding a contact paper shelf liner helped to make items easier to locate, and they alternated with using a dark liner for a shelf with light-colored items, and a light liner for a shelf with dark-colored items.
Related links
Consider a digital closet app like Stylebook for viewing pieces
I started using the Stylebook digital closet app my first year of college to help with organizing jewelry and planning outfits, because I found it easier to look at the images of jewelry to examine the visual details instead of examining pieces individually. I organize the pieces in Stylebook in the same order that they are organized in real life to make it easier to locate items, as well as plan outfits. I have an entire post on Stylebook and how I use it with low vision linked below.
Related links
- How I Use The Stylebook App With Low Vision
- Getting Dressed With Assistive Technology For Vision Loss
More tips for organizing jewelry with vision loss
- Want to learn how I choose jewelry with low vision that also accommodates my chronic pain restrictions? Read Choosing Jewelry With Chronic Pain
- If I’m moving somewhere and need to pack my jewelry, I will tape the slots of my hanging organizer closed and place it in a garment bag in case something falls out. Necklace chains are threaded through a straw to prevent tangling and placed in individual bags.
- This post was created for a project, which covers topics related to tools and strategies for organizing clothes and dressing aids for vision loss, inclusive of low vision and blind/nonvisual access options. View more posts created for or updated as part of this series by visiting Closet Archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (veroniiiica.com)
Published January 10, 2024. Updated June 2024