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Well, it only took me a year…but, I finally finished my barn window jewelry organizer! In my defense, I planned a wedding, got married, and started a new job in that period of time. I got the idea off of Pinterest after searching for a solution to my jewelry becoming a tangled mess stored in several boxes and strewn across my dresser (not something I am proud of). As usual, Pinterest came through with an awesome and creative DIY jewelry hanging system that I just had to make!
DIY–How to Make a Jewelry Organizer out of a Barn Window
I went to a very famous flea market here in Central Florida and picked up this barn window for about $5. Then, I went to a hardware store, picked out some pegboard, and had it cut to fit the measurements of my window openings. At home, I sanded the window down to remove the chipping paint, but left some of the original paint. I had some flat white paint and some other blue-green paint samples that I layered to provide a whitewashed look, but also show a pop of color. I used sandpaper to remove some of the paint to keep it looking weathered and distressed. I went to Joann Fabric and Crafts, picked out some fabric, lace, and quilting batting. I layered and cut the materials to size, sprayed the pegboard with spray adhesive, mounted the board to the batting, and used a staple gun to stretch the fabric around the pegboard.
Next, I went back to the framing shop at Joann’s, where I used to work, and had the boards put in place with framing points and had a hanging wire attached to the back. I had also previously purchased really beautiful dresser knobs at Anthropologie (I love that store!), decided where to place them, and screwed them through the fabric and pegboard.
Now for the fun part…I have this little cheapy cordless dremel tool and I got an attachment with blades that would allow me to saw through the extremely long screws of the drawer knobs. I really didn’t think my little dremel was going to have enough power to get through the screws, but it was successful! I sawed the backs of all the knob screws off so that the window would sit flush on the wall. I then measured and marked where the three final knobs would be screwed into the bottom of the window for hanging bracelets.
Once I screwed the holes through the wood, I then screwed the drawer knobs into place and had to saw off the backs of those screws as well. The next step was to screw some mollies into the wall and mount the barn window. Finally, I had a mirror cut at a local glass and mirror shop to fit into a lovely picture frame I found at World Market. I strung a ribbon through the mirror and hung it on the window latch.
The last step was to sort through my jewelry and hang everything up! This was a stroll down memory lane as I found my first earrings from when I was seven, some earrings from middle school (wow, the early nineties…!), and some sentimental pieces I thought I had lost. I had stitched lace onto the middle panel to easily hang and organize post earrings, while the side panels were covered with an overlay of lace to easily hang and display dangling earrings. Overall, I am happy with the final outcome and feel good knowing that my jewelry is no longer a tangled mess on my dresser. Now it is nicely organized on a display that I made with my own hands and heart :).
