Bureau-Top Redo

Maybe it's because I'm three months away from being an Empty Nester. Maybe it's because I watched a couple of shows on clutter, featuring organizer Peter Walsh. Or maybe it's because it's been 15 years since I last changed.

For whatever reason, this past weekend, I streamlined the top of the built-in bureau in my closet (and the bulletin boards above the bureau).

This is the way one bulletin board above my bureau looked for years. You can hardly see the bulletin board!:

And this was a rod above my bureau, hung with favorite ribbons:

It was all beloved stuff, but such a jumble!

On the two bulletin boards above my bureau, I had plastered a thick layer of favorite quotes:

and ribbons won by The Boy:

Pretty pieces of jewelry:

Decrepit corsages from past Mother-and-Daughter events:

Macaroni necklaces made by chubby fingers years ago:

Even cards from people I don't even remember. (I'm sure I kept the card for the picture of the picket fence.):

Clearly, it was time to do some pruning.

So I took every single thing off the two bulletin boards. Then I swept the bureau free of everything. With newly clean surfaces, I selectively put things back.

On the gingham board, I used corsage pins to hang up some of my favorite, most-used jewelry:

Also on the gingham board, I hung a little mirror to make putting jewelry on that much easier:

Here was a fun idea: I threaded a favorite ribbon through a small, empty picture frame. On the frame, I hung my three favorite cuff bracelets:

Elsewhere, I corralled a selection of my favorite little boxes and dishes in a flat basket on the bureau:

Then, I put others away in a drawer, to be rotated out with the current ones on display. Museums do that; it's a great idea that anybody can adopt:

Also on the burearu, an inexpensive glass hand sculpture from American Apparel holds my favorite bangles:

And a much-loved slab of amethyst crystals sits on an inexpensive display bracket from Bed, Bath, and Beyond:

On the other bulletin board, I hung all my childrens' team-sports buttons, as well as a selection of small photos from when they were very young:

Now the bureau area has as much charm as ever, but a lot more space to breathe.

Everything is on pins, so it's easy to rotate jewelry from the jewelry box to the display board:

I (heart) it.