Recently I decided to rethink my jewelry storage. For the past few years I’ve been using pegboards for most of my jewelry, but I realized I wanted something that looked a bit more streamlined and less busy. Because I’m super picky, I had to figure out how to make my own darn jewelry storage. Eventually I came up with this necklace storage rack that I’m really happy with. I even added a cute little shelf. If you get your wood cut at a hardware store, you could make this with just a drill, so it’s an easy, totally customizable way to store lots of necklaces.

Figuring out a way to store necklaces might not seem that hard, but I had a bunch of requirements:

• Room for lots of jewelry. I did need to cull my necklaces, but I’ll probably just end up making more.
• No cuphooks. Despite how practical they are, I just don’t like the look of cuphooks. Totally arbitrary, I know.
• Not too expensive. The cost of nice hooks adds up fast for the amount I needed. Even if they were only $1 each, the whole project would be $60-70 for the hooks alone.
• The right size to maximize the available space.
• Simple in style, so the storage doesn’t distract from the jewelry or make the space too busy.
• Easy to make. Since I wanted 60-70 hooks/pegs, anything too fussy might get annoying to build.

Even after taking all of that into account, after I had built my racks, I decided to change them.

When I first made this, I spray-painted the wood pushpins white. But after I got the jewelry rack on the wall, I decided it was too stark white, and that I missed the natural wood. Luckily I had enough pushpins that I could pull all of the white ones out and replace them with wood. Here’s a quick phone shot mid-replacement:

 

Am I crazy? Was it worth the extra trouble? I’m happy with it, so I think it was worth it. But it kind of screwed up my tutorial photos, because now the step-by-step photos don’t match the end result. I think it’s clear enough that you can still figure out what’s going on, though.

 

I really do like the touch of natural wood from the unpainted pushpins. I wish I could find these exact pushpins online, but they came from Target in a little jar, they’re U brand, and they were like $5 for 150.

Here’s the real life shot of how my jewelry storage rack looks with everything back on it, not just a photogenic selection.

Want to make your own? Here’s the rundown.

DIY Jewelry Storage Rack

Materials

1×3 wood board
Wooden thumbtacks – I bought mine from Target, and they’re by U brands and similar to these, but came in a pack of 150 with natural wood color variation.
Wall screws
3/8″ wood buttons plugs
Paint
Primer

Tools

Drill
3/8″ drill bit
1/8″ drill bit
Chop saw (optional) – You could have pieces cut at the place you buy your wood.
Pencil
Measuring tape
Paint brushes
Hammer (optional)

Optional for shelf ledge:
1×4 wood board – I used a common board (probably pine).
Kreg jig screws
Kreg Jr. Jig

Note: While I was making this, I totally changed my mind about painting the thumbtacks. So I took detailed, step-by-step photos, but they don’t quite match up with what I actually did, paint-wise. They might help you picture what I’m talking about, so I’ll include them anyway.

Steps

1. Measure the spot where you want to put the jewelry storage rack, and decide on a length for the rack. Cut the wood to this length.
2. Decide where you’ll be screwing the rack to the wall, either by finding the studs, or using wall anchors. Drill 3/8″ holes in the wood where the screws will go. You’ll be covering these with button plugs, so the holes only need to be deep enough for a screw plus the button plugs. They shouldn’t go all the way through the wood, and make sure they’re at least 1/4″ from the ends.

3. If you’re painting the wood, but not the thumbtacks, sand the wood, prime, and paint. Let the paint dry. I painted in a different order, so don’t be confused by the lack of paint in photos after this point.

4. Across the center of the board, measure and mark where the thumbtacks will go. I spaced mine 1 inch apart.

5. If you want to make a shelf ledge, like the one I put at the top of this set of racks, cut a piece of 1×4 the same length as the 1×3. Drill pocket holes and attach the 1×4 wood using pocket hole screws. I used a Kreg Jr. jig for this step, and 3 screws for my 18-inch shelf.

6. If you’re using a softer wood, like the pine most common boards are made of, you can probably just press your thumbtacks into the wood. I actually made a version of one of these with a hemlock board, which is a harder wood than pine, and I found that it helped to hammer a small wire nail to start each hole. Experiment with a piece of scrap wood, or on the back, to see what works best for you.

You may even want to gently tap your thumbtacks into the wood with a hammer. Just be careful not to scuff or damage them, especially if you’re not painting them.

7. Hang up your rack by drilling a hole through the wood plug holes and into the wall. Attach with screws, then press in wood button plugs (you might need a hammer or mallet), and touch up with paint.