I’m no Elizabeth Taylor, but I have enough jewellery to warrant special storage concerns that can’t be solved with those woefully small trees meant to dangle baubles on.

To keep my necklaces visible, easily accessible and never tangled, I created my own display case using a picture ledge from Ikea and cup hooks from Home Depot.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Mark dots on the bottom of the picture ledge where you will place your hooks. Create two rows the length of the ledge with each dot three centimeters apart.

2. Use a nail and hammer to tap a small hole in the place where the hook will be.

3. Use that hole as a guide when you hand twist the cup hook into place. This takes a little muscle, but keep going until all hooks are in place. You’ll be able to fit 50 hooks.

4. Mount the picture ledge. Hang your necklaces from the hooks and place bracelets and rings on the ledge above.

Mine is on the wall beside my vanity, making accessorizing so much easier. —Jaelyn Molyneux

’Tis the season to take everything out of your closet, pile it on your bed and start purging. It’s a noble plight that might be easier if you had someone else commanding your journey.

Stylist Carl Abad will clean your closet out for you. He’ll also shop the city pulling items in your size that will flatter your figure. He’ll bring his selections to your home where you will shop the racks in your own living room. Abad will create outfits that combine new items with what was left in your closet and compile those outfits into a look book for easy reference when you go to get dressed groggy-eyed in the morning.

His fee is $75 per hour for a minimum of four hours.

Your closet case is solved. —Jaelyn Molyneux

www.carlabad.com

Make what’s old new again by refinishing it to look, er, old.

Lauren Lane Décor will teach you how to take worn out furniture and refinish it with that hand-rubbed velvety lustre of your grandmother’s heirloom items. The studio offers weekend classes that teach distressing techniques using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Classes are $250 and include lunch and all materials.

Upcycle your way to furniture even your grandkids will love. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Lauren Lane Décor, 4020 15A St. S.E., Calgary, 403-265-7751, www.lldecor.ca

One person’s trash in another person’s treasure, here's proof.

Your Furniture
Dump your sofa at the, well, dump. But, instead of throwing your perfectly fine furniture into a pile of garbage leave it free of charge at the Foothills Salvage Centre near Okotoks. While you are there snag furniture at rock bottom prices that is great for refinishing. Foothills Salvage Centre, 4 kilometres south of Okotoks on Highway 783, Okotoks, 403-603-8161, www.foothillssalvagecentre.com

Your Wardrobe
Admittedly Take Off Your Clothes does let you get rid of unwanted items only to have you replace them with more. Exchange your clothes for coupons to redeem for other pieces at the swap. The swap starts taking your give-aways in April or you can drop them off now at Eleven Eleven boutique in Kensington. The next event will take place June 3. www.theswapteam.org

Your Computer
The Electronic Recycling Association takes your computer, wipes it clean of all personal info and refurbishes it to donate to charities. You can drop your computer at any Zellers location. www.zellers.com

Your Appliances
If you have appliances that need to go, including fridges and televisions, you can take them to the ERA warehouse or call for pick-up. ERA, 1301 34 Ave. S.E., Calgary, 403-262-4488, www.era.ca —Jaelyn Molyneux

Sure we could mix our own environmentally friendly cleaning products, but why DIY when someone else does it so much better.

Small Planet cleaning products are made in Calgary and blend all the usual suspects including castile soap, baking soda and vinegar with distilled water and essential oils to create bottles of liquid cleaner so safe you could spray it on yourself should you accidentally point the nozzle in the wrong direction. Try the minty Squeaky Clean Scrub ($7.69) on mirrors and the lemony Germs-Be-Gone concentrate ($5.99) on just about everything else.

If cleanliness is next to Godliness, these products are heavenly. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Amaranth Whole Foods Market, 7 Arbour Lake Dr. N.W., Calgary, 403-547-6333, www.amaranthfoods.ca