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Companies have been making women’s jewelry organizers for ages — while totally ignoring men’s needs for a place to keep their accessories (or, at best, giving them a stupid dresser-top tray that ends up being a dumping ground for clutter). No more!

Women Aren’t The Only Ones With Jewelry

You don’t have to be female (or metrosexual) to need a system for storing accessories. Even the hairiest, scariest biker dude should be able to find his fingerless gloves, humongous skull rings, and studded dog collar necklace (without a thirty-minute search) when heading out the door for a ride on his chopper! Whether you own cufflinks and tie tacks or a wallet chain and plug earrings, do yourself a favor and dedicate an organizer for all those little “miscellaneous” items that clutter up your dresser or countertop.

A Place For Pocket Stuff

What do you carry with you every day? Wallet, change, keys? Maybe a pen, notepad, sunglasses, mints, chapstick, and hankie? Possibly a lighter, flashlight, or some sort of multi-tool? If you’re not comfortable owning a man-purse, make sure you’ve got a place for all this mess to live when you empty your pockets (a drawer divider works swimmingly for this purpose). And I say go big or go home — why not set up one accessory tray at your residence, another at your job to keep both parts of your life organized?

A Home For Gadgetry

As if you didn’t already have enough junk to keep track of with your wallet, keys, and change — modern technology has now handed you a half-dozen electronic gizmos to organize, as well! Cell phone, digital camera, laptop, tablet, mp3 player, earbuds, charger — don’t just leave all this gadgetry lying around to clutter up your world. Set up an organizing tray (either in a drawer or on an easily accessible surface) with a section for each piece of equipment — again, one at work, one at home covers all the bases.

Eyewear At The Ready

I’m amazed at the number of pairs of glasses my male clients own. (I thought this was just a chick thing — clearly I was mistaken.) Bifocals, trifocals, reading specs, shades in every style imaginable — the fun part is when you know you’ve got a dozen pairs laying around someplace, but can’t find a single one! Either set up a central drawer organizer to hold all your eyewear (plus cases and repair kit) in one convenient location — or scatter several trays around in all those areas where you tend to need to see.

A Better Belt Solution

Some experts suggest hanging belts via a rack on the wall — but trying to choose just the right one from that ginormous mass of dangling straps can be overwhelming. I prefer rolling belts neatly around their buckle, then lining them up in a divided organizer tray. Separate casual from dress, leather from fabric, black from brown from colored, whatever makes sense to you — then store your tray in a drawer or on a shelf. Regardless of the system you choose, you can easily see every belt you own with one quick glance.

Necktie Central

Longer neckties and cravats may also be rolled (starting with the thin end, so the fat part ends up on the outside) or folded — then aligned neatly within an organizer tray. If you’re a bowtie man (because bowties are cool), roll or fold loose ones as you would long ties — of course setting clip-ons and pre-tieds up in their own sections. Feel free to pick your poison — arrange by color, pattern, style, use (casual vs. work vs. dress-up), or fabric (silks in one section, knits in another, wool and cotton occupying their own areas).

Dealing With The Hard-To-Organize

Other hard-to-store accessories can benefit just as much from life in a tray. For example, pocket squares and hankies (notorious for not stacking well and wasting a lot of drawer space) can be folded or rolled, then lined up side-by-side. Suspenders (for which no one has ever created an acceptable organizing solution) are quite happy when tucked into an individual divider section. Segmented organizers are also great for socks, undies — anything you have difficulty containing in a normal drawer.

Supporting Accessories

Some accessories are worn, others help you care for the ones you wear. I’m talking about shoe maintenance paraphernalia (like inserts, laces, polish, and brushes), a lint roller for keeping the fuzz off your duds, a sewing kit, collar stays/extenders, sock/shirt garters, even a belt-hole puncher. Create a designated home for all those random fashion “support” items that end up inconveniently stuff in a junk drawer — you’ll thank yourself when you can put your hands on just the right tool later on.

Collections

Some men accumulate model trains or beer steins, comic books or vintage action figures – others collect cufflinks, antique knives, decorative lighters, foreign coins, pocket watches, bottle caps, casino chips, and the like. If your collections fall less into the “big stuff I can easily set out on a shelf” realm, and more into the “I need a way to contain a bunch of small-yet-strangely-shaped items that are always getting lost” arena — clear divided acrylic trays can be a great way to store and even display your treasures.

Keeping Valuables Safe

Some of the items we’ve discussed in the previous tips might be considered valuable — either worth a healthy chunk of change, or having personal sentimental/historical value. Don’t just pitch irreplaceable items in a drawer where they could be stolen, damaged, or god-forbid destroyed (if you were the victim of a fire or natural disaster). Give your treasures the extra measure of protection they deserve — neatly organized in a sectional tray that you can then store in a fire safe or safety deposit box.