Aimee Burke feels naked without a necklace. Generally a crisp-white-shirt type, Aimee seeks out unusual vintage and costume pieces to add a bit of offbeat style to her look. But once she gets her discoveries home, the real hunt begins. Crammed into overflowing boxes, trays, and pouches on her dresser, her collection is a morass. She’s constantly losing track of her favorite pieces of jewelry.

“I can never find what I want when I’m in a rush — and I’m always in a rush,” says Aimee, 36, a publicist for a bridal-dress company in Winchester, Massachusetts. “I just end up wearing whatever is tossed on the nearest pile until I’m completely burned out on it.”

In theory, her dresser presents the ideal setup for a one-stop jewelry boutique. Trouble is, that boutique is harder to crack than it should be, partly by design.

“I have two little girls — girlie girls — who love to play dress-up,” Aimee explains. “Typically, when I’m getting ready to go out, the babysitter is downstairs, my husband is sitting in the car, one kid is trying on my shoes, and the other is rummaging through my makeup. I keep all my jewelry pushed to the back of the dresser and dump out as little as I dare.” The dresser-top array (“I never intended to have seven different containers,” Aimee admits) is a distracting element in an otherwise lovely room, tucked in a Victorian house that Aimee shares with her husband, Dan, 38, and daughters, Jane, 4; Sally, 3; and Edie, 8 months (shown).

On the following pagesm, see how Real Simple sorted, showcased, and saved Aimee’s jewels.