The easy way to clean out and organize your bedroom dresser

Clothes drawer organization ideas that you can follow along to set up a dresser that is easy to use and even easier to maintain.

When it comes to decluttering and organizing a bedroom, out of site is most definitely out of mind. At least that was how I looked at things.

As long as I didn’t see it, then it really wasn’t as bad as all that, right?

But the problem was that even though the floor was clean and the bed was made the heart of our bedroom was hurricane central.

Our bed was hiding so many random things it was frightening, our nightstands were filled with anything extra that ended up in our bedroom, and our dressers were so crammed full of clothes, we could only wear the things that were on top because they were the only clothes that WERE wearable. We had so much shoved inside that every time we closed a drawer it was like packing a month’s stay into an overnight bag. Sure, it was good in theory but let’s be honest….it’s not a way to live.

By having an organized dresser you can bring a bit of calm to your clothing chaos and take that first step to create a bedroom you love to be in.

But before we go into your dresser, let’s go over what you should keep there.

What to put in closet vs dresser.

Let’s face it, not all clothes can be folded and kept in a dresser. Some need to breathe. Some need to be hung up in a closet so they do not get wrinkled or creased. And that is basically where your line will begin.

READ: HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR CLOSET

What clothes should be kept in a closet?

Clothes that wrinkle easily
Work clothes
Dresses
Suits
Dress shirts
Coats

What clothes should be kept in a dresser?

Pajamas
Underwear and socks
Jeans/sweatpants
Casual clothes such as t-shirts
Out of season clothes

D/M PRO TIP: If you struggle to keep your room clean, why not ditch the dressers altogether? This works great if you have a large closet that will hold all of your clothes. By removing the dressers you forced yourself to cut down on your clothes and create a more minimal wardrobe. I know it sounds scary but we have been doing it for over 20 years and I can honestly say that when it comes to clothes less is most definitely more.

Clothes drawer organization ideas

Before you can organize your dresser drawers we first need to do a bit of sorting and decluttering. Usually, I suggest doing things one at a time so you do not end up with a bigger mess than you are starting with. In this case, however, we are going to dump it all out so you can better see just what you have so you can make better (and easier) decisions on what you want to keep.

Step 1. Set up a staging or sorting area.

Set out a few boxes or clothes baskets with clear labels to make the decluttering process easier. Once you make the decision to remove an item you need to get rid of it quickly and move on. By being confident with your decisions you will make the sorting process a bit easier to deal with.

Sorting Labels

Keep – These are the things that will go back into your dresser.
Donate – These are the things you will give to charity.
Give away – These are the things you will give to someone that you know.
Put away – These are things that need to be put in a different room.
Maybe – These are things you are not quite sure about yet.

Step 2. Focus on one drawer at a time.

When you keep our mind on smaller tasks rather than the big picture, you take away the overwhelm. And if you have a messy dresser then you will do best to only work and focus on one drawer at a time. Give yourself a small goal of a drawer a day. There is nothing wrong with leaving your sorting boxes out for the week as you work your way through things. Remember, the smaller the steps the easier this will all be to accomplish.

Let’s break it down.

Take a drawer and dump it out on your bed.

Go through each piece of clothing and decide if you love it, use it, or need it. If you can answer yes to at least one of these questions, then put it into the keep pile (or box). If the answer is no then, put the item in the box that best describes your next step.

Continue until the entire drawer is done and either move onto another drawer or save the next drawer for another day.

Step 3. Be firm with yourself.

Let’s talk for a minute…just you and I. Are you really going to fit into that pile of clothes you have sitting off to the side? Yes, those. That pair of skinny jeans that you haven’t been able to get up past your calves in over a decade?? Do yourself a favor and let them go. Keeping them is not only realistic it’s not far. Not far to YOU. The minute I got rid of my skinny clothes I felt the weight of all that unnecessary pressure lift off my shoulders. Keep the clothes you love not the clothes you wish would fit. And yes, there IS a big difference. 🙂

Step 4. Clean things out.

Once you have a drawer empty take a few minutes to wipe things down. Go one step further and remove the drawer so you can clean back behind as well.

Step 5. Decide what will be kept in each drawer.

This is the fun part! Your chance to rearrange things so they work better making it easier to keep things neater going forward.

Take a look at your dresser and decide on the drawers that are in your line of sight. The easiest ones to get to. This is your “prime real estate” and where you will want to keep the things you wear most often.

The rest of the drawers that are a bit out of the way can be used to hold the clothes you wear less frequently. Out of season clothes for example. By keeping the clothes you wear often easier to get to you will be more likely to keep things put away.

Step 6. Put things back inside neatly.

How you store your clothes is up to you and will all depend on your organizing personality. This is what you are drawn to and what will help you decide how organized you really want to be.

Love pretty? Then pretty organizers are more your speed.

Prefer easy? Then simple organizers will be what you like.

By knowing just what you are drawn too you will be able to set up a space you will actually keep up with.

Here are a few options you can use to organize the inside of your dresser drawers.

Step 7. Label so you don’t forget.

There is nothing more frustrating than taking the time to declutter and organize something only to forget what you put where. For this reason, I like to label things in the beginning so I remember (and my family as well) what goes into each drawer. Using a few Post-It notes, briefly describe what you have inside of each drawer. After a few days or weeks, you will be able to remove the labels.

How to organize things on top of a dresser.

It’s funny how for some of us, the top of the dresser is a great place to drop our things. From our pockets and purses or even whatever happens to be in our hands when we enter our room. That open surface makes it so easy to empty out our hands. The problem is when we leave things there and forget to take the next step of putting them away.

To help you can organize your dresser top to allow you to still empty your hands but in a way that keeps things a bit more sorted.

Use organizers to hold routine times.

Sunglasses
Pocket change
Receipts
Jewelry
Smartphone
Wallet

By setting up a dresser from the top to bottom you will not only keep your clothes neat and organized but help them to last longer too.

Clothes drawer organization ideas

Clothes drawer organization ideas that you can follow along to set up a dresser that is easy to use and even easier to maintain.