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Getting rid of your dresser may have never crossed your mind… until one day it seemed like the most logical thing to do. Let’s face it, dressers can take up a lot of room and are really heavy to move about. Rearranging the layout of the bedrooms in your home with a big, heavy wardrobe is mission impossible without hiring some muscle to help out.
In the last few years, it has become a trend to have dressing rooms just for clothes and accessories, which is great when you have a spare bedroom to dedicate to the job, but not so great if you live in a one-bedroom apartment with limited space. The good news is, that you don’t have to have a separate dressing room to go dresser free. There are lots of solutions to clothing storage issues that can be implemented in your bedroom, regardless of its size.
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Table of Contents
Reasons to Get Rid of Your Dresser
The first good reason is all to do with safety, safety, safety! If you have little ones running about the house causing havoc, then you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say there is no controlling what they get up to.
Toddlers and small children like to touch everything and crawl into spaces that you’d never dream of finding them in, wardrobes are one of them. Kids are never the most graceful when opening and closing doors and the dresser door is no exception.
The amount of stories I have heard about dressers toppling over because a child has been playing with the doors or tried to climb up the shelving is too much to think about. Luckily, because dressers are tall, when they topple over they hit furniture or the wall and the impact rarely affects the child. But why take the risk, hey?
Secondly, think of the amount of clutter and unworn clothes that you have sitting in your dresser. Wardrobes aren’t dainty little things and will take up a good few feet of your much-treasured living space, what a waste if the clothes inside aren’t being worn!
We women struggle to throw a good gown away, you never know when you will need to wear it again. Do you know how we can make throwing away old clothes easier? By minimizing the space we have for them.
Initially, this is a really hard job. Parting with that tie-dye beach dress from your holiday in Hawaii 10 years ago is tough. It brings back memories, plus it is useful, I mean you never know, maybe the husband is planning a surprise trip back there as we speak.
Declutter
Before we start organizing, we must narrow down what we want to keep, and what is going to the charity shop. What a mammoth task! Start with the kid’s clothes as you can be much more objective with their items. Ask yourself the following questions when deciding to keep or throw any of their clothes;
- Does it fit them?
- Is it covered in stains?
- How often do they wear it?
- Do I know someone that will get more use out of it than they would?
Boys will be more blase than girls when it comes to their clothes. I suggest mentioning to them that you want to make their den bigger and easier to play in, so in order for that to happen, they need to sacrifice some clothing items.
If they want, they can sit with you or play in the room as you do this so that they feel like they are contributing and helping out. That way they’ll be less likely to be upset when they don’t find their princess dress that is two sizes too small, or their dinosaur onesie that is covered in holes.
Next, dive into your partner’s wardrobe. If you are lucky, they will volunteer to do this for themselves (yay!). If they don’t then don’t worry, you will probably get away with getting rid of more items as they have most probably forgotten about half of the things they have.
With decluttering adult clothes, especially someone else’s, the thought process is a little different. Here are the questions you can ask yourself when decluttering your partner’s dresser;
- Make a pile for casual wear, gym wear, work clothes and special occasions.
- Ask yourself if you remember seeing them in the clothing item in the last 3 months. (Do this for all the piles except for the special occasions pile.)
- Now, for the special occasion clothes pile, check if it is the same clothes size as the rest of the clothes they wear. If not, put it aside for donation.
Finally, when it comes to clearing out your own closet, ask yourself one simple question… ‘does it spark joy?’. This works for all the clothing you have, even gym wear. If the item doesn’t make you feel good or make you feel beautiful then what is the point in keeping it?
Storing Clothes in a Dressing Room
Walk-in wardrobes and dressing rooms are good fun, if you are lucky enough to have a little room dedicated to your clothes then you can really have a lot of fun with the layout of the room.
Dressing rooms do not have to be massive in order to accommodate the whole family’s clothes. If you can convert the utility room into a utility/dressing room then you will not only save space in the bedrooms but prevent clutter and clothes being thrown on the floor or placed on chairs.
The best way to arrange a family dressing room is to put up shelves the width and height of the main wall. Section the shelves so that there is a little space between your clothes and your kid’s or partner’s clothes.
Having the clothes uncovered in a dressing room will motivate you and your family to keep the clothes folded neatly so that they can see what is going on in their section. Keep the folded clothes to one side of the room, on another wall install pipes at different heights for hanging clothes.
Keep the kid’s clothes on the bottom pipes and your clothes higher up. This is great if you are trying to get your children to dress themselves, so they can pick their own outfit and arrange their clothes section the way they want to.
How to Store Folded Clothes
It is much harder to fathom where on earth you will store folded clothes as opposed to hanging clothes. Replacing the dresser with a few chests of drawers is not the solution we were looking for either. We have three great folded clothes solutions for you that once you discover them, will give you that ah-hah moment you were after.
Mesh Drawers
Mesh draws are very lightweight. They are often on wheels and are narrow with at least 3 or 4 tiers.
What I really love about mesh drawers is that you can practically see the contents of the drawers, yet they look a lot more classy than plastic clear container drawers. You can wheel them with ease around the room so that when you are bored with your bedroom layout, just jiggle a few things about and voila! New look.
The secret to using these narrow drawers successfully is using the correct folding technique. Folding the clothes into the standard square shape will not work here, the clothes will become messy in the drawers and you’ll struggle to find the items you’re looking for. Instead, roll the clothes up, you will be able to see what is in the drawer and rummage around without creasing your clothes.
High Shelves
Put high shelves in your bedroom for items like bags and snazzy shoes. Make them a display piece while cleverly storing them away.
Baskets Under Your Bed
Using the space available to you under your bed for storage is a very clever idea. Most of the time, people shove all sorts of things under their beds with no real order or reason for keeping the items there.
This will prevent you from hoarding random items and makes the most of every free space available in your bedroom. The baskets will most probably be visible, so invest in some gorgeous lined wicker baskets for your folded clothes and cover them with a sheet or a lid to prevent dust build-up. Sorted!
How to Store Hanging Clothes
Most people are worried about how their hanging clothes will look outside of a wardrobe. There are plenty of ways to keep the room looking chic while having hanging clothes on display.
Clothes Rails
Paint the clothes rails a bright and vibrant color. Embrace the fact that they are visible and make them a statement piece in your room. Clothes rails are on wheels too, so moving them out of the way will be super easy.
Closet Rods and Pipes
Pipes and rods are more of a permanent fixture, the benefits of installing pipes for hanging purposes is that you can hang clothes on different levels and make the most of all the wall space you’ve got.
Behind the Bed Mixed Clothes Storage
Turn the wall behind your bed into a colorful clothing wall. Remove the bed frame from your bed and use the space directly above for hanging clothes. The rest of the wall can be a combination of shelves and hanging rails for all your clothes.
Top Tip: If you go for this design idea, make the shelves abstract looking, for example, have boxlike shelves instead of the standard one-piece straight shelves.
A Solution for Long Dresses and Robes
We mentioned putting shelves high up on the wall near the ceiling, but what about adding a little clothes rail underneath? This would be perfect for long dresses and other long clothing< items that would otherwise bunch up on the floor of a closet.
How to Disguise Clothes That Are Not in a Dresser
It is ok if you are not a fan of having your clothes on display for everyone to see. Hide the ‘closet’ wall away with a clothes screen. You can get beautiful clothes screens in all shapes, sizes, and materials, so make it an accent in the room.
Curtains are a great option too. You can use curtains to make your own dressing room section in the bedroom without having to build another room.
