20 Alternatives to Dressers In Your Bedroom
If you are like many people, you probably have one or more dressers in your bedroom. Dressers are not only a functional part of the bedroom, holding your clothes or other belongings, but they are often used to help create focal points in a bedroom. Despite their functionality, they are not always the best option for some people.
Whether you don’t have the space for a traditional dresser, or you simply prefer the look of an alternate clothes storage system, there are plenty of alternatives to the traditional dresser. You can re-purpose old furniture pieces to act as a dresser, or you can use other items to create your own make-shift dresser.
What you choose may depend on things like, available space, room decor theme, practicality, and of course, budget. If you need ideas for what you can turn into a functional dresser for your bedroom, take a look at the following ten alternatives to a dresser for your bedroom to help inspire you.
1. Bed with pullout drawers
A bed with drawers is a perfect space-saver for bedrooms with limited space. If you don’t have enough square footage for a traditional style dresser, try storing your clothing in spacious drawers that slide out from your bed.
Beds with drawers come in all sizes so you can still have the sized bed you want, yet get multiple purposes out of it. Beds with drawers also come in a wide range of styles so you don’t have to compromise on the look and style of your bedroom.
2. Trunks and Chests
Trunks and chests have been used for storage for many years. They are roomy and give you lots of space to stack folded clothing when you don’t have a regular dresser to stow your clothes away in.
Trunks come in a wide range of colors and looks, and you can arrange them in a variety of ways to help you utilize your available space in the most optimum way. Hope chests are typically set at the foot of a bed and can be a great addition to your room decor.
They’re visually appealing, as well as well as functional. While acting as a storage unti for clothing, they can also function as a seat for getting dressed or putting on your shoes.
3. Horizontal cubbies with pullout baskets
The options for cubbies and baskets are endless. There are so many ways you can create this look using a variety of different elements for creating cubbies. Find a pre-made versions piece with cubbies already constructed in them, or repurpose something and create your own cubbies.
Once you’ve got cubbies made, find the perfect baskets to slide into the slots and, BAM! You’ve got a cool and stylish alternative to a dresser. The neat thing is that you can make a vertical or horizontal cubbie and basket pullout – the choice is yours for whatever works best in your room.
4. Garment rack
Garment racks come in a variety of styles and sizes. You can find one that is simple and small, or set up a bigger and more elaborate one in your room to store multiple elements of your wardrobe, from hangup clothes, to shoes, and even stack fold-up clothes underneath.
If you aren’t too keen on having your clothes on display, hiding them on the rack is easy when you zip a rack cover over it. The cover conceals what you have stored on the rack and gives it a neat, stylish look.
5. Wall-mounted clothes organizer
When you’ve got plenty of closet space but little space for a dresser, why not utilize what you do have to work better for you? Closet organizers are one of the most popular ways to organize your home, including in your bedroom.
There are a million different ways to design closet organizers so that you get the best fit for your wardrobe and closet. Organizers can give you the perfect amount of hanging space, shelves, cubbies, drawers and more. Who needs a dresser to clutter a small bedroom when you can fit all you have neatly in a closet with the perfect organizing unit?
6. Above bed shelving
Many bedrooms have ample wall space above the head of the board, and while a big, beautiful headboard can be a great focal point, you may find that space better used by creating wall-hanging shelves that act as clothing storage.
The bonus with shelving units above the bed is that you will still be creating a beautiful focal point for your room. Shelving units above the bed help to de-clutter small bedrooms where a dresser would only cramp your space, both visually and literally. Choose prefab shelving units or design your own to create the perfect look for your small bedroom.
7. Plastic bins
These little bins have been around forever, and they’re used for everything under the sun. They’re not only a great way to create an alternative to a dresser for storing your clothes, but you can add to them as you need more storage space, or remove some when you want to lessen your load.
They’re also easily stacked. With these bins, you can go vertical to increase your foot space, where as a traditional dresser only sits one way, vertical. Something else that’s nice about the plastic bin dresser, and you’ve probably already guessed, is that you’ll know exactly where everything is just by peeking through the bin. No more guessing and ruffling through multiple drawers to find what you need.
8. multi-level stacked drawers
Whether you just want a new and stylish way to store your close, or your need a better way to save floor space, creating your own alternative to a traditional dresser can be fun and a great way to test your creativity.
Take a look at these unique stacked drawers that not only act as a dresser, but what stylish way to use the drawers, and the small wall area between the two doors. When you don’t the space for a traditional dresser, why not repurpose an old piece of furniture into something that works for you and your room?
9. Locker
Have you ever wished you were back in school and had some memorabilia to reminisce with? If you are looking for an alternative to the typical dresser for your bedroom and relish things from yesteryear, then you may get a kick out of this set of lockers used as an alternative to a traditional dresser. This is a creative way to store your child’s clothes, or even yours – if you’re one who just loves to hang onto things of the past.
10. Laundry basket drawers
Laundry baskets can hold dirty clothes, or they can hold clean clothes and function as an alternative to a dresser for your bedroom. This little dresser alternative design allows you to slide laundry baskets in and out of a crafty, multi-layered drawer-like stowaway. You don’t have to be super handy to build this dresser alternative, and, it gives you plenty of space to pack away a decent amount of clothes and other items you want to store out of the way.
No matter what the reasons are that you want an alternative to a typical bedroom dresser, there are endless types of storage for your clothing and wardrobe items. Whether you are a creative or handy type of person, or prefer to buy something pre-constructed, you can find thee perfect substitution for a dresser and increase the space in your bedroom.
11. Fabric Bins
For those who are out of the college-age “put everything on the dorm floor and let God sort it out” stage of clothes storage, but like the look of their clothes, fabric baskets can provide structure to neatly folded clothes in the bedroom space.
Fabric bins can either be on their own on the floor or stack together in shelves or cubbyholes. A fabric bin in a cubbyhole setup can be distinctively lovely and a fine accent for any bedroom setup.
12. Built-In Closet
The humble closet, built into many if not most living rooms, is one of the easiest alternatives to a dresser. With modern clothing organization systems, the built-in closet can substitute for one or more dressers or chests of drawers in the home, giving you an attractive and uncluttered space, with the storage of your clothes happily out of sight, out of mind.
The downside to a built-in closet with a traditional door is that it can create a mess that you just can’t see. A messy closet can change the entire feel of a space even though it can’t be seen. Since the built-in closet is the most traditional option for clothes storage, it fits with any space.
13. Armoires
Like a wardrobe, an armoire is a large cabinet that goes in a space and is used for clothes storage. Armoires are tall and vertical, useful to store dresses and suits, like a wardrobe. The cabinet shape and doors can help add a touch of class to any bedroom where a dresser can be somewhat squat and ugly.
Armoires, however, incorporate more shelf space. They can be larger and deeper than a wardrobe, sometimes stretching nearly to the ceiling. A wardrobe is mostly an additional space to hang clothes, with few drawers, while the armoire incorporates drawers, interior shelves, sometimes even a mirror. They’re one of the most attractive and dignified furniture options for clothes storage, and work well with an old-world bedroom. More modern styled
14. Under-Bed Storage
Especially for items like sheets and blankets, an under-bed storage may be a better option to a dresser. Buying low bins and baskets that can slide under your bed, you can clear floor space and make your bedroom a neater, more attractive place to live, work, and sleep.
Under-bed storage boxes are available with or without wheels and make a good way to clean up a space. While they’re mostly useful for items that aren’t going to be worn every single day for the
15. Wall Shelves
Boutiques and other chic retailers often show off their wares on wall shelf cubbies, and there’s a reason for this. It looks elegant and attractive while keeping the clothing in easy view and readily reachable height.
This may not be the greatest option for a home with small children. However, wall shelves can be a great option for the childless, or those who’s youngest are old enough to keep their grabby hands to themselves.
16. Storage Bench
A storage bench is like a chest that also has a seat and sometimes even a back on it. But it’s so much more than that. It’s an attractive, padded chair that can be a great place to sit and read in the middle of a warm afternoon, or curl up on with a blanket on a cold winter day.
You can use them anywhere in the house, too – a storage bench can go in the mud room and be a place to put towels and supplies for cleaning off after a day outside in the rain.
17. Pie Safe
An attractive piece of low cabinetry, a pie safe can make an attractive place to store clothing. It’s a relatively shallow cabinet that fits flush against the wall. In times past it was used to – and here’s a shock – shelter pies and other foods from the elements until served.
With attractive fronts typically made of glass or nickel, these small but mighty cabinets present a strong, classic and unexpected look to a bedroom. Pie safes are a rustic touch that can either complement or contrast your interior design.
18. Open Closet
A popular remodeling option in recent years is the open closet. With a highly attractive and organized system of built-in drawers, shelves, baskets, and doors, the open closet does away with the door to the closet area, and sometimes even with the walls themselves, creating additional space in a small room and transforming the walk-in or reach-in closet into a dressing area that enhances the room.
A downside of the open closet is that it doesn’t provide a door or other way to hide a messy closet, so the open closet commits to an organized lifestyle to make the most of the additional space. But if simplification is part of the game plan for your living space, and you have the organizational skills to make it work, the open closet can be both practical and attractive.
19. Wall Space
Wall-mounted pegs and hanger rods are a fantastic way to show off your clothing as part of your room décor. Most people have clothes that they are proud of the appearance of. These clothes can become part of your home décor with a home storage system that shows them off to their best advantage.
Peg and hanger systems on the wall can range with your home décor from the simple to the ornate. Plumbing-pipe systems are perfectly suited to DIY and can nicely complement an industrial or modern interior design. Other systems can be more expensive, for more classical design schemes, but all peg and hanger systems are well-suited to any interior decoration scheme.
20. Over the Door Organizer
Typically known as a place to store shoes, socks, and other small articles of clothing, an over-the-door organizer is a fantastic way to keep multiple articles. Some organizers exclusively have small pockets, some have larger pockets for shirts or pants, and pegs for clothes hangers.
Over the door organizers aren’t typically a primary way to store clothes, but they are an option for capsule wardrobes. The over the door organizer is a difficult way to store clothes in an attractive way, since by its very nature it’s a highly utilitarian device. Some good options can be found for attractive clothes storage as an over-the-door organizer if you know where to look.