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How To Create An Efficient Closet Drawer System Without Breaking The Bank

Your bedroom should be a place of rest — not a storage center for clunky dressers. For a helpful DIY project, consider switching out such furniture in exchange for closet drawers. After all, certain items and accessories don't belong on a hanger. When you only resort to hangers for closet storage, you're wasting tons of vertical space. That is why you should consider creating an efficient closet drawer system, which you can do on a budget.

Your delicate knits, sweaters, and activewear can easily become stretched on a hanger. Drawers are helpful for items like sweaters or jeans that you know won't wrinkle or crease when folded. By utilizing drawers and shelves, you can save those hangers for items that need them — namely, your suits, silks, blouses, sports coats, dress shirts, evening wear, etc.

Investing in a closet drawer system is an easy way to store away items you aren't using immediately due to seasonal changes or special occasion use, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune. There are free-standing and adjustable systems, such as the best-selling AURDAL series starting at $265 from IKEA, which incorporates drawers and shelves. Closet drawers can add visual variety with texture, materials, colors, labels, and fixtures made from wood, steel, wire, or plastic. As a result, you can get ready faster as you know where everything is. After purchasing shelves and deciding what goes into them, you can create an efficient system to reduce clutter and make your morning routine easier.

Mix up the type of drawers you have

Portable drawers like the popular ALEX series, available for $90 to $189 from IKEA (depending on the drawer amount), allow you to move them around and stack them. When you use the shorter ones, you can place one or several of them side-by-side under your hanging clothes. Include a transparent option with the LENNART drawer unit, available for $14.99. Or, enjoy an open closet while locking away valuables like jewelry or electronics in the WISUNO3-Door Vertical Cabinet.

Are you tired of losing an earring or fumbling for your favorite watch? Specialty drawers are handy for jewelry, shades, and other small delicate items. These drawers are usually small and shallow and sometimes lined with material like velvet or silk. Adorning yourself will be easier with everything laid out and not tangled. Plus, they're small enough to fit on top of a larger closet drawer. 

If your closet or new system unit has built-in shelves, one of the best ideas to organize a small closet involves pull-out bins. These bins act as make-shift drawers and can provide semi-transparency when you use plastic or wire ones. Add some rustic appeal and warmth with wicker bins. You can also focus on buying the right dresser that can fit in your closet.

Assign and divide accordingly

Once you have your closet unit, drawers, and shelves, it's time to sort your clothes. Some of the best things to put in drawers instead of hangers include your scarves, socks, leggings, belts, pajamas, T-shirts, and tank tops. If your closet unit has shelves, those are perfect for bulky items like sweaters and sweatshirts that require more stackable space and easy viewing.

Utilize some clever closet hacks, like assigning item-specific zones. Uniform folding, inserts like pegboards, and using the lowermost drawers for out-of-season items are easy ways to declutter and organize every drawer you have. If you have several items, how you fold them can affect visibility in the drawers. Like food in a pantry, you can forget you have certain clothes if they're buried behind or under something else. An easy solution is to line them up vertically instead of stacking them horizontally — drawer dividers can make this easier. You can also roll smaller items like socks and T-shirts. For a hack, consider installing the affordable $24.00 UPPDATERA pegboard organizer from IKEA to roll items on — add additional pegs as needed to roll items around.

Labels have always been a useful tool for organizing and knowing what's inside a container. Customize your closet drawer system more with calligraphy labels hanging on drawer handles, or stencils painted directly on drawers. Something like the Spakon Dresser Clothing Decals can both decorate and label your drawers.

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