How To Organize Dresser Drawers- Without Expensive Organizers

I’m sure you’ve seen pictures in magazines of people’s picture-perfect closets where they have each article of clothing perfectly folded and organized. Nothing is out of place. I’ve always wondered how they organize their dresser drawers.

I’ve looked up prices on closet organizers at Home Depot and dreamt about the storage containers and storage dividers at The Container Store. While all those things would be nice, they’re not affordable for everyone.

I wanted to find a cheaper alternative because I wanted organized dresser drawers, but didn’t want to spend a ton of money achieving them.

Then one day I was browsing through Dollar Tree, just looking for inspiration for a new project when I walked by something that caught my eye. Immediately I thought of my idea for drawer dividers.

Yes, this would work. I think. Well, it’s only a dollar. It’s worth a shot!

The item I found was foam poster board. You know that thick, poster board that you probably used for school projects back in the day? Yup. That’s my new idea. Sounds silly, I know. But don’t let me lose you just yet! It’s not as crazy as it sounds!

I took it home and tried it out and my goodness, it worked! I had my doubts for sure but this foam board really held it’s own and conquered this job. It’s sturdy, you can choose the size, customize it, and IT WAS ONLY $1 for a single board. I had purchased five to be on the safe side but I finished not only my entire dresser but also my husband’s with only two and a half boards!

Please don’t leave or find me crazy and tacky yet. Honestly, no one would know the difference if they opened up my dresser drawers. Let me just tell you how I did it, show you some before and after photos and then you can decide if I’m crazy. Deal?

How To Organize Dresser Drawers- Without Expensive Organizers

Supplies Needed

Foam Poster Board
Ruler
Pencil
Box Cutter or Knife

Step One- Measure Our Your Dividers

The first thing you need to do is figure out what size divider you need and how many. At this point, I had already refolded all our clothes and they were all set up for the dividers to be placed in around them.

Depending on where you want the dividers will depend on how you measure. I wanted mine to mostly be vertical so I measured the drawer front to back (14 inches) and then decided how high I wanted the divider.

You want it to be high enough to divide the clothes, but not so high that it makes it challenging to get in and grab your clothes or hides them. I had my dividers 4 inches high which was about the same height as my clothes in the drawer.

Take your measurements, ruler and pencil and hopefully you know what to do. Yup, draw out your dividers.

Step Two- Cut Out the Dividers

This is kind of the tricky part. Only because these boards don’t really love clean cuts. Also, if you cut them too long, it can bend or damage the board when you try to squeeze it into the drawer. But, if you cut them too short, then they just fall over inside the drawer- thus defeating the whole point.

Thankfully these are only $1 because it did take one or two for me to cut out to figure out the perfect fit and way to cut it. (Just in case you were thinking of trying, scissors don’t work. They just shred the board and create a very messy-looking cut.)

I recommend a box cutter for sure. I didn’t have one on hand so I just used my husband’s knife. It seemed to cut through well, but just glide it slowly down your already made lines- I went too fast a few times and it made the cut choppy.

Tip: Use one of the other boards as a cutting board if you don’t have one. It saved my bed!

Step Three- Place the Dividers

Ahhh the best and most appealing part. I’ll show you some of my before and afters. Hopefully it gives you some inspiration to organize your dresser drawers!

Sock Drawer Before/After

T-shirt Drawer Before/After

Pants Drawer Before/After

Shorts/Leggings Drawer Before/After

I still have a few tricks to learn, I’m sure. I’m always learning. But I think for the price and effort that went into this project, I’d say it is well worth it and I’m never going back!

It doesn’t look as tacky as you might think, right?! I’m really impressed with how this came out. I’m not a fan of tacky things so sometimes I find it’s much more worth it to spend the money than have something look cheesy or bad. But I don’t think this is one of those times!

I love to hear feedback! Let me know in the comments what you think and if you try this technique to organize your dresser drawers! Enjoy!