What is the best way to utilize the space in your dresser drawers?  What are the options for separating dress socks from casual socks, and bras from panties?  What is the best type of construction to look for when purchasing drawer dividers?  The questions go on and on…

On this page we have gathered what we feel are the best options for organizing your dresser drawers.  Though there are several types of drawer dividers on the market, these suggestions will steer you in the right direction so that you can hone in on the perfect solution for your situation.

When choosing drawer dividers pay special attention to the strength of the material and the construction.  We suggest a thick plastic or wood material because they hold up better to everyday use.  Be sure to check connection points, such as corners and seams, to make sure that they are strong and won’t fall apart.

And, as always, remember to measure your drawers carefully so that you purchase the right size dividers for them.

Spring Loaded Drawer Dividers

Spring loaded drawer dividers are our number one choice because they adapt to most drawer sizes. The adjustable spring tension keeps these dividers in place and they can be used to divide a drawers from front to back or side to side.

Cubicle Style Drawer Dividers

This type of drawer divider has fixed storage compartments. The example below has 20 smaller compartments that are great for sorting and organizing lingerie, socks and clothing accessories. The two larger compartments can hold tank tops, bras and other undergarments.

The drawer divider pictured below is made of flexible plastic and fits drawers 3″ or deeper with no assembly required.  All you have to do is pop it open and insert it into your drawer. To fit smaller depth drawers, you simply trim it with scissors.  This organizer works well with wire drawers found in some closet organizing systems. Adjusts from 4″ x 4″ to 8″ x 4″.

More drawer divider systems can be found here.

If you have questions, feel free to post them in our forums where one of our Organizing Coaches can help you.

Tired of having a non-functioning closet?  Below we share our favorite gadgets for whipping your closet into shape.

1. Divide and Conquer

We absolutely L-O-V-E Simple Division® Garment Organizers. They make it easy for anyone to put clothes back in their proper place.  Create a divider for your shirts, slacks, jackets and more.  Once you use them you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them.

Simple Division® Garment Organizers

2. Shelve It

Add shelf dividers, like the two pictured below, to create space for folded items such as tee-shirts and sweaters.

Wire Shelf Divider

Metal Shelf Divider

3. Hang It

The type of hangers you choose will make a big difference, not only in how organized your closet looks, but also in keeping your clothes from becoming stretched out of shape.  Our favorite examples are below.

If you have hangers made of different materials and colors, consider replacing them with ones made of the same material and color, such as white plastic or wood.  Doing so really gives a closet that clutter-free look.

Plain, white tubular plastic hangers, like the one below, are inexpensive and strong.

Plastic Tubular Hanger

Wooden hangers are best for heavy jackets and coats.  The ones below are made of cedar and scented with lavender to repel moths and keep your wool items safe.

Wooden Cedar Hanger

Padded hangers are excellent for hanging delicate lingerie, blouses and sweaters.

Padded Hanger

Individual pant hangers make seeing, removing and replacing pants a breeze.

Pant Hanger

Hangers with clips keep matched jackets and skirts together.

Suit Hanger

The handy tie rack below makes it easy to see every tie at a glance.

Tie Hanger

When you are trying to find a scarf to go with an outfit, having them neatly organized in a holder like the one below makes it easy to see your choices.

Scarf Hanger

Don’t store your belts in a drawer or box where they can be difficult to access.  Instead, hang them on a belt rack like the one featured below so that you can get to them quickly.

Belt Hanger

5. Go Vertical

If space is an issue in your clothes closet, try using one of the new closet extenders, like the one pictured below.  You can triple your closet storage space by hanging several articles of clothing, wrinkle-free, on a single hanger.   Best of all the easy “on and off” design allows each hanger to drop down vertically to maximize storage and free up space.  They can also be used to organize belts, purses and accessories.

More Cascading Closet Extenders

6. There’s Always the Door

Use the back of the closet for shoes or handbags.

More Hanging Handbag Holders

Shoes Away Shoe Hanger

7.  Bag It

Keep a mesh bag on a hook that you can toss delicate laundry into.  When it is full, put the bag into the washer (select the delicate cycle).

Mesh Laundry Bag for Delicates

Keep a laundry bag on a hook inside the closet that you can easily grab when you need to take things to the dry cleaner’s.

Mesh Bag for Dry Cleaning

This is a quick and easy alternative to labor-intensive, commercial silver cleaners.  All you do is soak your silver items in this solution until they are clean.  It even removes the tarnish from tiny nooks and crannies!

Solution:

4 cups very warm water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sheets of aluminum foil

Directions:

Cover the bottom of a glass 9 x 10 baking dish with a piece of aluminum foil.

Combine the water, baking soda and salt and pour it into the dish.  Place the silver on top of the aluminum foil, making sure that the silver is completely submerged in the solution, and cover it with the other piece of aluminum foil.

Allow the silver to sit for 5 minutes and watch the tarnish disappear.  Keep replacing the foil as needed when they turn black.

Remove the foil, rinse and dry the silver.  For larger pieces of silver you can triple the solution recipe and do the above process in your sink, just be sure to plug the drain first.

See if this scenario sounds familiar:  It is an hour before your guests are due to arrive for dinner.  The last thing you need to do is set the table.  You look for your tablecloth.  After digging around for several minutes, you finally find it at the bottom of a stack of other linens in your sideboard.  As you unfold it, you realize it is full of wrinkles and creases.  Then, to top it all off, you find it has a big stain on it.  Frustrated?

It doesn’t have to be this way.  With a few preventative measures, you can avoid pitfalls like this and preserve your table linens so that you can enjoy them for many years to come.

The most important thing to do right after you are finished using your table linens is to launder them or have them professionally cleaned.  The longer food and liquid are allowed to remain on the fabric, the greater the deteriorating effect it will have on the fabric, especially linen and cotton fabric.  In addition, waiting a few days to treat stains will make them more difficult to remove.

If your table linens are made of cotton or synthetic material, the best way to store them is to drape them over a hanger and store them in a closet as depicted below.  Storing them this way will cause the least amount of wrinkles and creases.

You can use tubular plastic or wooden hangers.  To further minimize creases, cover the bottom of the hanger with the tube from a roll of wrapping paper.  Simply cut the tube lengthwise and place it over the bottom rung of the hanger.  Then drape your tablecloth over the tube.  You can also fold an old towel over the hanger first and then drape your tablecloth directly over the towel.

Another option is to use a hanger made for blankets like the one below.

The best way to fold your tablecloth is lengthwise into thirds or fourths, depending on the size.

A guestroom closet or hall closet are good locations for storing table linens.   If you have some room in your attic (make sure it is a clean and dry location) you might consider installing a curtain rod.  Hang your tablecloth on a hanger and then hang it on the rod or you can drape it directly over the rod.

If you have tablecloths of different dimensions, add a label to your hanger that identifies the size and shape of the tablecloth so that you can easily tell what it is without removing it from the hanger.

Give vintage tablecloths and those made of real linen fabric special care.  To protect them, fold them as indicated above and then wrap them in acid-free tissue paper.  You can hang them, or for greater protection store them in an acid free box (especially if they are very fragile).  Never store vintage or real linen tablecloths in a plastic bag, cardboard box, in direct contact with a cedar chest or any wooden drawer in order to prevent them from yellowing and staining.

To quickly remove creases before putting the tablecloth on the table, spray a very fine mist of water on the entire tablecloth.  Then have two people pull it taunt in one direction for 30 seconds then in the other direction for 30 seconds.  Be very careful to spray only a fine mist that slightly dampens the tablecloth.  If you get too much water on the tablecloth you will damage the wood on your table, a table protector will prevent this issue.  This is a trick they used at the white tablecloth restaurant I worked at as a college student.  It works amazingly fast!

If you have the accessories to go with the tablecloth, such as napkins and placemats , you can hang them from a padded skirt hanger.