Do you have a dresser in your bedroom? We swapped in a leaning floor mirror in our bedroom where our dresser used to be and you have questions about the dresser! Where did it go, where is it now? Short story is, we sold it. In it I kept my pajamas, workout clothes, and underwear and I found myself trailing between the bathroom and bedroom to get dressed. I like having those things in drawers however, so I followed Chris's lead and put a low dresser we already had in my closet. No longer needing the dresser, we listed it for sale on our local FB Marketplace and somebody snatched it up. Happy to give it a new home! It got me thinking though, how many of you keep a dresser in your bedroom, and if so, what do you keep in it??
Bedroom Corner Before and After
Dresser | Vase | Boxes | Chair | Rug
Sidenote: I'm still not over this new view.
If you have a dresser in your bedroom is it for grounding a TV or to fill a wall? Do you not have room inside your closet to store all your clothes? If you are storing clothes, do you wish you had it in your closet? So many questions haha because I prefer not to! We did have a dresser in our last bedroom below the TV, which actually stored our bed linens. It served a function (other than holding clothes) plus it grounded the TV and filled a space on the wall.
Bed | Sheets | Duvet | Bench | Rug | Maple Tree | Pedestal Table | Sconces
Honestly, now I'm wondering if maybe I should keep a dresser on the wall across from the window because it does need something. Looking at the photo below, it could be against this wall, but scooted closer to the door. The picture looks narrower than it is but I think it could fit. Still unsure if it's a good idea or not!
Kids rooms seem to be a completely different topic. I want a dresser in all of my girls rooms because their little clothes do so much better folded! This dresser in Greta's bedroom I originally ordered for our bedroom! However, when it arrived I knew it belonged among the pink painted walls.
Dresser | Art | Table Lamp | Tapered Shade | Bed | Rug
Polly's dresser was a FB Marketplace find and I think it's so so darling. Since we got it, Faye has now been asking for a dresser in her room but I'm not sure there's enough space in there for a dresser!
What do you think, are you pro dresser in the bedroom?
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We have a dresser in our primary bedroom mostly to anchor an empty wall, and don't store any day to day clothing items in there. I mostly use the dresser for the family's "to be donated" items. We don't keep dressers in either of the kids rooms, but instead incorporate drawers into their closet solutions.
My kids both have large enough walk-in closets that I recently decided to move their dressers into their closets to have all their clothes in one place. It makes getting dressed so much easier and gives them more space in their rooms. For my primary bedroom my husband and I each have a dresser in the bedroom but I wish all my clothes were in my closet so reconfiguring/reorganizing is on the list.
I just recently moved my dresser into my closet. It's for things that can't be hung, i.e. socks and underwear. I prefer to keep all clothing inside the closet if possible. So many other types of furniture can fill spaces if that's what someone wants. I like the idea of everything I need to get dressed in one place, vs "foraging around for all the bits and pieces. I also like space and clean lines tho. Anything else starts to feel junky and claustrophobic to me.
I live in NYC and frankly the majority of us apt-dwellers need dressers. I would prefer not to need it, but it’s impossible to store clothing and linens otherwise. I think you made a great choice removing it if you have the closet space to absorb it’s contents. If the space you are referencing really feels empty consider filling it up with a narrower, flatter piece or maybe artwork if it fits the mood of the room.
As long as I have had a walk-in closet, I e had my dresser in the closet ( the same maple six drawer one from my childhood. ) just makes sense to get dressed and In dressed in there. That where the laundry basket is and adjacent to the bathroom.
We live in an older home, where closets are the size of a wardrobe. So, I designed a built in dresser with floor to ceiling cubbies (cubbies behind closed doors) and a new wardrobe. So, without a walk in closet or on suite, we need a dresser. ;)
Love this post. It's always been my dream to have a good enough closet that I can get rid of our dresser. I like having the room be more open. I know you like to have lots of furniture in a room (though not without thought behind it), but the open space on that wall might feel nice.
The reason that I thought this would be an interesting read is because I am currently in the process of cleaning out several dressers in my room and another bedroom. When people say you can't have too many junk drawers I say oh yes you can and I have way too many. I am older and my husband passed away a couple of years ago and I am just now getting to this chore since he always thought he would need his junk one day I always told him he wouldn't and that I would be cleaning his dressers after he was gone. I can lsught about it now but we really did joke about the junk drawers. I can definitely see me chucking a few dressers out. I said to my friends that there is only one thing that could be considered good when your spouse dies...you gain closet space
Our home is a 60-year old California ranch home. The original owners added an art studio (our office) through the primary bedroom closet, and they also added floor-to-ceiling cabinets & drawers on one of the walls in the closet. There’s the coolest wallpaper I’ve ever seen in there too: Chrysanthemums & Japanese fans, all in pinks, creams, dark oranges, and greens. If we ever leave this home, I will really miss the closet! Oh, and my husband still keeps a tall dresser for his socks & underthings, mostly so we have something for the TV to sit upon.
Is that in Fallbrook??
We have a dresser in our room. My husband and I each have 3 drawers where we store all of your clothes and a few feet of hanging space each for the rest! It has worked well for our 8.5 years of marriage. The 3 kids have a dresser. They each got a drawer, one drawer for “future/too big” clothes, and then there are a few feet of bar for the dresses and dress shirts. We just moved and my daughter got her own closet so no dresser anymore, so her old drawer holds diapers and wipes. No closet in the boys room at all yet. 😬
We have TWO dressers in our room! They hold undergarments, socks, t-shirts, sweatpants, and workout clothes. My husband is a runner and I used to run, so we have oodles of race t-shirts. We have a largeish walk in closet, but it just has one rod and shelf on my side and two rods and shelves on my husband's. We might be able to ditch the dressers if we had a closet organization system.
Our house is 1600 sq ft and our smallish master bedroom has two reach-in closets, and very little spare wall space. My dresser is in my closet and so is hubby's. About half my clothes hang and the other half are in the drawers. Works great for me! My nightstand drawers hold my sleepwear but everything else is in the one spot.
Hmm.. I've never thought of the option to NOT have a dresser, haha. I store socks/underwear, workout clothes, lounge clothes and PJs, bathing suits, etc. Our reach-in closet has good hanging space, but only one shelf that I can comfortably reach, so our dresser is definitely important. The surface also acts as a place to organize my jewelry.
Hi! My son has a closet system for all of his clothes; which allows me to store all of his toys in his room. My bedroom’s dresser is for linens and out of season clothing. I much prefer getting dressed in my closet and prefer hanging most clothing than folding. The dresser is the perfect place to put my favorite piece of art under and a don’t-trip-as-you-enter lamp.
I live in a very small one bedroom (400 sq ft) condo (I think my bedroom is 9 x 10 - but that is still enough room for a dresser and a small wardrobe (plus my small closet). It would never occur to me not to have a dresser. There are too many things I want folded (knit shirts, sweaters, socks, workout clothes, etc.) in drawers, and a dresser top to put jewelry, lotion, etc., and I'm never going to live in a house so big that the closet can hold a piece of furniture!
I live in a 1950 oughly 1000 sq ft bungalow. There are no such things as walk-in closets or extra bedrooms to convert. The closet is barely deep enough fit clothes hangers and features a single, standard door which means lots of reaching back through all the hanging items to get at those that are farther to each side. Therefore, I have not one but TWO dressers in my small bedroom, because without them I'd have literally no place for PJs, sweaters, socks, underwear, workout clothes or even hairbrushes and make-up (bathrooms are also 1950 TINY). I tell myself it's good motivation to embrace minimalism.
I get you! live in a 1180 sq ft 1952 ranch just 6 miles outside of Boston. Around here, where most of the housing stock is from the 1950s (post WWII) or earlier, walk in closets are just not a thing (despite the fact that houses cost big $$$ - neighbors just sold their 1400 sq ft 1927 house for $1.4 Million. We don't have"starter" homes here, just regular houses with small closets, so dressers or other furniture with drawers are a definite need.
To each his own on this. But for me, I would always have at least one dresser in a bedroom, even if there was enough room for one inside the closet. To me, it’s a perfect place to stage a little vignette of personal things that are meaningful to just us. A small lamp, a snap from our wedding or honeymoon, photos of a special place my husband and I have traveled, maybe a piece of art hung above the dresser, or a small mirror to bounce the lamplight around.
In Germany we don't typically have closets. Everyone uses wardrobes. We have one wardrobe with bottom drawers for my husband's clothes, and a double wide shelving unit with built-in dresser for my clothes, our baby's clothes, and his changing table. From wall to wall this means we have only about two feet of space to walk (since the baby's crib is also in this room). There is a small dresser in there too, but it houses office supplies since we don't have a dedicated room for a home office.
Everything is coming together so beautifully... I find that this bedroom is by far the best looking... Great choice to sell that dresser, it didn't belong there any more after the change... Love the mirror... I don't know if it is the angle of the photo but the table lamp is so heavy for the bed-side tables... have you considered wall lights
I currently need the dresser space for clothes-I wish they all fit in my closet. In a prior situation (where all my everyday clothes did fit in the closet), I used it for hats, bathing suits, off season clothes, extra purses - things I don’t access as often.
We have had walk in closets and non-walk in closets and always have a dresser for my husbands clothes.. he’s very practical and so it is easier to fold his clothing than hang it. I also love decorating the surface of a dresser! Candle/vase/jewelry box I would miss those!
Personally I have a closet that could fit a dresser if I chose to, but I’d prefer it in my actual room as I think they’re beautiful and can finish a space. We recently moved from 800 square ft where there was no room for a dresser so despite now having the space and desire for it I’m waiting until my budget allows for it. It can be hard to prioritize when to spend on renos and projects and when to get a piece of furniture.
We have a dresser in ours; it grounds the tv, fills space on the wall, and stores the not so pretty clothes I’d rather not see (and don’t have room for) in my closet. You know the ones-workout clothes, yard work clothes, etc. Our closets are sizeable for the area we live in, however they don’t come close to the size of closets you’ve shared. I think many people live with closets that don’t have built in organization, myself included. This is the first home we’ve lived in where all the closet spaces demand built-in storage for functionality…we just haven’t gotten there yet. What would be a good alternative to fill wall space and ground a tv if one decided to forgo a dresser? Asking for a friend, and loving your bedroom updates!
In my last house I had a small reach-in closet with no space for a dresser. My room was small and I chose to prioritize a reading chair over a dresser. Instead I opted for a bed with storage drawers which I used for seasonal items like sweaters. Worked perfectly for my needs.
We have an old 50s ranch and the rooms are tight as well as closet space. Neither of us have a lot of clothes, so we put an organizer in the closet that corrals all the hanging, plus drawers that have folded clothes and some shelves with bins of linens. All in your standard non-walk-in double sliding door closet. Then we each have a c&b kids child size dresser that we use as nightstands. In those are underwear, normal nightstand things, a heat pad, socks and bathing suits.
The kids height dressers are just the perfect height for our taller bed!
We have dressers but we also don’t currently have walk in closets. That will change soon when our 1100 sq ft master suite has a new walk in closet. I definitely do not have plans to add a dresser to the bedroom once that is done. The closet will be plenty big. But I love the look of a vintage dresser as a show piece and maybe storage for bedroom nick nacks like candles, pillow cases, books, reading glasses, etc. Really it’s the perfect way to have an accessible junk drawer in your own bedroom!! And who can have too many junk drawers.
I have not had a dresser in our bedroom in over 40 years and we’ve moved often. Regardless of closet size, my sweet hubs helps me install various closet organizers and these along with baskets of various sizes, we have all clothing and undies in the closet. Some homes have had dual closets but we arrange them the same. Our daughter never had a dresser growing up but has one now to hold TV and her drawers hold baby books, etc. Their clothing is in the master closet and there’s no going back and forth from bath to bedroom. Love it for us :)
Like other people in the comments, I've always had to decide if I was keeping a dresser in the bedroom or wherever based on space! I live in New York City and am now dresser-less as we have two decent-sized closets–one of which is in the bedroom. My husband took the other one. I'd love to have space for a dresser in the bedroom too instead of making use of closet carts and storage things for socks and whatnot, but not in the cards for me in this apartment.
I love this blog, but this question seems a little out of touch! I've never lived in a house or apartment with a large enough closet to *not* keep a dresser in my bedroom, even if they technically had a "walk-in" closet. I love looking at the enormous, perfectly organized closets that a number of influencers have, but living in a house with the space for one of those is a luxury that's out of reach for most people.
I have never had ROOM in my bedroom for a dresser until our last house, so I think you can look at it that way, too.
I live in a small-ish 1960s 3 bedroom house (1200 sq feet) with my husband and three kids. We have no dressers, and no walk-in closets. And the rooms are not at all large. It's just that there's no room in the bedrooms after beds and desks to comfortably fit a dresser. And in the master, I prefer a console table to a dresser, because it looks less bulky. I put all clothes (including clothes that are too big/small for my boys) in the closet, which is sometimes a challenge, but I make it work.
My house is only 1300sq foot and we have a walk in closet that is big enough to store our clothes plus more, but no room for a dresser in our “master” room. I would consider it a “luxury” to be able to fit a beautiful dresser in our room, so it goes both ways - as in don’t be rude.
I have to say I agree with this comment…that was my reaction to the question of whether I was pro dressers in the bedroom. I wish I had the luxury of having the option and
honestly I’ve never even thought
about it because it’s a necessity in my
house.
You must be making the assumption that all main bedroom closets are either big enough for a dresser or are walk in closets. Neither is the case in our bungalow. A dresser in the room isn't a decorative piece, it serves an essential function. The bedroom is 10 x 11. Would I prefer the floor space? Yes. But the closet is 18 inches deep and 3 feet wide and 5 feet fall. We opted for built in open shelves across the end of each side (we share this closet) with a small section in the middle for hanging items. Small spaces make a person really evaluate NEEDS vs WANTS. We prefer to live on the "need" side of things for items owned, spending money on experiences instead. Not quite tiny house living. But close.
I only have a dresser in my bedroom because there is room for it here but no room in the closet. I put them where they fit! My child has not had a dresser in their room in years. They prefer to fill their space with their decor and optimized their closet space for clothing (sliding a lingerie chest into the closet and adding baskets to the shelf too).
We have two dressers (well, one is more of a console/chest) in our room. The console is under the tv and also holds bed linens. The second is completely empty and it's only there because our bedroom is enormous, it looks nice and we don't know what else to do! (It already has an entire sitting room - currently our nursery - so seating doesn't make sense, we have two office spaces already...what else do you need in your room?!)
We live in a super old farmhouse that we've renovated, mostly cosmestically - so the bedrooms are super small and the one we use as our "primary" doesn't even have a closet. We have two chest of drawers side by side, one for him, one for me. That's where we keep pjs, under garments, jeans, extra sheets, etc. And then any of my hanging clothes are in my daughter's closet in her room. She's two, so mostly uses a dresser in her room so for now it works. My out of season clothes are stored in a plastic bin under my bed, same for my husband. We only have two closets in our whole house! We've had to be VERY creative with storage for EVERYTHING but it also keeps us from having things just for the sake of having them.
Agreed. We have nothing just for the sake of having it.
My brother owns a really old farmhouse as well- of the 5 bedrooms, only 3 have closets, and one of those is a very tiny closet (like about the width of a standard door, and maybe about 2 feet depth)! The two rooms that don’t have closets are also super small, but I imagine they would need to fit either a dresser or wardrobe to store clothes in. My grandpa actually grew up in the house and had a small metal wardrobe.
We have a dresser in our bedroom. While our walk in closet is sizable, there’s not enough room in there for drawers for both my husband and me. So he stores his foldable things in the closet. And I use the bedroom dresser to store PJ, socks, intimates. It also grounds a long wall and our TV.
Personally, I'm just amazed (and very jealous!) that there are people who have enough closet space to not need a dresser in the bedroom!
We have two dressers in our bedroom. But if I had the space in our closet, they would definitely be tucked away there instead.
We just made our bedroom smaller by creating a walk in closet and ditching our dressers. I love the simplicity and the organization of having all of my clothes in one spot.