How to Organize a Nursery Dresser: From Top to Bottom
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As a first-time mom, you’re probably wondering how to organize a nursery dresser, what to store in each drawer, and which organizational systems will work best. I had the same thoughts when I was in the process of organizing my son’s nursery dresser drawers for the first time. Now that I’ve gained some experience, I’m excited to share my tips for organizing a nursery dresser.
A great changing station dresser is functional and well-organized. It should be organized to make your daily routine easier. While also being structured to grow and evolve with your child as they grow. Think of the nursery dresser as the command center of the whole nursery. It’s where you’ll spend a lot of time changing diapers, outfits, and handling so much more. With everything you need at your fingertips, it becomes the ultimate hub for all things baby care.
What Nursery Dresser Should you Purchase?
There are so many nursery dresser options nowadays that it can be difficult to figure out what dresser to purchase. I definitely recommend buying a larger dresser, if it fits in your nursery, that will grow with your child as they grow. Nursery dresser style and color is definitely personal to you. However, you can take a look at the picture on the right to get an idea of the most common nursery dresser types based on storage space.
Our nursery dresser is a full size double dresser (green dresser seen in photo to the right) that has the perfect amount of space on top for a changing basket to change my son’s diapers and a little diaper bin with diapering essentials. It also has six drawers that we can store plenty of baby items. We love our nursery dresser and can’t wait to continue to use it as he gets older.
Dressers certainly come larger in width and smaller than what we have. You will have to measure the area you’re placing your nursery dresser, to really determine what size dresser is right for you.
Think of Your Nursery Dresser Routines
When thinking about how to organize a nursery dresser, it’s best to think about your routines and what you will be doing at the nursery dresser changing station. Routines may include dressing and changing your baby, taking care of your baby’s care needs, and accessorizing your child with bows, hats, socks, and shoes.
After you figure out your routines, you can plan out your drawers.
- Changing Diapers=Diapering drawer
- Outfit Changes=Clothing Drawer
- Baby Care= Baby Care Item Drawer
How to Organize a Nursery Dresser From Top to Bottom
Top of the Dresser: On top of a nursery dresser, you will need a changing pad or basket. I love my diaper changing basket, which comes with a pad insert. If you’re not into the basket look, here is a changing pad that I heard great things about. I also store all my diapering essentials in this bin right next to the diaper changing basket for easy access. When the bin runs low on diapers or other essentials, I just replenish the stock from my diapering drawer.
Drawer 1: I put all my son’s baby care items in drawer one that I would use when I was getting him dressed. This includes baby lotion and oil. I really love this lotion because the ingredients are so clean. I also store my son’s, nasal aspirator, nail clippers, brushes, pacifiers (he never used them), and some baby medicine in this drawer.
Drawer 2: This drawer is near the diaper changing basket, so I thought it would be best to store extra diapers, wipes, and diaper creams in this drawer. I use this drawer to restock my top of dresser diapering essentials bin. If I ever forget to restock that top of dresser bin, I have diapers and wipes ready to be used.
Drawer 3: Baby clothes is my next essential for drawer three. In this drawer, I store my son’s current clothes that he fits into. I use dividers to organize the clothes by type: onesies and tops, followed by a divider, pants, followed by another divider, and then pajamas.
Drawer 4: In this drawer, I store clothing my son would fit into next. I use dividers to organize them, following the same system as in drawer three.
Note: When my son did not fit into the clothes in drawer three anymore (current size clothes), I would move the clothes from drawer four (the next size up in clothes) into drawer three and update drawer four with the next size up in clothes from drawer three.
Drawer 5: I store swaddles, burp clothes, cloth bibs, and my extra boppy pillow covers in this drawer using cloth drawer bins. I really love our muslin burp clothes. We totally went overboard with the number of burp clothes, bibs, and swaddles we have. We probably had ten swaddles and only used 5 of them. Not only that, but we also had about fifteen cloth bibs and have only used six of them. Try not to go overboard in this area because it will be difficult to fit these items in your dresser or your nursery if you have limited space.
Drawer 6: In the last drawer, I kept baby accessories organized with three cloth bins. One bin held socks, another stored shoes, and the final bin contained hats.
More Tips on How to Organize a Dresser:
- I know your dresser may be different from mine, you may have a longer dresser, a dresser with more drawers, or one with fewer drawers, but you can use this layout as an example.
- If you have too many clothes, you can hang outfits and other clothes in the closet.
- Blankets take up a lot of drawer space and are not needed daily. See if you can store them in a floor storage bin or in a closet bin.
- If you have a smaller dresser than mine, burp cloths, swaddles, and bibs can all be stored somewhere else as they are not needed at the nursery changing station. You will need burp cloths and bibs when your babe is a newborn-to a couple of months of age, and will need access to them if you’re hanging in the living room a lot.
Dresser Organization Tools:
Diaper Caddy: A diaper caddy that goes right on top of your dresser is great for grabbing diapers and creams quickly for diaper changes. I like this wicker diaper caddy because it has so many compartments. If you’re not liking the color or compartments, this caddy has removable compartments and comes in so many colors.
Draw Bins: Draw bins help you categorize like items together within a drawer, so items are not sprawled out all over the drawer. I use these cloth drawer bins, and they fit my drawers perfectly. You could also go with clear plastic drawer bins too.
Draw Dividers: Draw dividers help separate larger items into categories by separating the draw into sections. I use these white drawer dividers that are adjustable and when locked into place they do not move at all. I also like the look of these clear dividers as well.
To Label or Not to Label: You will probably read other posts on how to organize a dresser that will tell you to label everything in a drawer. If it helps your brain, then do it. I didn’t do it because when you open the drawer you can literally see everything. And if you label your clothes by size, you will have to relabel every time your child grows out of their clothes. However, labeling does come in handy when you label bins or items where you cannot see what is inside. This label maker is great! I use it for many projects in my house.
How to Maintain Dresser Organization Over Time
Keep Everyday Items Accessible: I highly recommend storing everyday items in the top drawers of your dresser so it’s easily accessible for everyday use. These items include diapers, diaper creams, and clothes.
Restock your Drawers: Take inventory of the items you are running low on in your dresser drawers such as diapers and wipes and restock when needed.
Keep Items Grouped By Category in Drawer Bins: Keeping items grouped by similar qualities will make it easier for you to find items quickly. If you just throw items back in the drawer, it might be difficult to find items.
Create a Routine for Clothing Rotation: Remember to switch out your child’s clothes as your child gets bigger, so drawers do not get over stuffed. I use one drawer for current size clothes that my child fits into now, and another drawer for the next size up. When my child grows out of clothes, I rotate the clothes and put the clothes he grew out of in a storage bin in my attic.
Roll Clothes instead of Folding: Rolling baby clothes instead of folding them helps save space in the drawer and prevents creases in the clothes.
Use the “One In, One Out” Rule: For every new item of clothing you receive or buy, remove an older one that no longer fits or is in poor condition.
Every four to six months, clean out all the drawers: This involves taking everything out of all the drawers and assessing what your child has grown out of. While also looking at what can be thrown out and what you want to keep in the drawers. I just did a spring dresser drawer clean out and I could not believe how many items I could store or throw out now that my son was older.
I hope you enjoyed this post on how to organize a nursery dresser. Nesting and organizing before the baby is a process. My goal is to make it much easier for you. If you would like to learn more about nursery organization, take a look at my other post called Ultimate Guide to Baby Nursery Organization: Tips for a Tidy and Functional Space.
