My Best Tips for Nursery Dresser Organization


I think the key to maintaining organized spaces is evolving them as your needs change. The greatest example of this is Rory’s room. We organized this space from top to bottom when I was in my hardcore nesting phase, before her arrival. I really didn’t know what we would need for a baby, let alone the items that would need to be easily accessible all the time.Nursery Dresser organization

Here we are nine months later and things have changed ten times in this space. As our girl grows, her needs change, and we have to rethink our methods all over again. I thought it would be fun to share my nursery dresser organization tips in today’s blog post.

It’s funny because I went back and read this blog post about organizing her closet and dresser and things are so different now! We’ve had this system in place for the past few months and it’s working wonderfully for us. So let’s take a peek inside her nursery dresser…

Nursery Dresser OrganizationNursery dresser organization

Let’s go row by row and I’ll share what we keep in each drawer. We have this dresser from Crate & Kids and I love the smaller drawers on that top row. They’re the perfect size for corralling smaller items, as you’ll soon see, and the lower drawers are large to hold bigger stuff. This dresser would be great for an adult bedroom too – perhaps socks and underwear in those small drawers and sweaters/jeans/athleisure below?

P.S. You can find sources for everything in Rory’s nursery in this blog post.

The Top Row – Everyday Basics

Nursery organization tips

We change about half of Rory’s diapers up here (the rest of the time, we change her on the floor in the living room if we’re playing down there), so it’s important that we have all of her diaper essentials on hand and stocked in this dresser. In the left drawer, we keep daytime diapers in the front row, nighttime diapers in the back row, and wipes. It’s crazy how many diapers we go through and I’m happy that Finn takes the initiative to keep this drawer stocked at all times!Organizing baby lotions and diaper creams

In the drawer next to it, we have all of Rory’s lotions and potion, as I like to say.  That includes diaper cream, body lotion (Tubby Todd is our fave), hydrocortisone (poor baby has super sensitive skin), Vaseline, her hairbrush (there are tiny strands of white-blonde hair on that cute head), and more. Tips to organize baby itemsWe use this little felt jewelry tray to keep it all organized in here so everything doesn’t roll around. Keeping bibs and wipes organized in a dresser

In this third drawer, we have bibs and burp cloths. We only feed Rory in here at bedtime (all other bottles are given downstairs), so we don’t have to keep too many of these in her drawer. Instead, we have dozens and dozens downstairs in our TV console. (You can see more about keeping that spot organized in this blog post.) These are the bibs we like to use and these are our go-to burp cloths.Nursery dresser organization

We don’t use this last drawer too often, thankfully, because it includes mostly medical stuff – thermometer, snot sucker, gas drops, and more. We use these nail clippers for Rory every Saturday morning. They’re great and we haven’t had any accidental fingers cuts yet. Finn will feed Rory her bottle and I’ll clip away.

The Second Row – Rory’s Clothing StashRory's nursery dresser organization

The nursery dresser organization continues with this second row in Rory’s dresser. Here you’ll find most of Rory’s clothes. (You can read more about where we buy Rory’s clothes in this blog post.)Organizing baby onesies in a dresser drawer

By far, the best purchase for keeping her clothing organized are these drawer dividers and these drawer compartments. These bins are the absolute best and they’re budget-friendly. They come in a bunch of sizes and you can customize each drawer so you are able to fit all of your belongings. Finn uses these for his drawers in our bedroom too.

In the left drawer, we roll all of Rory’s footed pajamas. We love these “wondersuits” because they’re zippered, stretchy, and so cozy for Rory. She wears these pretty much all day, every day. I like that these are all organized together in one drawer because it makes getting her dressed a lot easier. Rory's clothing in our nursery dresser organization

In this other drawer, we have a mix of short-sleeve onesies and long-sleeve onesies. How to tackle nursery dresser organization

The left side has her short-sleeve onesies all folded in a row. I like displaying them like this, instead of creating piles, because you can see everything that’s available and things don’t get lost on the bottom. Rory's long-sleeve onesies

The right side holds long-sleeve onesies. Rory usually wears these with pants and a sweater if it’s super chilly. Keeping the long and short-sleeve items separated is helpful so we don’t have to unfold an item only to find that it won’t work. We love anything that makes changing Rory easier, since she is a squirmy little girl.

The Third Row – “Real Clothes” & Socks/Shoes

Rory's real clothes organized in here

This bottom area holds Rory’s “fancier” items like sweaters and jeans. Honestly, Rory doesn’t wear these that often unless we’re taking photos for something or actually seeing people, which doesn’t happen much these days. Rory's cute itemsIn the left bin, you’ll find tights and leggings, the middle holds jeans and pants, and the right side has blouses and sweaters. Again these are all rolled so we can easily see what we’re working with. How to organize a nursery dresser

This final drawer holds a few random items. First, we use these changing pads on the dresser. We have a changing pad with a cover, but we keep a cloth over it so we’re not washing it all day, every day. These are rolled and kept in this bottom drawer. keeping socks organized in a tiny bin

Is there anything cuter than baby socks?! I think not. These tiny items can get lost quickly, so we keep them together in the smaller storage bins. We also have a bin for her shoes and little bloomers.

Maintaining an Organized Nursery DresserKeep a clear bin in the closet to hold clothing that no longer fits

While we have this system in place, it only works if we maintain it. Just as I mentioned in this blog post, we keep a large storage bin in Rory’s closet so we can easily add items she outgrows. The worst thing we could do is put something on her that doesn’t fit, take it off, and shove it back in the drawer, only to have that happen over and over again. This way, we toss it in the closet and deal with it later. tips to style shelves in a nursery

So there are our nursery dresser organization tips! Even if you don’t have a little one, I still hope you came away with a few tips and ideas to organize your dressers. It’s all about creating and maintaining your system.

My best nursery dresser organization tips

Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.