25 Best Dresser Alternatives for a Stylish Bedroom

Fabric Bins

One of the simplest ways to swap your dresser for a new system is to transfer your wardrobe into fabric bins and keep them on shelves or elsewhere around your room. Fold your clothes neatly and compactly to keep everything tidy. Label your bins so you’ll be able to quickly pull out the right ones to find what you’re looking for without rummaging through them all.

Armoires

Armoires are tall and narrow freestanding closets that you can use to store your clothes. They originated in the 17th century and were often built of oak. While their overall look has changed since then, with new features like doors and drawers to hold clothing, their functionality has not. If you have a small space or if you want to find a more stylish alternative for your drab dresser, an armoire is a great choice.

Garment Racks

Your wardrobe can double as a decor piece while avoiding wrinkles when you use a garment rack. Clothing racks are especially great if you’re running low on closet space. And if you get one with wheels, you can rearrange your room regularly to suit your mood, divide space, or act as a privacy screen.

Trunks

Classy and timeless, trunks, steamer trunks, or chests are an ideal way to make your space a little more chic while still having a place to store all of your favorite clothes. Trunks offer a lot of storage space, which can act as a kind of black hole for the clothes you hardly wear. To combat this, fold your clothes neatly and go through them regularly. Consider a cedar chest to serve as a natural pest deterrent.

Under-Bed Storage

Dressers can take up a lot of valuable floor space. If your bedroom is small, swap out your dresser for under-the-bed storage. You can buy plastic bins or baskets that are low enough to fit under your bed. Look for products that come on casters to make it easier to roll out from under the bed. Or, add DIY casters for wheel-y easy under-the-bed storage.

Having under-the-bed storage will free up your floor space, leaving you much more room for more important things (like more houseplants).

Shelving Storage

Instead of using a dresser with clunky drawers, take advantage of wall space in or out of your closet. Use a bookcase or build your own shelving (or hire a contractor to do it) and stack your neatly folded clothes on top of each shelf. For an elegant minimalist look, make low stacks of your clothing on each shelf⁠—it's how the chicest retailers display their goods in-store.

Clothes Cabinets

While a dresser can hold your folded clothes, a clothes cabinet is a flexible piece of furniture that can hold folded, as well as hanging items with its built-in clothing rack. Some cabinets often have drawers as well, making it a great all-in-one furniture piece that doesn’t take up very much space since it's usually smaller or shorter than an armoire or a wardrobe.

Lockers

Middle school throwback, anyone? Lockers are stylish furniture pieces that come with a heavy dose of nostalgia and lots of charm. You can have your very own locker in your bedroom to store all of your clothes in. Compared to dressers, lockers take up less floor space and may even come with enough vertical space to hang more delicate items.

Open Closets

Whether you have a small bedroom without a closet or you love admiring your wardrobe at all times, an open closet is a great option and a functional alternative to a traditional dresser. You can customize your open closet however you’d like and let your wardrobe double as bedroom decor. Add shelves, drawers, hooks, cubbies, and more for space to keep all your clothes and accessories. It's possible to turn a little-used nook in your bedroom into a closet by installing a rod.

Built-in Closets

If you don’t have one already, consider building a closet. There, you can add shelves, drawers, and other storage spaces to hold your clothes. With all that storage, you won’t need a dresser at all.

Stand-Alone Wardrobes

Stand-alone wardrobes are essentially freestanding closets, and although they are similar to armoires, they are usually wider and sometimes (not always) deeper. They have room for drawers to hold clothes and typically also include an area to hang items as well. If you have delicate items beyond basic cotton tees and jeans, hanging them will help them last longer.

Wall Space

Wall space isn't just for hanging art. Why not hang attractive coat hooks and racks for everything from scarves to coats? Be sure to see how much weight one hook or rack can handle. If you have a wide expanse of a wall, go for a long, simple pegboard that would fit well into most minimalist bedrooms.

This is a fun idea for organizing clothes in a baby's nursery—who wouldn't want to see all those adorable little outfits on display instead of hidden in a dresser? Don't forget the neglected wall space inside of your closet. Install hooks towards the top of your closet to store rarely-used items.

Storage Beds

Use a storage bed instead of a dresser in your bedroom. Many platform beds do double-duty with built-in drawers and shelves to maximize your minimalist space. Look for beds with sturdy drawers that can hold bulky items and headboards with built-in storage to hold smaller items.

Suitcases

Why not put your suitcases to good use when you're home? Fill them with clothing and slide them underneath your bed. If you have handsome vintage suitcases, let them multitask by using them for storage and stacking them to double as a bed table or end-of-bed bench.

Over-the-Door Organizers

Door organizers hold more than shoes. Add an over-the-door organizer with large capacity see-through shelving to every door in the room as an alternative way to store clothes and accessories. Folding your clothes into tinier packages will help you utilize this idea.

Closet Hanging Shelves

Hanging closet shelves are commonly used as alternative ways to store clothes. They're usually made from canvas or other lightweight materials so they can easily hang from the closet rod without stressing it. It's a simple solution for transferring many of your foldable items from a dresser into an alternative space. Learn to fold sweaters so they stay neatly on the hanging shelves.

Storage Benches

End-of-bed upholstered benches aren't just for storing bedding. Put a storage bench with a flip-up top in place to store clothes like bulky sweaters and jeans. Add dividers to organize the bench even further and hang small bedside caddies for extra storage either inside or outside of the bench.

Rolling Bins

A rolling bin typically holds art, crafts, or sewing supplies, but it's also one of the great alternative ways to store clothes. This versatile accessory on wheels can be rolled in and out of rooms, closets, and all around your bedroom. Bins and the frame they sit in are lightweight, usually plastic, and often opaque enough so you don't always need to be so neat.

Lingerie Chests

For a small bedroom, a lingerie chest fits in beautifully. It almost looks like a mini armoire. Commonly a lingerie chest has three to five drawers that each have some depth so you can fit a few more things than just skivvies. Depending on the height of the chest, it can also double as a bedside table.

Jewelry Armoires

There's that word armoire again, but this time, it's a slim, streamlined, and shallow piece of furniture meant for jewelry storage. A jewelry armoire often has a mirrored door that opens on a hinge to reveal storage. Some are freestanding and others can be mounted on the wall or the back of a door. You'll be able to fit some accessories, but not bulkier items.

Hampers

Some hampers are too handsome to use for dirty laundry. A wicker or teakwood hamper can handle bulky outerwear, sweaters, and other seasonal items. If it's on wheels, put it out of sight in a corner of the bedroom or closet if it fits. The same concept applies to tall decorative baskets with lids.

Media Cabinets

Do you have a media cabinet, console, or small entertainment center that is too sturdy and beautiful to toss? Some entertainment cabinets sit low to the ground and can make excellent nightstands and alternative clothing storage spaces. For larger entertainment centers with cutouts that once held the TV, put a clothing rod across the upper middle of the box to hang items.

Storage Ottomans

Much like storage benches, you can put a series of two or three storage ottomans at the end of your bed for alternative clothing storage. Add two more storage ottomans with trays on top of each and use them for storage and nightstands—they are just about the right height.

Shelf Dividers

You have the perfect space to take the place of your dresser—your closet shelves above the rod. Declutter the area and add shelf dividers. These simple devices are less expensive than bins and they act like drawer dividers, but on a shelf. That way your folded items stay neat and in place.

S-Hooks

S-hooks are simple little tools that save space in your closet so you can transfer jeans, pants, and other hangable items out of your dresser and onto the closet rod. S-hooks come in all sizes so make sure the hooks are wide enough to fit over your rod. And choose hooks with rounded balls at each end so you don't poke your hands while searching for a favorite pair of jeans.