Where I Show You My Underwear Drawer

9.28.2012

Last year, in a spurt of uncharacteristic frivolity, I bought a subscription to Real Simple Magazine. Since that time, every month a magazine arrives in my mailbox, full of easy recipes and home decor DIY ideas and fashion advice, and I look at them and admire them; I even flag my favorites for later. But rarely do I do anything with them. Every once in a while I'll make a recipe, but usually they just get forgotten in my stacks of bills and junk mail. 

In every issue, there's a feature where they show you 5 new ways to use something. In one issue a few months back, they showed 5 ways to use an egg carton. I'm sure I flagged a few of those to use later, but in the August issue, I discovered a truly brilliant use for an old shoe box that I knew I needed to not let go to waste.

Ahem.
This is my underwear drawer. 
I covered up a few things, mostly because of the internet creepers. And because my dad reads this blog. He also happens to be an internet creeper himself, but that's not the point. (Kidding, Dad. I love you!)

Okay, so my underwear/sock/bra/sports bra drawer is always a huge mess. Is it just me? For most people, this probably isn't a huge deal, but when I want to be as quiet as possible in the mornings when I get up before Jordan, I really do need to be able to quickly find a pair of socks or a sports bra in the dark. Or, you know, when I don't have my contacts in and wander around like a blind person. 

A few months ago I bought a set of these from the Container Store: 
Find them here.

I love these drawer dividers. First of all, they're adjustable to extend up to 18", so they fit pretty much any size drawer. Also, they're natural cedar, so they smell great. The dividers are also lined so they won't snag on your delicates. 

Still, even with my awesome new drawer dividers, there was extra space that was keeping me from being completely organized. I kept grabbing socks when I wanted underwear, etc. Enter, Real Simple's idea to: use leftover shoe boxes as drawer dividers. Am I the only one who thinks this is brilliant? Maybe I'm just way behind and everyone else has been doing this for years. I don't know, but I always have shoe boxes lying around, and I was excited to try it out. 

The first box I found was for a pair of heels, so it was nice and big. Great for my loads of socks. The second was a perfect fit for my sports bras.
I took everything out of my drawer and played some tetris. After a few tries, I finally found the perfect combination, using two drawer dividers on either end and two shoe boxes in the middle. Since the middle part was surrounded on all ends by a wall, I figured I didn't need another shoe box and simply stacked my bras down the center. 

It's only been a few days, so there's still time to mess it up again, but I really feel confident in my latest drawer organization. Using the shoe boxes was just what I needed to put it all together. Score one for Real Simple and one for me! 
(P.S. Just for reference, my drawer is 32" L x 14" W x 7" H.)

How do you organize your underwear/sock drawer? DO you organize it? Give the shoe box thing a try and let me know how it works for you!
PAM said...

OMG I read that in the magazine and have been thinking I need to do that the next time someone buys shoes! I love the drawer dividers as well. Great job. Currently mine is still a big fat mess :)

Anonymous said...

This is brilliant and looks nice and organized in a lovely way. I don't have that many of those items to need such organizing, though. I only have one category of sock (regular), and I just throw my socks and underwear all together in the same drawer; but I've never had a problem finding what I need.

I only own like, three bras, so they just hang up on the doorknob of my closet. I only own two sports bras, and they're in use too often to be put in drawers (and too smelly because, since I only have two, I don't wash them after every use), so I just keep them in a neat pile with my other running clothes, since I only have two pairs of shorts and two shirts as well. It works for me.

But I do really like what you've done here.

That magazine has some great stuff in it, but I hate it because of how grammatically offensive the title is.

-A

Amanda said...

Audra,
I do have a crazy amount of socks and sports bras. I just keep collecting them somehow. I realize not everyone needs this type of organization. Haha. I knew you didn't wash your sports bras, but I still don't get how you do that. Mine are wet as though I'd dumped them in a bucket of water. They dry (obviously), but then they smell and are all sticky. Maybe I just sweat a lot. Also, I'd never thought about Real Simple's grammatically offensive title, but you're totally right!

Jess said...

Audra and Reese, I need help. I have an entire drawer the size of Reese's drawer for each of the categories. An entire sock drawer, an entire underwear drawer, and an entire bra drawer. They're all stuffed full. I'm not kidding. I had no idea other people could fit them all together in one drawer. I feel like I need an intervention.

Bad Luck Jenn said...

Just found your blog and been stumbling around and I love this! Was wondering how the boxes were holding up? I'm obsessed with VS undies so I prob need a drawer just for them, but maybe a box for the "sexy ones" and one for the everyday ones? Haha

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