The 17 Very Best Drawer Organizers

Measurements: 7 sizes, from 6” x 6” x 2” to 3” x 12” x 2” | Design: Stackable | Material: Bamboo

You can mix and match these bamboo boxes to fit your needs. Each one is priced between $4 and $9, and there are two lengths (three inches and six inches) and four widths (6, 9, 12, and 15 inches) to choose from. All sizes have a uniform depth of two inches, but they are also designed to stack so you can make the most of deeper drawers.

I named these boxes the best drawer organizer overall because they are a simple, straightforward solution that allows you to buy just what you need. I use the six-by-six-inch square to hold hair ties and dental floss in the bathroom, and the larger rectangles for go-to kitchen gadgets like a trusty garlic chopper. Their stackability is especially handy because it lets me place boxes with the most frequently used items on top of those I don’t reach for as often.

These do-it-all drawer organizers are also a favorite of Solomon, Goforth, and Living. Simplified’s Lauren Saltman. Though the price adds up when you’re buying multiples, they say the cost is worth it because the boxes are versatile enough to tame pretty much any messy drawer — even if, as Goforth acknowledges, “it’s a bit like playing Tetris figuring out which size goes where.” Plus, they are “neutral-looking enough” to work almost anywhere, according to Solomon. In some drawers, they might even be mistaken for built-ins.

Measurements: 24” long, 2” or 4” high | Design: Snaps off to the right size, self-adhesive mounts | Material: Plastic

If you’re working with either an odd-shaped drawer or unusually sized stuff, these customizable organizer strips are your best bet. The most DIY recommendation on this list, the strips have to be measured, scored, and snapped off to the right size, and slid into place using the included self-adhesive mounts. (You can stock up on extras as needed, with the strips sold in packages of four and the mounts in packages of eight.) There are two heights available — two inches or four inches — and you can mount one over another in deeper drawers, according to Heidi Lee, founder of Prune + Pare.

Measurements: 18” x 12.75” to 22.25” x 2.625” | Design: Expandable, up to five compartments | Material: Bamboo

For a more ready-made solution, this expandable tray has three sections at its smallest and five sections at its largest. You can really spread out your utensils — as long as your drawer is large enough to take advantage of its maximum 22-inch width. (It’s 12 inches wide when both side sections are collapsed.) Because all the compartments are around the same length at 18 inches, you can get a real uniform appearance. Morahan also likes that it blends right into a drawer made out of wood — the bamboo results in a made-for-you look without the made-for-you price tag.

Measurements: 18” x 13” to 21” x 2.5” | Design: Expandable, seven compartments | Material: Bamboo

Like the expandable Lipper tray above, this tray can hold quite a lot at its maximum width, which is just an inch shorter than the Lipper at 21 inches. Definitely double-check your measurements before ordering — I realized too late that it was too bulky to fit into any of my kitchen drawers, so I decided to keep it right on the counter. It expands easily enough there, and the design looks intentional. For $24, I believe it’s a good bargain: well-made enough that it has held up through months of testing (it’s right beside the sink too). It has a different arrangement of compartments than the expandable Lipper tray, which Solomon likes because you can have your “salad and dinner forks living happily alongside one another instead of being so cramped.” If you have a big silverware collection, it’s your best bet, whereas Lipper’s might be better for whisks, spatulas, and tongs. (But any truly prized pieces, like heirloom silver, might be better off in something more airtight, Solomon suggests.) She also recommends placing items into the organizer in the same order you use them when laying out your table.

Measurements: 4.33” x 15.6” x 2.25” | Design: Five angled compartments | Material: Plastic

If you’re really short on space and can’t even consider something that expands, former Strategist staffer Hannah Starke recommends this compact cutlery-drawer tray, which she uses in her 22-square-foot kitchen. Because of its longer design, it can store enough silverware for six to eight place settings in a four-inch-wide footprint.

Measurements: 12” to 18” long x 4” high | Design: Adjustable, optional mounting strips | Material: Plastic

I hear about these dresser-drawer dividers — which also appear in our guide to the best closet organizers — all the time. These are spring-loaded just like the adjustable Homemaid dividers above, but have a shorter length range of 12 inches to 18 inches. They also come with optional adhesive mounting strips if you want to make them super secure. Each one is four inches high and looks like a little fence. As Natalie Schrier, founder of Cut the Clutter, puts it, the dividers “provide an exact fit for the entire depth of the drawer, leaving no space wasted, and they stay put.” Hord and Morahan like using them to organize clothing into categories — like folded tees here and tanks there. And Genius Organizing founder Nicole Abramovici told me she installed hers more than a decade ago and her underwear drawer “has been immaculate ever since.”

Measurements: 5.5” x 5.5” x 5,” 11” x 5.5” x 5,” and 11” x 11” x 5” (2 of each) | Design: Different-size boxes that can be folded flat | Material: Polyester with plastic insert

Compared to the Container Store’s boxes that start at $18 a pop, the Ikea Skubb boxes are a bargain at $7 for a six-pack. Although these are specially designed to fit into the brand’s own furniture, Tanner assured me they work just as well in non-Ikea drawers. (Her tip is to use them in kids’ drawers, since the organizers can easily accommodate their smaller clothes.) You can even put the small boxes inside the bigger ones, matryoshka-doll-style, to create sections. These only come in one color and don’t have the same structure as the Container Store’s boxes, but they can be folded flat if you unzip their bottoms — in the event you ever need to store some after changing your organizational setup.

Measurements: 18” x 13.5” x 2.75” | Design: 32 separate compartments | Material: Plastic

The linen organizers above would make for a smart drawer solution for delicates, but for something more underwear-specific, Goforth recommends this Elfa organizer. The smooth plastic is designed to be snag-free, according to the brand, and each diamond-shaped divider can hold a pair of underwear, socks, or tights. Goforth describes it as “life changing for the drawer we all use every day” and suggests organizing contents by color and type. This organizer has another distinct advantage: You can tailor it to any drawer by just cutting off any of the ends that don’t fit.

Measurements: 12” to 18.75”x 10.25” x 1.5” | Design: Expandable, 12 compartments, separate ring display space | Material: Velvet

Placing a jewelry tray inside a drawer will free up your dresser top from bulky boxes or stands while preventing tangled chains and keeping stones out of sight. Stackers’ modular jewelry trays are one of the best jewelry organizers on the market, and this expandable version is especially well suited for maximizing space inside a drawer. Ope Omojola, founder of Octave Jewelry, stacks the trays inside her desk drawer to keep her jewels accessible “so that when I’m getting dressed, they’re right there.” Because the organizer is expandable, it can grow alongside your collection. And the velvet gives your treasures some cushioning so the plating won’t get scuffed.

Measurements: 15.06” x 11.5” x 3” | Design: 23 compartments, two-tiered trays | Material: Plastic

Madesmart makes no-muss, no-fuss organizers, and there are two versions of this “junk drawer” organizer to choose from — the two-tiered one featured here and a one-tier model that costs around $10 less. Schrier depends on the two-tiered one for everyday office supplies, with partitions for everything from paper clips to scissors and a compartment sized specifically for a roll of tape. The top tray can be removed and used separately in a different desk drawer, and since it doesn’t fully cover the bottom level, you don’t have to move it to find your favorite pens. Lisa Zaslow of Gotham Organizers recommends the one-tier, which has a range of sections that make it easy to follow the golden organizing rule: “A place for everything and everything in its place,” she adds. One of Zaslow’s clients even used it to organize tiny toy parts — so whenever her kids would be looking for a Lego figure’s hat or a missing Barbie shoe, she would know where to search.

Measurements: 6 sizes, from 3” x 3” x 2” to 12” x 10” x 2” | Design: Stackable with shallow and deep options for each size | Material: Metal

For a desk-drawer organizer that’s more design-forward, consider these colorful ones recommended by Daniel Loya, owner of Spaces Transformed. He suggests that the bright colors inside each box — which include sky blue and lime green — can help with color-coding supplies while giving you something cheerful to look at whenever you open your drawers. “There are endless ways you can arrange the compartments,” Loya explains. You also can choose between shallow and deep sizes for each color, depending on the space you’re working with.