Picture this: me, leaning against my bedroom doorway balancing a tape measure on my fingertips. There’s an excitement in figuring out exactly how much space you have for furniture and a terror that you won’t actually fit anything in there. Yeah, that sweet spot between hope and frustration?
Spring of last year, when I moved into my new apartment and stared into the abyss that was my bedroom closet. Or non-bedroom closet, as I like to call it. Estate agents love to throw words like “cozy” around when they really mean you should own stock in yoga mats and own approximately three shirts.
So when I say my “bedroom” was basically a large walk-in wardrobe, I mean it. Granted, it was a large walk-in wardrobe that measured precisely 9’0″ x 10’0″.
I looked.
Twice. With two different tape measures. But between my oddly-shaped bed and bedroom door, I had just shy of 30″ of wall space to fill with… something.
Something that could fit clothes. Because my closet was as big as a grown woman’s shoulder holster. {Pro-tip when browsing tiny-wardrobe-appropriate furniture online: mutter obscenities under your breath as you look at available dresser spaces and say things like “29 inches?! Perfect!” only to find furniture that IS 29 inches…but the handles throw you over or drawers stick out further than advertised.
Oh! And did I mention you’ll inevitably find “that perfect one” that’s 29 inches wide but ONLY 22 inches deep? Yeah, good luck because you’ll be crawling over that bad boy to get to your bed.} TL;DR version?
I spent weeks pouring over IKEA closets, Craigslist dressers, and Wayfair knockoffs, trying to find The One. The One that would fit in my walk… err, bedroom and hold all my clothes without me having to sleep in them. Then one lazy Sunday afternoon (when I was definitely not apartment furniture shopping online.
I was folding laundry on Pinterest, obvi.) I found it. The IKEA Hemnes 3-Drawer Chest. Skinny.
Cheap. And honestly, kinda dorky. Let’s discuss: THE IKEA HEMNES Why I Loved It Long story short: it was narrow.
Super narrow. Like, could fit in my dorm room narrow. At 24″ wide x ~12″ deep it was far slimmer than any other dresser I had bookmarked or was considering.
They weren’t wrong about it being dorky, either. It sort of has that laminated melamine school-desk vibe going on. But hey, if it fits my closet then I guess I’m down for a few internet desks thrown into my bedroom furniture mix. …the counter argument to all of the above was the height.
It’s 37″ tall which is actually pretty tall for a dresser. Most I was looking at before narrowed down my search were pretty low to the ground. A common trick for making a small bedroom feel bigger is to keep your furniture low to the ground so you have clear sight lines across the room.
Trust me, I read that Tiny Bedroom Tip every freaking website. But…the more I mocked-up how it would look against my wall, the more I liked it. Moral of the story: measurements on-line are bullshit.
Kidding! Kind of. The measurements *are* accurate, but they fail to account for…well, everything else.
That 24″ width? Doesn’t account for the slight curve of the drawer fronts. Or that you actually need some space to open the drawers.
I learned quickly that you have to add AT LEAST 2-3″ to any “official” measurement if you want your furniture to actually function in real life. Reality check: assembling IKEA furniture is…an experience. Sure, it’s basically DIY furniture in a box.
You Might Also Like
But open up that box and get ready for a deluge of oddly-shaped screws, a wordless picture menu, and the overwhelming feeling that you’re about to spend your precious Saturday TORquing bolts and mumbling/swearing creatively under your breath. After plenty of trial and error (and PTSD from my failed Billy Bookcase assembly fiasco), I’ve learned to take my time with IKEA. Lay out all the pieces (excuse the pun) and actually read the directions.
I know, shocking advice for something that comes from the land of minimalist directions. All that to say, it wasn’t hard to assemble! Maybe an hour start-to-finish, though I did take tea breaks and drama breaks (when I realized I had attached the bottom drawer upside down…whoops).
After about an hour of therapy (building), I had myself a dresser that fit perfectly into my closet nook! Ta-da! Fits Like a…Dresser?
Man, it actually fits really well. The skinny profile means I can easily walk around my bed without doing some sort ofombie lean just to get by. And oddly enough, the height works in the room’s favor.
Instead of squatting down to open my dresser and making my ceilings feel even smaller, it actually balances out the room. Gives the illusion of taller ceilings because it fills the vertical space nicely. Truthfully, the smaller footprint was only part of my victory.
I mean, yeah, I could *fit* a dresser in there. But would it work with my lifestyle? Or would I end up cramming as many clothes into my closet as humanly possible and calling it a day?
Organization was key. I use the top drawer for underwear, socks, and “need first thing in the morning” clothing. The middle drawer is workout clothes and PJs, and since the bottom drawer is deeper than the other two I use that one for sweaters and jeans.
Keeping separate “zones” for my clothes means I don’t have to rifle through three drawers to find basics. And while my dresser top has limited real estate, I keep it sparse: a small lamp, a dish for earrings/anklets, and a stack of books I’m currently reading. Pro-tip: Don’t push your dresser all the way up against the wall.
Guilty of this myself at first. I thought by inching it OUTWARD (toward the room, weirdly enough) I could somehow squeeze more floor space into my closet. BUT.
A weird proportion is created when you jam that bad boy up against the wall and it actually makes your room feel more cramped. Trust me. I pulled mine OUT about two inches and it made ALL the difference.
Filling your space is good, micromanaging every square inch of your room makes it feel smaller. So how does it WORK? Here’s the thing.
When I found the Hemnes, I knew it would physically fit. What I wasn’t sure about was if it would work FUNCTIONALLY. I’ve had it for a few months now so here’s the review: Pros: It Fits!
Like…ALL OF MY CLOTHES fit on this thing.
I have enough drawer space to actually put my clothes AWAY instead of attempting complicated folding techniques in my already-too-small closet. The height gives you more storage space than a traditional dresser because you can fit AWESOME dresser organizers (I got THESE and LOVE them) that actually hold a crap-ton of clothes.
No more stuffing my closet until it bursts and leaving bags of clothes on my chair “for now.” I can walk around my bed without breaking into a straddle. It’s the little things. Cons: …it’s still kinda dorky.
But you already know that! Would I buy this dresser again? In a heartbeat.
The skinny profile was exactly what I needed to maximize space in my weirdly-shaped room. Sure, I might joke about it being an internet desk but at least my clothes fit on HERS and I don’t have to sleep in them anymore. Small spaces require furniture that’s willing to bend the rules just a teensy bit.
And the Hemnes is most definitely that.
