I've been happy with the Ikea Malm dresser. I believe it's under 300 dollars, and seems to hold up well.

If you have the room for it, shelving along a wall with a pretty curtain in front of it can work. The shelving can be basic since no one but you will see it.

If you are near an Ikea, I like the Hemnes line of furniture (I have a few pieces). Target also has some decent quality furniture (just try to avoid stuff made from particle board or MDF). If you order online from Target, they ship for free.

You could start looking for freestanding wardrobes

Without a real sense of what your style or tastes are ("not ugly" is a little vague), it's difficult to be too specific, but these are the options that come to mind:
1. Stick it out with craigslist. Yes, the majority of pieces under $300 are shit, but you only need there to be one that isn't, and it Will come along. I furnished almost my entire flat off of craigslist, and got some unbelievably gorgeous designer pieces for nearly nothing; it just takes patience.
2. Dressers aren't actually your best bet. A wardrobe or armoire will have the same footprint as a dresser, but with far more storage space since it uses so much more vertical space.
3. If you're even slightly handy, it's remarkably easy to make built-in cupboards, and you can tailor them to your space. There's an easy walk-through here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Built-in-wardrobe/
4. If you're slightly less handy, do an Ikea hack: Billy bookshelves come available on craigslist constantly for dirt cheap, get two in the same finish (I recommend "Black-brown") and put them together. Leave the backing panel off of one of them and put the backless one in front of the backed one, giving you a double-depth shelf unit. Attach them together with flat brackets (super cheap, and the only tool you'll need will be a screwdriver), and either put in all their shelves and fold your clothes on them, or just one high and one low and install a hanging rod between. Ikea also makes doors for Billys, if you can get those on craigslist then that's awesome, but if not then they are pretty affordable from Ikea itself. You can also use sorting boxes that suit your aesthetic (they're not all kitschy, there are some awesome leather ones) as drawers.

It's insanely easy to paint an IKEA dresser - they're all flat surfaces. Although if you can get a vintage piece that's still in good overall condition that's a better bet. Even the one in your picture up there, assuming the drawer bottoms are still intact, is not beyond hope with a couple coats of paint and some new hardware. When you're shopping for vintage, look for clean lines and all flat surfaces (no curvy corners) so it will be easier to paint with a roller brush.

Strange but no pictures are displaying for any new posts today but I can see pictures from all old posts. Weird.

I shopped for bedroom storage for months and found a consignment store that was promising. I went every Friday for over a year and didn't want to spend more than 400.00. Finally, I went in and there was a mid-century modern bedroom set for 450.00 in mint condition. They let me make payments. It included a 6 drawer dresser with mirror, 4 drawer chest, 3 drawer nightstand, headboard and footboard. All wood, dovetailed drawers, no hardware. Quality was excellent. I refinished the face of the drawers in white wash and the casing in white to update it (Benjamin Moore Oxford White in satin). I lined the drawers with beautiful paper and tucked in sachets. It is stunning luxury and so worth the wait.

Craigslist has free dressers every single day, look online to see before and afters of dressers and you will get the idea. It's very easy to pump up an old dresser with new knobs or spray paint. I also like the idea of a curtain up top. Ikea makes a ceiling curtain rod and panels...instant closet!

Best bet is probably to look at free standing closets/wardrobes.

Since they're taller than a dresser, wardrobes actually give you more usable storage for the amount of floor space.

If you're looking for under $300, you will be scouring craigslist for a while to find something decent unless you get quite lucky.

If you can scrape up a few extra bucks while you're looking for the deal of a lifetime, you might decide it's worth it to go with a new wardrobe.

Ikea has a couple options close to that price range, if you don't need delivery or assembly.

Contempo Space has good wardrobes too if you're in the U.S.

qtcrondesign , the availability of certain items on craig's list varies greatly from city to city. While it's good to check, it's quite possible that you won't find what you are looking for on CL.

Ikea or refurb a Craigslist find. As QTcrondesign said, just look at a few before and afters on this website and you'll get the idea.

Here's one of my favourites: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-jills-dresser-goes-dark-junky-vagabond-165600

Here is a good tutorial on how to paint a wooden dresser: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-jills-dresser-goes-dark-junky-vagabond-165600

And another dresser re-do: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-craigslist-dresser-gets-a-makeovermy-passion-for-decor--177412

Total cost for these re-dos is probably under $100 including the dresser, so why not give it a try?

How about fabric bins on a shelf? It's what I use!

Yay - Pictures are displaying. Knew it wasn't me when IE, Chrome and Mozilla all weren't displaying pics on my laptop and my work laptop but my iPhone worked fine. Glad everything is back to normal.

....LAUGHING......I have that dresser in the picture!! It was given to me by my neighbor who always checks first before putting old furniture out for people to just 'take.' It was her husband's when he was a little boy....

Corner china cabinet?

According to my (flabbergasted) parents, there are all sorts of people amazingly giving away old tv armoires for free. You know, the tall ones with doors that hid non-flatscreen tvs. While they can't believe anyone would do such a thing, you may be able to snag one of those babies for free, then spend a bit of money sprucing it up and putting a hanging rod or shelves into the tv section.
Like this little gem: http://annarbor.craigslist.org/zip/3469444884.html
Paint that thing, change the hardware, and maybe cover the inside of the glass with some fabric or frosted film and you're good to go.

I use 9-cube shelves. They go on sale for around $30 regularly. I use the pop-open fabric bins in muted colors (Martha Stewart usually has good colors) which are cheap and easy to change anytime according to taste and trends. A drawer for black socks, a drawer for beige socks, a drawer for tank tops, etc. When I'm folding clothes right from the dryer, I just take the bin with me. Very easy.

I agree with the suggestion of the IKEA Hemnes dresser. My friends have this dresser in their master and it looks much better than more common IKEA bedroom furniture (i.e. Malm). There's a reason when you're on a budget you stick to budget friendly outlets for furniture such as IKEA, craigslist and thrift shops!

Obviously dressers and wardrobes (particularly second hand through thrift stores or craigslist) are ideal, another additional option could be a trunk or chest. While not as convenient for storing every day clothes, it's a great alternative to under-the-bed storage for out of season clothes.

If you google canvas wardrobe storage you will see many places offering a wheeled canvas wardrobe closet like thing. This could be ideal if you have the room and need to hang your clothes. Some have a variety of options for storage. You will think these are either cool or hideous depending on your design sensibilities. I could see them fitting in a modern decor or a vintage shabby chic type of design approach.

If Ikea Hemnes or Malm aren't what you are looking for I would suggest googling up "Ikea RAST hack" and looking through the endless options people have come up with. They are smaller but you could use two side by side.

Otherwise, the other than paint, keep in mind changing the knobs/pulls can completely change the look of things. So don't rule out dressers just because they have ugly drawer pulls.

My daughter's bedroom is very small (10x10?). She had a standard small closet with sliding doors. I took off the sliding doors and bought a closet system at Lowes with a built in dresser with 4 drawers and three shelves. I installed the dresser portion in the middle of the closet and flanked it on the left side with a top rod for long clothing items and split rods on the right for shirts on top, skirts/pants on bottom. She has room for shoes on both sides. We put curtains up instead of the doors. The sliding doors would have made it impossible to open the drawers. But I suspect that louvred bi-fold doors would work just as well or maybe a sliding barn door arrangement. When I sell the house, I'll put the original sliding doors back up but for now, the closet system is working out great. She also has a Hemnes daybed from Ikea with three drawers in the trundle. You need to be flexible about what you can and can not accept if you really want to put your clothing away and out of sight.

I agree with HurlyBurlesque. I have found a number of bargains on Craigslist for under $300, but getting them requires several strategies, the most important being persistence. Consistently visiting the site at least twice a week usually Thurs-Fri insures you won’t miss something. Other strategies I employ are knowing what you want i.e. Henredon chest or Drexel chest, creating effective search terms, using a search engine to search the site, and a willingness to go to nearby metropolitan areas to get what you want.

Before embarking on this search, I suggest you conduct some research by visiting a good furniture store and looking at different types of storage furniture that will work in the space. For example, you have concluded a dresser will work, and others have suggested an armoire, however a tall dresser, highboy, other large chest, or floor-to-ceiling storage closet (Ikea Pax) may also work. Bring your room measurements with you when you window shop.

Though I live in NJ, I regularly search the Craigslists for NYC, Philadelphia, Washington and Boston. Though I've found most items on the NYC and Philadelphia Craigslists, I've also driven to Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina to pick up items I wanted badly enough to make the trip. Also if you have a specific piece and manufacturer in mind that you want, search for it on Ebay. If you just want any chest or dresser, include your area's newspapers in your search by examining their internet classifieds.

Good Luck!

You would be surprised at what paint and a change of hardware can do!

Another option: I had an apartment with almost no closet space, and I didn't have a dresser at the time. What I did have was an extra shelving unit that was one of those cube ones (I think it had nine cubes making up the unit). I bought some of those fabric type bins to slide in the cubbies, which kept my clothes out of site. The bins weren't the exact color that I would have liked, but I found them on sale for $5 a piece and they were close enough. If you find them cheap but really hated the color you could always recover the front of the bin. I actually found it to be a great way to keep my clothes contained. I new which containers had workout clothes vs. jeans vs. pajamas vs. whatever, and, unlike large dresser drawers, they kept the stacks of clothes neatly folded.

If it's hanging storage that you need you could try what the previous tenant in my apartment did. She was a clothing designer and needed a lot of storage for her work, so she hung racks from the ceiling. In her case they filled the living room that she used as a work space, but you could hang a rod for clothes in a corner of your bedroom and then hang a longer rod in front of it to hang a curtain from for coverage. Or you could use a folding screen for covering the clothes.

Also, take a look at how deep and tall your closet(s) are. I have a closet that is really tall, but only had one shelf in it. I installed a second shelf higher up and keep off-season clothes up there. In my last apartment I had a really deep closet that just had one rod along the back, so I installed multiple rods so I had rows of hanging clothes. I just kept the things that I used the most towards the front.

"knew" not "new" - I do know correct word usage!

Hemnes is the way to go if you don't mind being a bit unoriginal. I was on a similar hunt five years ago and it's all I could find that was in my price range, attractive, and solid wood (I am not overendowed with Craigslist Luck (or patience, which is probably the same thing)). My husband and I ended up getting one of the big tall ones and one of the big wide ones in the dark-stained finish and they both have held up nicely and still look good.

That said, I love the TV armoire idea above.

i just want to put in an anti-malm commment. i like the way they look and we have 3 of them (all of which we bought used, so, you know, take this with a sprinkle of salt), but the veneer is starting to peel off and the drawers are a little wobbly and they just look cheap. cute, but cheap. i'd say if you're looking for a long-term solution, sticking it out for the right find on CL/a thrift or consignment store will be a better plan. as others have said, too, not all cities are good for CL, but if you're committed and have a car it's worth it to keep an eye on the listings for smaller towns/rural areas nearby.

Just something to consider, but...I am currently without a dresser and am using fabric cube bins on a shelving unit to hold my socks, underwear, etc. It's hard to find what you're looking for when everything is jumbled together in a bin. Almost every day I end up dumping the entire sock bin out on my bed to find the pair I want. So I actually DON'T recommend the cubed bin option, and am also looking forward to getting a dresser for proper clothing storage.

I live in a studio apartment with my fiance and floor and closet space are both incredibly limited, so we found this solution oddly works really well for us to store our clothes:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60239961/#/30110832

It's technically shoe storage, but they actually hold quite a bit of clothes too! We used wall anchors and mounted them in two rows of three, but they are flexible to be put in any kind of configuration that fits your space. And they only stick out 8" from the wall so they work really well in tight spaces. IKEA has a bunch of other shoe storage options with a slim profile that look like traditional dressers too.

Secondhand furniture stores. Many are discerning about what they take in and will only be selling good quality pieces that you can use "as is" or easily fix up with minimal effort.

Go to thrift stores. Make a point to stop into one every time you pass by, or once a week. Sign up for Freecycle. Be patient.

I really like the Salvation Army "super centers" and Habitat for Humanity ReStores.

Hard to say- you haven't defined what you think is "hideous" or "insanely ugly"...

I found vintage barristers with wire mesh doors at a second hand store and used those for clothing storage for many years. They repurpose well when you don't need them for clothing anymore. And baskets work well for small items.

Don't be such a crybaby - buy a dresser at a secondhand store and paint it in the color of your wall paint but up the sheen. It will disappear into the wall and cease to be ugly. Don't skip on the sanding and get the primer tinted. Incidentally, I have had IKEA dressers for 35 years but needed to add additional hardware for support.

I love refurbishing used furniture and have found fabulous highend furniture and have never paid as much as $300. That being said, I think you might like the IKEA Algot closet system - very easy to assemble, all white, very modern looking with options for hanging clothes or using mesh baskets for drawers (which I like for shoe storage). I just put together a freestanding unit for less than $50, so for $300 you could build a whole wall of storage.

I'm going to second (or third?) the comment about being patient with Craigslist or other user furniture sources. Sure there is a lot of crap available, but there is also a lot of great pieces out there, and some are great deals if you are willing to do some work.
I got my dresser for just $50 (including delivery), and after some elbow grease it looks great. Here it is - it was featured on AT earlier this year: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-restoring-a-craigslist-dresser-sweetsuite-10-166221

You'd be amazed at what high-quality paint and new hardware can do.

I really feel for you. Especially since most of the people responding to you really aren't listening to what you've said. (i.e. It sounds like you've already looked at CL and Goodwill; why would anyone suggest those? I don't know that I have much to add. In terms of "used" items, I would add eBay to your list, and to perhaps figure out where local estate sales are listed. I would also look at vintage hutches and buffets; moving items from the dining room to the bedroom is unusual but it can work well for storage and be cheaper (there's less demand for those old dining hutches). If you have to go "new", accept that you're not going to get quality or aesthetics. Instead, find the one piece that will work best for you now and in the foreseeable future, and ponder how to make it more aesthetically pleasing later. (Don't live out of boxes and bags!)

I have one of the Ikea hemnes dressers - bottoms all fell out of the large drawers because they're just fiberboard - so just glorified cardboard. I do not recommend. I'm just continually checking craigslist for something. My biggest problem is having to borrow a vehicle to transport a large dresser - meaning I have missed out on some decent items cause I couldn't get there first.

A couple additional points: If transport is an issue, look into local car co-ops. Some have a steep buy-in but some don't (and some only have a steep deposit, so if you have cash you can temporarily part with then it works out super cheap), and getting an account that lets you borrow a pickup truck on rare occasions for barely more than the price of petrol can be a pretty sweet deal.
Also, if you have power-tools (or if there's a power-tool rental near you; I know Rona has them for wicked cheap), you can turn a new eye to the craigslist options and see what a bulky but solid piece would look like after you've gone at it with a jigsaw and router. Similarly, if you're willing to do the easy structural parts yourself, look at the craigslist ads as a source for the work you can't do (pretty lathing, fancy joining, cabriole legs, &c.)

Find an unfinished furniture store. I have a solid pine dresser and a solid pine double chest of drawers and neither was over $400. All the furniture is made of real wood - no cardboard or particle board.

Minimal closet space is tough. BUT if you haven't already considered it, go to someplace like Container Store and get a custom closet plan priced out. Just bring a rough drawing of the space or a photo and the exact dimensions. We had this done a few years ago and the guy who helped us out pretty much designed a closet that doubled what we called our tiny "hunch in closet."

We didn't have to resort to using any actual bedroom space since it was all pretty much contained in the closet area. I think it cost somewhere around $500 plus a few add ons as the years went on and we got more creative. But honestly, it remains the best money we've ever spent on our entire house.

I would just be hitting thrift stores and craigslist. If you are in a big city, most thriftstores will be getting new stock weekly, and it will really just be a matter of time before you find something awesome. And if you're picky about quality, I mean, you are just not going to find a high-quality, new dresser for that price. You just aren't. You will find Acceptable quality at Ikea, but as that is like Buying Furniture 101, I assume you've already checked it out and not been into it. That and Target will be your cheapest options, probably. I've gotten lots of lovely solid wood furniture (including a dresser) at the Goodwill, none of it over $40, most of it in decent shape. So that is always my main suggestion: just keep looking, eventually something nice will drift ashore at Salvation Army, and if it doesn't then a few months later you'll have had a chance to save enough money for new furniture that isn't crappy particle board.

I dunno... I live an hour outside of Boston, and can think quickly of 5 "antique" stores that regularly feature dressers or bureaus for $95 or so. They are so common and so dirt-cheap. There are MCM pieces as well as antique Eastlake pieces, and just about everything in between. Salvation Army around here always has massive long, low bureaus from the 50s and 60s, plus tall ones.

I suspect the same situation isn't true everywhere - especially in the newer-settled areas like LA. But bureaus are so ubiquitous - I imagine they turn up in junk and thrift stores everywhere!

Old stuff is well-made, too!

The Elfa shelving sold by the Container store is 25% off in January, but too expensive for you. Fortunately, there are lots of more affordable knockoffs. Check Ikea and the big box stores. I would re-do the closet to maximize space and then do a floor to ceiling wall, assuming you can add components later as yor budget allows. Leave money for a ceiling track and a floor to ceiling fabric panel to create a faux wall. I did it years ago in a 300 sq ft studio with almost no storage and this solution really worked.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3910.m570.l2632&_nkw=dresser&_sacat=3197&_from=R40

I'm going to add another vote to the "patience and thrifting" team. If you live in a smaller town with fewer thrift stores, maybe take a free day and head out to another town nearby. Bring a friend and make a day out of it.
If any towns near you have flea markets or anything of the sort (I guess this isn't really the weather for it), you might have some considerable luck there. I found my nice dresser at an antique sale for $20 - works fine, though I had to do some searching to find it. It takes patience, and you might have to live with your clothes in boxes or on the floor in piles for a month or two .. or three.

Ikea hacks, or just regular Ikea stuff can be good too. Especially if you can find a used Ikea piece - then you don't have to build it!

Haven't read the whole thread (sorry, one of those days) -- but if you're looking at long-term storage (e.g., seasonal items), you can opt for luggage.

First decide what you want: not ugly, yes, but what finishing, what size of storage do you need, what size of storage can you fit in your room. Then go around for a spin of furniture places: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn kids for painted furniture, West Elm, catalogs…. Got ideas?
Don’t discount Ikea, I have three dressers, two that went thru several moves (five, six?), from baby room to tween (no longer on catalog) and they look fine, just don’t store your dumbbells and bowling balls there. For a teen room we have a black brown Malm, three drawers, and that thing is really spacious. I’ve seen somewhere a dressing room make over, where a whole wall was taken by white Malms (I wish I knew the link) that looked oh! so great, like a made to measure closet. One by itself it looks cheap, but a wall looked so posh and custom made.
Some communities have heavy trash pick-up days. Can’t beat free…. If transport is an issue, U-haul is still 19.99 a small truck. If you spot something you like, take the drawers (so that nobody will take it before you), and came back with a truck, before the pick-up. If it has good legs, sturdy construction, not extensive water damage or mildew smell and most of the pieces there… Get rid of the yucky factor by wiping with Lysol. If it smells (cigarettes are awful) a few days in the sunshine, and more Lysol. I got a great buffet, with an outdated finish (white wash) but by Drexel, top of the line, dove-tailed, bombe, that decoupage with Asian rice paper, and some painted molding and a coat of poly, in an afternoon became a show stopper.
Church resale stores, well that’s a better selection than Salvation Army. Estate Sales will have a lot of mid-century stuff nowadays.
The easiest way to transform used and scratched furniture is a coat of paint. Painting furniture has a zen quality to it, get a good brush, some acrylic primer and paint… My child bed was a dingy mahogany dark, which cost $5 on a yard sale, and would clash with the Ikea pine dressers, a coat of a mid blue for the bed, and a blue accent quilt and valances… the final result: a cohesive bedroom look, without mixed-matched wood finishes.
Good luck!

correction: mismatched. Another suggestion a closet system. The Container store has Elfa, top of the line, but the hardware store will have a similar product.

http://www.containerstore.com/elfa/designCenter/index.htm#Finish_Close

http://www.lowes.com/pd_339204-11487-WSWS-CS1W_0__?productId=3361104&Ntt=closet+organizers&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dcloset%2Borganizers&facetInfo=
Good luck!

I actually dislike storing my clothes in a dresser because the ones on the bottom hardly get worn. Instead, I use hanging canvas shelves. I can store many more shirts in that foot or so of space than I could if I hung them. I keep off season items in underbed storage so I really only have to deal with those twice a year.

However, that dresser pictured really does have potential if you are the type of person that can use a dresser effectively and you are willing to put in some diy work. The only flourish is on the bottom, so if you took off the hardware and pained it after putting the drawer in the right spots, it would be nice clean little squares. From there you can add some nice silvery pulls and it will hardly be ugly.

I agree with the general consensus about using a wardrobe instead of a regular dresser.

Craigslist if you want old, Ikea if you want cheap, Contempo Space if you want custom.

I've gotten stuff from all three of these. Craigslist is definitely best if you have time on your hands, and want something more traditional or "antiquey" (is that a word?) looking.

Ikea is, well it's Ikea. Good selection of RTA stuff if budget is tight.

Contempo Space makes them to order. Couple bucks more and you design your own.

I was recently reminded that World Market has fairly good quality wood furniture for inexpensive.

I was in the same situation - struggled to find the right dresser (had to fit specific dimensions for my closet) for over a year - and have champagne taste on a beer budget. I stalked Craigslist and didn't want to go the IKEA route - finally stumbled by chance on a perfect condition mid century low profile dresser at Goodwill for only $60! Some sandpaper and glossy white spray primer and paint and I have the perfect dresser to match my modern glam and white decor. Patience is a virtue if you don't want to settle.

I was in the same situation - struggled to find the right dresser (had to fit specific dimensions for my closet) for over a year - and have champagne taste on a beer budget. I stalked Craigslist and didn't want to go the IKEA route - finally stumbled by chance on a perfect condition mid century low profile dresser at Goodwill for only $60! Some sandpaper and glossy white spray primer and paint and I have the perfect dresser to match my modern glam and white decor. Patience is a virtue if you don't want to settle.

I looks a lot like my Mom's, that I used from birth until last week, (I'm in my 30's). I now am using my Dad's set his grandfather made. :) That's a nice antique on your hands.

I feel your annoyance I have no IKEA, no Craigslist, and anyone who sells used furniture within 60 miles of me sells the ugliest 80s furniture you could hope for. Please post if you found something preferably with pictures.