Makeup Drawer Organizers for IKEA ALEX and MALM: Which Fits
For IKEA ALEX, Medium organizers (16.5″ wide) fit the ALEX 9 and 6-drawer units, and Large organizers (20″ to 20.5″ wide) fit the ALEX 5-drawer unit. MALM has its own sets, and the MALM chest and the MALM dressing table take different ones. Choose lipstick dividers for up to 180 lip products a drawer, grid trays for palettes and brushes, or magnetic rows that slide. Everything here is in stock.
Which organizer fits which IKEA drawer
| Your IKEA unit | Size to choose | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| ALEX 5-drawer | Large, 20″ to 20.5″ wide | Every ALEX organizer in Large |
| ALEX 6-drawer | Medium, 16.5″ wide | Most ALEX organizers in Medium; one drawer takes two Medium lipstick sets |
| ALEX 9-drawer | Medium, 16.5″ wide | Every ALEX organizer in Medium |
| MALM 6-drawer chest | MALM lipstick divider set | 16.5″ x 12.3″, 165 slots |
| MALM dressing table | MALM dressing table set | 2 dividers, 2 trays, or 1 of each |
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Made to fit IKEA furniture. Lumina Pro is not affiliated with IKEA.
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1. Measure your drawer first
If you know your unit is an ALEX 5, 6 or 9 or a MALM, the table above answers it and you can skip this. If you are not certain which IKEA unit you have, or the drawer is from something else entirely, two minutes with a tape measure will save you a return.
Measure the inside of the drawer, not the outside of the chest, and measure at the base rather than the lip, because some drawers taper slightly. You need three numbers: width left to right, depth front to back, and height from the base to the underside of the drawer above. A Medium organizer needs 16.5″ x 11.4″ of floor, which is 42cm by 29cm if your tape is metric, and a Large needs 20″ to 20.5″ x 11.5″.
Every drawer organizer compared
| Organizer | Sizes | Holds | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnetic Lipstick & Gloss Tray | 16.5″ x 11.4″ or 20.5″ x 11.5″ | 3 or 4 magnetic rows | $80.99 or $109.99 |
| Customizable Display Tray | Medium or Large | 5 or 6 rows | $89.99 or $109.99 |
| Adjustable Divider Set | Medium or Large | 36 or 45 slots | $89.99 or $109.99 |
| MALM Lipstick Divider Set | 16.5″ x 12.3″ x 1.77″ | 165 slots | $89.99 |
| ALEX Lipstick Divider Set | Medium or Large, 3.15″ tall | 150 or 180 slots | $129.99 or $149.99 |
| Grid Tray | 16.5″ x 11.5″ or 20″ x 11.5″ | 6 or 8 grids | $159.99 or $169.99 |
| MALM Dressing Table Set | 2 dividers, 1 divider + 1 tray, or 2 trays | Dressing table drawer | $159.99 to $309.99 |
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Prices and stock checked on Nov 5, 2026. Every one of these is in stock today, in both sizes.
2. Choose by what you store
The fit is decided by your furniture. The choice between organizers is decided by your collection, and the fastest way to get this right is to open the drawer you want to fix and look at what is actually in it.
Mostly lipstick, gloss and liquid lip. The ALEX Lipstick Divider Set is built for exactly this, with tall 3.15″ slots that hold a bullet lipstick upright and shorter slots for gloss. It takes 150 lip products in an ALEX 9 or 6 drawer and 180 in an ALEX 5.
Shop the ALEX Lipstick Divider Set, from $129.99Palettes, compacts and blush. Lipstick slots are useless for a palette. The Adjustable Divider Set gives you 36 or 45 wider slots, and because the dividers move you can set a few wide channels for palettes standing on edge and keep narrow ones for pencils. Standing palettes on edge rather than stacking them is the single biggest space gain in a makeup drawer, and it means you can read every lid at a glance.
Shop the Adjustable Divider Set, from $89.99Brushes, tools and a bit of everything. The Grid Tray splits the drawer into 6 or 8 square sections with removable inserts, which suits a drawer that holds several categories at once.
Shop the Grid Tray, from $159.99A collection that keeps changing. If you buy and finish products constantly, fixed slots become a nuisance. The Magnetic Lipstick & Gloss Tray has rows that slide to new widths on magnets, so the layout follows the collection instead of the other way round. It comes with 3 rows in Medium and 4 in Large.
Shop the Magnetic Lipstick & Gloss Tray, from $80.993. Check the drawer height
Width and depth decide whether an organizer goes in. Height decides whether the drawer still closes, and it is the measurement people forget.
The trays here stand 1.18″ to 1.77″ tall and the ALEX lipstick dividers stand 3.15″. Measure from the drawer base to the underside of whatever is above it, then take off the height of the tallest thing you plan to stand in the organizer, not the organizer itself. A lipstick standing in a 3.15″ divider still has its cap above the divider wall. If the numbers are close, lay the tallest item in the drawer and shut it before you order.
Low trays are the right answer in a shallow drawer, and an ALEX unit has a mix: the shallow top drawers suit trays, and the deeper lower drawers suit the tall lipstick dividers.
4. How many lipsticks actually fit
The slot counts are not marketing numbers, they are the physical count of compartments.
- ALEX 5 drawer, Large lipstick set: 180 slots.
- ALEX 9 or 6 drawer, Medium lipstick set: 150 slots.
- ALEX 6 drawer, two Medium sets side by side: 300 slots in a single drawer.
- MALM 6-drawer chest, MALM set: 165 slots.
A slot holds one standard bullet lipstick or one slim gloss. Chunkier packaging, a square tube or a fat doe-foot gloss, will take a slot and crowd its neighbour, so treat the numbers as a ceiling for standard shapes rather than a promise for every product. In practice most people fill about 80 percent of the slots and leave room to grow.
5. MALM chest or MALM dressing table?
These are two different pieces of IKEA furniture and they take two different sets, which is the most common ordering mistake in this category.
The MALM 6-drawer chest is the tall chest of drawers. It takes the MALM Lipstick Divider Set at $89.99, which is 16.5″ x 12.3″ x 1.77″ with 165 slots.
Shop the MALM Lipstick Divider Set, $89.99The MALM dressing table is the low desk with a single wide drawer and a glass top. It takes the MALM Dressing Table Set, which comes three ways: 2 dividers at $159.99, 1 divider and 1 tray at $249.99, or 2 trays at $309.99. Dividers give you slots for lip products, trays give you open compartments for palettes and compacts, so the mixed option suits most people.
Shop the MALM Dressing Table Set, from $159.996. Using a drawer that isn't IKEA?
These fit plenty of furniture that is not IKEA, because what matters is the opening, not the brand. If the inside of your drawer is at least as wide, as deep and as tall as the organizer, it fits. Medium is 16.5″ x 11.4″, Large is 20″ to 20.5″ x 11.5″, and the MALM chest set is 16.5″ x 12.3″.
A vanity desk drawer very often takes a Medium tray, and most of our vanity desks have drawers in that range. If the drawer is wider than the organizer, that is fine, you simply have a gap at one side, and it is better to have the gap than to force a Large into a drawer that is a quarter inch too narrow.
7. Setup
No tools, no fixings and nothing to screw together. The divider sets slot together in about a minute, the lipstick set takes roughly two. Peel the protective film off every piece before you assemble, because it is easy to miss on clear acrylic and it dulls the finish if you leave it on.
Work out your layout before you drop the organizer into the drawer. Put the products you reach for daily at the front, keep one category per row so you can find things by position rather than by reading labels, and leave a row empty. That empty row is what stops the drawer becoming a jumble again within a month.
8. Looking after clear acrylic
Acrylic stays clear for years if you treat it right, and clouds quickly if you do not. The rule is simple: no alcohol, no ammonia, no glass cleaner. Those are what craze acrylic into a network of fine cracks, and once that happens it cannot be undone.
Use warm water with a drop of dish soap and a soft microfibre cloth. For spilled foundation or a melted lipstick, let it cool and lift the solid off first rather than smearing it. Dry with a second soft cloth, because air drying leaves water marks on clear acrylic. Avoid paper towel, which is abrasive enough to leave fine scratches over time.
Before you order: a three-point check
- Which unit do you have? ALEX 5 takes Large, ALEX 9 and 6 take Medium, and the two MALM pieces take different sets from each other.
- What is mostly in the drawer? Lip products, palettes, or a mix. That picks the organizer.
- Will it still shut? Measure the drawer height against the tallest item you will stand up in it, cap included.
Everything in this guide ships within the US. Orders over $100 ship free, and orders under $100 are $10 shipping, so a pair of Medium sets for one ALEX 6 drawer clears the free-shipping line.
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Every model in stock, with photos, sizes and prices.
From our creators
An organized makeup drawer in a real home. Tap a photo to play the video.
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Questions
What is the best IKEA makeup organizer?
For lipstick, the ALEX Lipstick Divider Set, with up to 180 slots in an ALEX 5 drawer. For palettes and brushes, the Grid Tray. For a MALM chest, the MALM divider set with 165 slots.
How many lipsticks fit in one ALEX drawer?
Up to 180 in an ALEX 5 drawer with the Large lipstick set, and 150 in an ALEX 9 or 6 drawer with the Medium set. An ALEX 6 drawer takes two Medium sets side by side, which is 300 slots.
Do these fit the ALEX 6-drawer unit?
Yes. Choose Medium, the same size that fits the ALEX 9, and one ALEX 6 drawer takes two Medium lipstick sets side by side.
What size organizer fits the ALEX 5?
Large, which is 20″ to 20.5″ wide depending on the organizer, by 11.5″ deep.
Is the MALM chest set the same as the MALM dressing table set?
No, and this is the most common mistake. The 6-drawer chest takes the MALM Lipstick Divider Set at $89.99. The dressing table takes the MALM Dressing Table Set, from $159.99, in three configurations.
Will these fit a drawer that isn't IKEA?
If the inside of your drawer is at least 16.5″ x 11.4″ a Medium fits, and at least 20.5″ x 11.5″ a Large fits. Measure the inside at the base, and check the height too.
How do you clean acrylic organizers?
Warm water, a drop of dish soap and a soft microfibre cloth. Never alcohol, ammonia or glass cleaner, which craze acrylic permanently. Dry with a cloth rather than letting it air dry.
Tell us the width, depth and height inside the drawer and what you keep in it, and we will tell you which set fits.
Shop all makeup drawer organizers.
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