Whether you’re planning for your first term in college or looking for a better way to organize your current dorm room, it’s important to maximize your living space.
Any available space in a student’s dorm room gets quickly cut in half when boarding with a roommate. This means it is crucial to make the most of every inch and effectively use the space available. For this, check out these tips to organize your dorm and keep it that way!
Reclaim Your Floor Space
It’s simple – use bed risers. It’s surprising how much floor space can be made available under dorm room beds. Bed risers might only lift your bed a few inches, but this provides plenty of extra space for flat or smaller items that might not fit elsewhere. You can also use this space to store seasonal items or items you only need every so often.
Need more space? Use a loft bed. This solution provides way more under-the-bed space that can be used for a desk or work table, a couch or more storage like a tall boy dresser. For this, you’ll need to remove the bottom bunk to free up the space. You can choose to go for a DIY project and personalize this space for your needs.
However, if you’re looking for something simpler, a futon is a great, versatile option. It can help you save space during the day and transform into a full-sized bed at night.
Use Your Wall Space
When trying to maximize your dorm room space, making use of your walls is essential. You can choose from a variety of removable attachments to keep your desk and countertops clear. Here are a few options for your wall:
Magnetic board or strips. You can keep items organized above your desk by attaching a magnetic strip to the wall where you can attach metal containers for your supplies and other small items – you can even use it to keep your keys in a handy place. Alternatively, you can hang a magnetic white board on your wall where you can both make notes with erasable markers and use magnets to attach notes. Some boards even have a cork section attached where you can use thumbtacks to pin papers and notes.
Removable pods. Small things can quickly stack up and become a messy pile. For these trinkets, you can use stick-on pods or containers that you can attach to your wall or on the side of your desk,
Adhesive hooks. You might not be able to nail or drill anything to your dorm room walls, but you can still use adhesive hooks that you can remove when it’s time to leave. Adhesive hooks are a great temporary solution that can easily be installed. You can attach these to your walls, door, cabinets or the side of your desk to hold anything from your headphones next to your bed to your jacket behind the door.
Make The Most Out of Your Closet Space
You can maximize your closet space using your hangers and other attachments in effective ways. Check out a few tips to make the most out of your closet:
Stack your hangers with pop can tabs. You can collect a few pop tabs to slip through the hanger hook and you’ll be able to hang another hanger onto the tab. You can use two or three tabs as the height of your closet allows. That way, you will use more vertical space and save space on your rod.
Use a pocket organizer. You can use the inside of your closet door to hang a pocket organizer where you can store shoes, socks, totes and any other belongings that you can’t hang elsewhere.
Use tension rods. You can get extra hanging space at the bottom of your closet by attaching a tension rod below for shorter items. You can also use tension rods to create some shelving below for your shoes without having to nail anything!
Use multi-purpose storage
There are additional multi-functional solutions that can add storage space within your limited dorm room space. Here are a few pieces to consider:
Storage tables or ottomans. In a reduced space, it’s beneficial to choose items that have more than one function. Ottomans and tables with storage are a perfect example that you can use to store extra accessories and stash blankets, shoes or clothing you don’t need immediately.
Organize with caddies. Not only are shower caddies a great item to repurpose anywhere in your room for extra wall storage, but they are also easy to find and easy to install and remove. You can also use some bed caddies to store your charger, books and phone instead of using a nightstand to save some space by your bed.
Door-handing organizers. Just like the closet pocket organizer, you can use door-hanging organizers behind your dorm room door. Here, you can keep your items ready to go out of the dorm room in the morning. Keep a few pairs of shoes, bags and other items that you’ll need for the day.
Use Dividers to Avoid Messy Drawers
Keeping your drawers tidy will save you tons of time in the long run. Instead of spending half your morning looking for a matching pair of socks, use drawer divider inserts to keep your clothes organized. This will also help you keep your drawers organized for longer, as you’ll know exactly where everything goes when it’s time to put the laundry away.
While you can purchase these divider inserts in your nearest hardware or homeware store, you can also create your own using cardboard or foam core to create your own compartments.
Rent A Storage Unit
Sometimes the space available to you in your dorm room might just not be enough for all your belongings. For those extra items and even furniture, you can rent a storage unit to safely store them. You can use the storage unit to store all your seasonal belongings, your sports gear while not in use and even use it to temporary store your things while you rearrange your dorm room Many storage facilities, such as U-Lock Mini Storage offer a variety of storage unit sizes and a month-to-month rental so you can find exactly what you need.
At U-Lock Mini Storage, we have storage facilities across Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Our facilities include storage units Victoria, storage units Parksville, storage units Nanaimo, storage units Burnaby, storage units White Rock and Surrey, and storage units Chilliwack. Contact us if you have any questions!
Making the most of your dorm room space is important, especially since you will be spending
your time here for the next few years. As you go through college, you might make changes and upgrades to adapt to your different academic activities and needs. With these few tips, you can take some steps that will help you keep your space organized during your stay!