College is a great time to experiment with your personal style and find out who you are as a person. What better way to do this than by upgrading your dorm room.
Whether you have an extremely tiny space or just want to make the most of what little room you have there are plenty of ways to upgrade your dorm room without breaking the bank (or taking up too much space). If you’re looking for ideas on how to organize your college supplies and decorate your new home away from home read on.
Start by getting rid of unnecessary items
Before you can get started on your dorm organization project, there’s one important step that you need to take and that is decluttering.
You won’t need a special tool or anything like that for this step. You can simply start by asking yourself, “Do I really need all of these things?” and move forward from there.
Most people don’t know where to start when it comes to decluttering their space. The best way for them is just getting rid of everything below the bed first and then working their way up from there (starting small). If you look at your room in its entirety without having too many belongings inside of it already, then it will be easier for you when starting with just one section at a time rather than trying to do everything at once. When you’ve tackled this task with some success and feel confident enough about tackling more areas within your dorm room (having a plan), there’s no stopping what your end result will be.
Sort out your clothes
The next step is sorting out your clothes. The best way to organize this is by color, followed by season, type of clothing (shirts, pants, socks), size and fabric type.
Sorting by color will make it easy for you to get dressed each day because all your shirts can be organized in one place and all your pants in another place. This method also helps with the next step which is packing for a trip. If you’re ever packed for an overnight or weekend stay somewhere else in your dorm or apartment building and need to pack light, or if you’re just trying to save space, you won’t have to worry about remembering which clothes go together because they’ll all be sorted together based on color-coordinated outfits.
Learn to fold your clothing
You’re going to be amazed at the difference between what you can store in a space when everything is folded and what you can fit when it’s just thrown in there. And once you learn how to fold, it really is like riding a bike. Once you get it down, it’s not so hard anymore.
Folding takes practice but will save space
You might need more bins than if your clothes were left unfolded because folded clothes take up less room than hanging clothes (especially jeans).
Folded clothing will help find what you are looking for
When folded properly, many items are still recognizable by shape or color when they are stacked on top of each other in bins or drawers. This makes finding exactly what I am looking for much easier, especially socks.
Properly folding clothing helps keep things organized
Clothes should be kept separate by type (pants, shirts), color scheme (blue jeans next to black ones) or seasonality (summer clothes together). They should also be grouped according to how often they get used; for example by month/season or day of week/monthly schedule
Make use of wall space and corner shelves
If you have enough space, make use of wall space to store items that would otherwise take up floor space. You can use hooks or Command Hooks to hang bags and other things that would normally get lost in your closet.
Corner shelves are perfect for storing items that are not in use. Putting them on a shelf frees up some floor space and keeps them out of sight. If you don’t have corner shelves, consider using a hanging organizer like this one that I bought.
Make use of the space under the bed
Even if you have a bed with under-bed storage, it’s still important to utilize the space below your mattress. You can use a hanging organizer to store small accessories and toiletries, like hair products and nail polish. If you have room for a shoe rack, that’s another great way to maximize space in the dorm room.
There are plenty more creative ways to make use of your dorm room closet:
- Use a caddy to store toiletries in one place instead of using up drawer space. This will also be really helpful when it comes time for moving day.
- Store blankets and linens on shelves or in bins under your bed; this makes them easy to reach while keeping them out of sight when guests or parents come over.
Use bins to store small items
Bins are a great way to store small items in your dorm room.
- They’re easy to move around so you can make sure that everything is where it should be at all times.
- They come in many different sizes and shapes so you can always find the perfect one for what you need.
- If your dorm room has limited storage space, bins can help you easily organize even if there’s not much surface area available for them on shelves or desks (which will come in handy when we talk about organizing your desk).
Bins are also super cheap. You can find them at any local dollar store. It’s best if they have lids so that nothing gets lost inside and they don’t get too dusty over time (which might cause allergies). You’ll also want enough bins so that each person has their own set of drawers or shelves dedicated just for their stuff; this way they won’t have to share with anyone else who lives in the same room with them and won’t cause arguments between roommates.
Store your school books, binders, and notebooks in a desk organizer or caddy
- Use a hanging organizer to store small accessories and toiletries.
- Store your school books, binders, and notebooks in a desk organizer or caddy.
- Get a three-ring binder for each class you’re taking this semester. Label each tab with the name of the course (or type of course) and the date it starts on. This way you’ll know at a glance which ones need to be taken care of first.
- Keep all of your lectures’ notes inside separate folders so that they don’t get mixed up with other papers or get lost altogether so you can use them again next semester if necessary. Now all that’s left is to make sure everything stays organized by putting everything back where it belongs after every class (or at least once per week).
Use a hanging organizer to store small accessories and toiletries
Use a hanging organizer to store your small accessories and toiletries. If you don’t have a lot of space, a hanging organizer with multiple pockets is the way to go. They’re great for holding things like makeup brushes, nail clippers, hair ties or pony tail elastics. I also like using them for storing my toothbrushes and toothpaste on the inside of my dorm room door so they’re easily accessible whenever I need them.
A little planning can go a long way!
The key to any successful project is planning. If you want your room to be organized, it’s important that you plan ahead. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort if you take the time before moving in to plan out how best to use your space.
It’s a good idea to sit down with friends who will also be living in the same building as you are during orientation week at school so that everyone knows what types of furniture they have available for people who may come visit them during breaks from classes.
Conclusion
The most important thing to remember when it comes to organizing your dorm room is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Not every dorm room is created equal, and even if yours isn’t huge, you can still make the most of it with a little planning and determination! Just remember that organization isn’t about being perfect, it’s about making things easier for yourself so you can focus on other things in life like studying or hanging out with friends.