DIY: Ten Easy Steps to an Organized Dorm Room

Mackenzie Hurlbert – Managing Editor

Dorm rooms are tricky places to maintain a stress-free atmosphere. There is only so much space for two people’s lives, and often times that type of situation can get messy. Let’s avoid the stress, arguments and utter despair that accompany an unorganized dorm room. You don’t have to label every drawer or dust twice a day. Staying organized in a dorm room is about using the space around you in smart and strategic ways. After two years of living in a double dorm room and successfully sharing it with the same awesome roommate, I hope my advice comes useful to those who are new to the experience or who just haven’t found the process of maintaining an organized dorm room easy. Let’s start!

The bed: The bed area is the most important place to keep clean and mess-free. For me, this means no homework or eating in bed. I am a firm believer that if you eat and work in bed, your mind will associate your bed with those activities instead of sleeping. To make the most of this space, I suggest you lift the bed to the highest notch on the posts. This elevation might require a step stool to get in, but it provides vital storage space. For example, if it is high enough, you can fit your dresser underneath your bed which will open up your room and provide more floor space.  Last year, I stuck the containers I used for moving under there and used one to hold my shoes, another to hold my hats and bags, and a third to hold my books that I wasn’t using or reading. Make sure you take advantage of this space!

The desk: For me, when my desk gets cluttered, my mind gets cluttered. When I am most stressed, my desk looks the neatest because that is when I need it the most. I know everybody has different levels of tolerance when it comes to disorganization, but keeping your workspace mess-free can only help you when it comes to the stress of homework and studying. Textbooks, for example, can pile up and get way out of hand. Each student takes about five classes and each of those classes can require one to five books. In the midst of midterms, my desk used to be covered with open textbooks, earmarked on different pages and scattered here and there among pages of notes.  Here’s a trick I stole from my roommate: If you have a desk without the overhead storage space, flip a milk crate on its side, place it on your desk, and use it as a nook to store your books. This way, your books can all be stacked in one place and easily removes without toppling the whole pile. The other plus about doing this is you have extra space on top of the milk crate to keep a couple knick knacks, pictures, or a desk lamp. By doing this, you have multi-purposed that square foot of desk space. I also suggest mounting a whiteboard or a cork board on the wall above your desk. This way you can tack up different lists or pages of notes you need to see without using up your desk space.

The closet: Hangers. Hangers. Hangers. The use of hangers is the key to an organized closet. I have tried using the hanging shelves, but in my opinion they end up doing more harm than good. They take up a lot of space and the clothes tend to flop out if you move it a little bit. The plus side of using hangers is that the clothes take up as little space as possible. For men this may not be an issue, but for women, that dresser space fills up quickly, and it’s important to use the closet space in a strategic way. The closet can also store your jewelry, shoes, and a lot else if you strategize. I suggest buying one of those hanging jewelry organizers (or making your own), and use the top shelf of your closet for your bath and body supplies, medicine, and dry food items. Separate each of these into bins in order to avoid a mess and so they can stack easily.

Lastly, here are a couple final tips on dorm life organization:

-Keep the floor as clear as possible. Tripping over stuff is just going to get you agitated.

-Avoid overwhelming amounts of knick knacks. They take up too much space.

-Photos are the best wall decor. Use the gummy wall tak stuff when putting them up to avoid damaging the wall.

-Empty your trash bin often. This means when it’s full, take it out! Don’t crush another five weeks of trash in it.