College Dorms
With any type of small space comes the challenge; “Where do I put all of my stuff?”. I want provide a few helpful thoughts and solutions for you today in regards to getting settled into more tight living quarters.
First things first, establish what you need and what you don’t need! You obviously need the essentials such as a bed, your clothing/dresser, all of the essentials for grooming and if there is a kitchen supplied in the dorm room then the tools and pots and pans associated. In assessing what is absolutely needed I am not assuming everyone is going to adopt a minimalist way of life completely! That is not totally necessary. However, there are some aspects of it we can take and apply to our new, more condensed living space to make it an even more pleasant place to call "home". When asking what you need and what you don’t, take into account what purpose the item in question serves. Do you have another item that can be used for a similar purpose of another item you own (i.e. two similar sized pots when you could do with one)? Do you really need an egg separator and a plethora of other specialized tools? Take this into the toiletry category! Do you gravitate toward a few particular hair products and accessories that really work for you and, if so, can the rest of the products that you do not really find useful be discarded? My advice is the simpler the better! Having less clutter clears your mental space too and helps you to focus on the more important things on your current schedule! An added bonus is that when there is less stuff in the way there is less time devoted to clean up! After you have asked yourself the important questions of what to keep we now come to where to put everything. You can get creative here. For instance, don’t just think horizontally but vertically. If your dorm allows for holes to be put in the wall then perhaps you can purchase some shelves for your books. Or find some “hidden areas” to store things. My favorite place is under the bed. When I downsized I had to get creative seeing as though I no longer had an attic or attached storage closet. So I utilized the empty space under my bed and slid storage bins underneath. Each bin had its own category of usage for items. My closet was also a lot smaller so it forced me to really evaluate what clothing I actually wanted to remain in my wardrobe. In fact, I heard a statistic (of course everyone is different) that most people actually wear 20% of the items from their wardrobe only 80% of the time. This is a whole other topic for another day but clothing is definitely a big category in which there could be some processes of elimination. So when I eliminated more of my wardrobe I then categorized it further into seasonal clothing and put the “off-season” clothes into a bin under my bed to allow for more hanging space in my closet. In fact, here is a link to some under-the-bed storage. EASY! With tighter spaces also keep in mind what you will use most often or need to get to frequently and make sure it is a breeze to access. Baskets are your friend and if you don't want your personal items on display for all to see then a great way to keep the items handy yet tucked away is to use baskets or cloth bins found conveniently at any TJ Maxx, HomeGoods or Marshalls. They can create a clean look, they are transition-friendly and they are just a great solution for both aesthetic and functionality. So with desks and tables that have a shelf underneath these are great places to land your baskets containing any stuff you need to keep handy. Overall, you want your space to serve you! This is achieved through getting down to only keeping what is really necessary and coming up with some creative storage! Happy Dorm-ing and congratulations on your new endeavors!