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College dorm room organization 101

Mon, Apr 24th 2017 08:40 pm

Staff reports

Hooray! You just graduated high school, and you've completed the two-hour-long ceremony. You walked across the stage to receive your diploma. You then shake your principal's hand as he hands you your diploma, and you just can't stop grinning.

In the back of your mind you're thinking about future. You are also thinking about all those high school memories you dreaded, and all the ones you kept close to your heart.

Like your team winning a school championship in soccer, having your first lead in a musical or all the Spanish vocabulary quizzes you studied for last minute. You might be thinking high school was great because you survived it!

Now you're going to start a new chapter in your life: You're going to attend college! You finally get to study a career. You could be the first child to head off to college. It's a different world! You'll meet new people from different states and different countries. You'll go to classes that start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.

Did I mention you get a dorm, and you get to live with someone who isn't your sibling? You might be thinking this is crazy, right!?! Someone who is a complete stranger might end up being your best friend.

Of course, no one mentioned you have to share a tiny space with someone you never met. You might be wondering how much should you bring, or how much will my new roommate be bringing. What if I bring too much or too little?

You have these questions in your mind, and the first thing you do is search on Google, "What should I bring to my dorm room?" As your searching, you click the first link, http://www.slu.edu/beabilliken/checklist-dorm-supplies, which gives you a checklist of all the things you need like from room basics to don't-forget items.

After doing all that researching on what you need for you dorm room, your list is as long as Santa's Christmas list. You then beg your mother to take you to Walmart or Target to get all your college essentials. You're walking out of the store so happy, because you feel so prepared for your college dorm.

Lisa, a college sophomore, said, "I was so unsure what to get, so I thought I needed everything and, by the end of the year, I realized I had so much unnecessary things."

Move-in Day

Great! The day you have been waiting is finally here. It's move-in day.

You finally got all your stuff up those long flights of stairs, and you swear you were about to die, but that smile on your face washes the pain over. You meet your roommate and all the excited adolescents who will be in the same hall as you. You and your roommate (with the help from your mothers) fix up your new room just the way you want it to be.

A few weeks later, you're stressed out, and you still have all those papers you go to write - plus it's almost midnight. Once your finish with your papers, you put work on your work desk, hoping that your fairy godmother will clean it up for you while you're sleeping. You repeat the same process everyday until the weekend comes along.

It's finally the weekend, and you seem to realize your dorm room is a mess. You have your papers, clothes, shoes, plus your roommate's things everywhere, and your room looks like you could star in TLC's "Hoarding: Buried Alive."

Rachael, a freshman who lives in one of the dorm halls at Niagara University, said, "After a while, you're so overwhelmed with assignments, that you sometimes forget how to keep yourself organized, because you're so stressed out."

Now you're upset not only about your homework stress, but also how messy your room is. You know you'll never keep your room like that back at home, and you know your parents always had you clean your room every Wednesday and Saturday.

But there is no need to panic, because there are some easy ways to keep your room organized.

Keeping your dorm organized won't only make it look nice, but it will improve your mental state, as well.

T-Shirt Drawer

In college, students are limited to one closet, and, in your case, you brought too many articles of clothing. ... And they don't fit in your closet, so what do you do?

A great way to store all your clothing without jamming them into your closet is to put them in your drawer.

You might be thinking, "What? That is crazy; my drawer is just going to look like a trash pile," or "How am I going to find my favorite shirt without messing up everything else?"

First, think of your drawers as a filing cabinet for your clothes. It might look weird in your head, but it will work. You just need to fold your clothes a certain way. You'll be treating your clothes liked filed information instead of paper in a printer tray. The best part about this is that, once you take out a shirt, for example, none of your other shirts will get ruined.

These are the steps that will help learn how to make T-shirt cabinet drawer:

You grab your T-shirt and lay it on a flat surface with the printed side facing you

Fold the T-shirt in half with the front side facing you

Fold the sleeves across the logo

Fold from the neckline of the shirt, and fold downward

After folding your shirts, they will look like a rectangle

Now you just put your T-shirt in your drawer like a filing cabinet

Repeat steps one through six until all shirts are in drawer.

Congratulations! Now you've figured out to store all your favorite shirts in one drawer.

This technique doesn't only work for shirts. You can do the same steps for your pants, skirts, undershirts and more. The best part is your clothes will not be wrinkly, and no other clothes will get ruined. Now you can say goodbye hangers, and hello T-shirt drawer.

Bins, Baskets & Jars Galore!

Now that you fixed your clothing problem, your room is halfway organized. Now you need to fix those items on your desk that just need to go.

You have so many pencils, pens, winter accessories, bed sheets, etc. What do you do?

A great way to sort out these items is with bins, baskets and jars. This not only keeps you organized, but you won't be tearing apart your room to find a pen.

Bins, jars and baskets are a great way store items you might not be using anymore, like your college clothing. After you're done storing your items in your bins, jars and baskets, you can store them underneath your bed, or in your closet. And when it's time to move out for breaks, you can take your bin home without wondering what you need to take.

Jars and baskets can be great decoration for your room, too. You can pack K-cups, pencils, pens, nail polish, video games - all kinds of things.

You can purchase these items at your local Walmart or Target. You really don't have to spend lots of money to be organized; you can also go to your local Dollar Tree.

In college dorm rooms, a good tip is to have more things covered or put away, and the less your guest can see, the more pleasant your room will be. These are some items, and steps that will take you from zero to organized hero!

For more organization tips for your dorm room, check out these websites.

Or just go on Pinterest.

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