Paper Doll & Real Simple Organize Dorm Rooms: SUPER-EXTENDED Edition

Posted on: September 5th, 2018 by Julie Bestry | No Comments

Happy new school year!

I am very excited to have been interviewed again by Real Simple Magazine, this time about How To Make the Most of a Dorm Room, According to a Professional Organizer. (If you get the print copy, it’s page 52.)

Longtime readers of the blog know that everything I need to say on any given topic can’t be contained on one page of a magazine, so I’d love to share the rest of my advice with you today.

Whether you are a student or you just dropped yours off at college last week, dorms (and other small living spaces) offer an opportunity to minimize without being altogether minimalistic, to be practical without giving up style. And be assured that it’s not too late, parents. Your college kids will be home for Fall Break or Thanksgiving, giving you the opportunity to surprise them with room improvement assistance.

Thirty-three years (and a few days ago), Paper Doll was a college freshman, far above Cayuga’s waters. For most of my life, I had a bedroom and a bathroom to myself, and (long before my professional organizing days), an entire house as an extension of my “space” to keep my stuff. Having a roommate, and sharing a bathroom with five other young women, all in a space smaller than what I’d previously had to myself was an education!

A dorm room has to serve as a study lounge, sleeping area, kitchenette, exercise room, and more, but space is at a premium. Keep surfaces clear and the clutter at bay with these organizing essentials.

MAXIMIZE VERTICAL SPACE

Declutter doom room floors and desktops by maximizing underused vertical surfaces. You can create DIY organization with corkboards, available by the board, tile, or roll. 

Pegboards are another do-it-yourself option, especially if you can’t use adhesive on your walls. Hang colorful pegboards from the ceiling, flush against the wall, and then add the hardware – hooks, baskets, and even small bulletin boards.

For students who want to upgrade (or who have no visual artistic talent, like Paper Doll), the attractive and sturdy Copper Wire Wall Grid uses repositionable hooks, shelves, and baskets. (Available in rose gold from the ContainerStore.com; $20 for the wall grid and $8-$12 for accessories.)

The same amazing 3M Command-brand hooks that help you keep track of keys and jackets at your house can do wonders in dorm rooms and bathrooms. Attach Command hooks, strips, and decorator clips to walls and doors to hang coats and clothing, hair dryers and jewelry, headphones, photos and tapestries without fear of damage to paint or finishes. (Command.com)

When you need more than desk space for your brilliant ideas, repositionable whiteboard sheets stick to the wall with static and let you write or draw. Snap a photo and send it to Evernote to preserve your brilliance, and then erase when it’s time to move to the next problem set. (White or clear from WizardWall.com or Amazon, from $42.)

REVEAL HIDDEN STORAGE

These sturdy bed risers with outlets and USB chargers let you reveal the possibilities of under-bed storage, from nylon duffel bags for corralling bedding and towels to storage tubs for off-season clothes. (Available at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Amazon, and most big box stores, usually around $30.) The risers come in a variety of styles, but none are what you’d call fashion-forward, so also consider a long bed-skirt if you want to keep your bed high and at the height of fashion.

OVER-THE-DOOR ISN’T JUST FOR SHOES ANYMORE

Over-the-door shoe organizers keep your kicks (that’s apparently what they call sneakers these days!) from crowding a tiny dorm wardrobe’s floor, but the concept works for everything from hair care products to cleaning supplies to lingerie. (StockItPockets.com, $25) 

For those with suite-style bathrooms, swap your shower caddy for a hanging mesh shower pocket organizer to keep toiletries handy. (Amazon or CampingWorld.com, about $9-$11)

FOCUS ON PRIME REAL ESTATE

When there’s no room for a bedside table, keep everything you use (or should use) close at hand. Store your phone, tablet, glasses, tissues, highlighters, and spare notebooks in the unused space hugging your bed with any of a wide variety of bedside storage caddies (Bed Bath & Beyond, in-store only; Wayfair) or a Whitmor Bedskirt Organizer (Amazon), all around $20.

Don’t waste the space on the top of your mini-fridge. Let a Mini Fridge Caddy (Honey-CanDo.com or Amazon, about $18) hug your fridge to give you space for dishes and cutlery, and use that prime real estate for a milk crate storage box (Walmart) with hanging file rails to store papers or use as a snack pantry. (You might be able to create your own version; Paper Mommy and I were more inclined to shop than sew.) 

 

MAKE (THE MOST OF) YOUR BED

Keeping the peace means never having to worry about roommates keeping you awake. Zip up into a private room within a room to shade light and muffle sound with the Privacy Pop Bed Tent. (PrivacyPop.com or Amazon, around $130.)

GROUP LIKE WITH LIKE

Don’t let your limited desk drawer space turn to chaos. Small spice bottles corral push pins, staples, rubber bands, alligator clips and other small supplies. Pop them on a Lazy Susan with a tall mug in the center for pens, highlighters, and scissors, you have a supply station.

MAKE CLOSETS DO DOUBLE-DUTY

Most dorm closets having nothing but an inconveniently high shelf and one hanging rod. Do double-duty by hanging a second rod (Room Essentials Adjustable Closet Rod Extender, Target), a 6-compartment vertical sweater organizer and a valet rod (ContainerStore.com) for putting together outfits. Attach your valet rod well above eye level. Don’t ask me how I know.)

STAY TIDY & CHARGED UP

With so many electronic devices to keep track of, you and your friends will need to stay charged up. Pick a flexible power strip surge protector that can curl around the leg of a bed or desk like the Quirky Pivot Power (Amazon, $27)

or one with rotating outlets and USB ports to accommodate larger plugs and adapters, like the Power Curve (Amazon, about $35).

Create a work hub/charging station with a wall-mounted option like Belkin’s USB Outlet Extender with a phone cradle. (Container Store, $30)

Make sure your unplugged lightning cables and cords never fall to the floor or snake behind the desk again with the MOS Magnetic Organizing System for cables. (MOSOrganizer.com or Amazon)

If you aren’t familiar with MOS, definitely check out this classic Paper Doll blog post for one of my favorite cord control solutions.

SHELVE INSTEAD OF PILE

Dorm rooms usually lack shelving, leaving it hard to group similar items to keep them organized. Stacked milk crates are easy to break down at year’s end, but can be wobbly, and bookshelves can be hard to put together or move and impossible to disassemble. 

A magical option is the Origami 6-tier Deco Bookshelf, which comes flat-packed, expands accordion-style (like opening an ironing board), sets up in two minutes and collapses for easy storage during the summer. This is the bookshelf that I own, and as an apartment-dweller, I can’t think of an easier bookshelf option. (Shop directly at OrigamiRack.com, or get decorator colors of the taller, original version, as well as the stackable three-shelf “flip” options, at Container Store and via HSN.) If you don’t mind TV shopping, you can see how the Origami Racks work here.

CLASSIC DORM ESSENTIALS

Of course, most of the old standbys from my own college days are still in vogue because they are practical.

  • Lamps – Dorm overhead lighting is uneven and harsh. Limit the eyestrain and brighten up the room with colorful clip-on and gooseneck desk lamps. (In 1985, I set off for college with an incredibly ugly, olive-green, wide-bar gooseneck lamp of my father’s that he may have had since he left the army in 1946. They really made things to last in those days! But your student will probably prefer a pop of color.)

  • Reading backrest pillow – you can only sit in your 1950s-era desk chair so long before you’ll need an ergonomic break. Snuggle up to one of those pillows with arms to support your back while you read, game, or hang out with friends. (BedBathBeyond.com)
  • Tower fan – desktop fans have limited range, and tend to be noisy and get dusty quickly. A tower fan takes up little real estate, can be tucked in the corner when not in use, and cools a stuffy dorm room. (Honeywell QuietSet, Amazon)
  • Pop-up laundry basket – When I went off to college, Paper Mommy sent me with a full-sized rectangular laundry basket. It was great for carrying folded laundry back to my room, but it took up a ridiculous amount of floor space and ended up sitting on top of all my shoes in the wardrobe. A mesh pop-up laundry basket, available in any dollar store, is inexpensive and easy to tuck out of the way.

College has changed a lot since my day, when there was one TV for 144 students, no students had their own cable or internet, you needed memo boards because their were no cell phones, and you had to traipse through the snow to use a computer with green typeface on a black screen and a dot-matrix printer that sounded like a wounded animal. That said, a little ingenuity has always been able to keep students organized and productive in the dorm, and that hasn’t changed.

Study well, and whether you’re a parent or a college student, have a great year!

SaveSave

Leave a Reply