10 Easy Ways to Save Space in Your Dorm Room

School has arrived, and while you may be excited to start classes and make new friends, there’s one thing you may not be so excited about: your tiny dorm room. Some of you may be used to sharing a small room with someone, but for most of us, college means leaving our own comfortable space at home and moving into a room the size of a shoebox – only half of which is yours.
 
So what’s a collegiette™ to do with all of her valuable possessions? Leave them at home?! Not if we can help it! Before you tearfully depart with half of your shoes or your favorite stuffed animal, read our top ten space-saving tips. Before you know it, you will have too much space in that closet-sized room of yours!
 
1. Under Your Bed
Sure, at home you may put the most random things under your bed – and pretty much never see them again. But in college, the space under your bed is vital; in fact, this is probably the most important space apart from your closet. Crazy, right? The mind-boggling things college teaches us.

First of all, measure the space under your bed. How tall is your bed? How wide? If the space under your bed is too small, buy some bed lifts to raise your bed up and make some easy storage room. Some dorm beds automatically come with lifts; ask your RA before you buy anything, and she may be able to help you make more room.
Then, go to your neighborhood Target (who doesn’t love an excuse to go there?), Bed Bath & Beyond or The Container Store. At any of these locations, especially during back-to-school time, you will find an abundance of plastic bins and tubs. Find some that fit the measurements of the space under your bed. In these tubs, you can place all of the necessary things you need at college that maybe aren’t a daily necessity: first aid kit, extra sheets and towels, DVDs, etc.