How to Organize Your Living Space

On the dawn of a new semester, it is the perfect time to rearrange your space in order to make it more ideal for your individual needs! Often times in the beginning of the year, we decorate our living space to either fit an eye-pleasing aesthetic or to meet standards that we believe we will continue to strive for throughout the entirety of our time residing on campus. This premature arrangement is not always the most functional in terms of meeting our needs as both students and people. There may be changes in one’s individual life in the coming semester, be it the detripling of a previously tripled room for freshmen, the changing of class schedules, or the adoption of a new extracurricular activity to fill free time. For seniors, the steady approach of graduation may bring about a new search to find an opportunity that will help shape one’s future and provide fulfillment. This spring semester is our time – regardless of our academic standing – to make improvements in our living space and to inspire positive growth in our personal lives! Here are some tips for how to go about organizing your living space in this new semester:

1. Declutter

It’s time to get rid of that giant book that you thought you couldn’t live without on move-in day! Anything that does not provide you joy or serve a current need should be separated from this space. You can choose to send this stuff home or find a place for it to be stored until it can be removed at a later date. This inevitably will increase the functionality of your living space.   

2. Make storage in unique ways

Hooks, collapsible bins and velcro strips can help increase the available space in your dorm room. An awesome way to store beauty products can be through mason jars or glass vases! This will help reduce general clutter around your living space.

3. Sort your clothes by color

Through organizing your clothes in the order of color (like a rainbow), the ease of choosing an outfit that matches perfectly will increase! No more lazily choosing a green shirt to wear with red pants! This tip is perfect for those mornings where you don’t have the motivation to plan an entire outfit, yet you still want to dress nice for the day.

4. For extra storage, consider raising your bed

Through raising your bed, pieces of furniture in your room can go underneath your bed. This, along with storage bins, can be a huge space saver in terms of accommodating all aspects of your life in your dorm room.

5. Make everything have a “home”

Everything in your room should have a “home” in which it fits into a family of other objects that serve a similar purpose. For instance, all of your mugs should be grouped together and stored efficiently. A small mesh bag can serve as a “house” for all of your hair products. This practice can even be carried over to your school bag, particular pockets can serve as a “home” for pens, while the main pocket may be the place where your laptop resides.

6. For things that don’t have a “home,” consider their purpose

Is this object truly providing you fulfillment? Is there a memory attached to this item? Has this been used in the past six months? If not consider recycling, donating or sending home this item. There’s no sense in keeping an object that is taking up space, yet not serving a purpose in your dorm room.

Hopefully with your newly organized room, this new semester will be happy and productive! These suggestions can be applied to all areas of your life, as well as on your social media or in your home life. Here’s to 2019 being the year where we make our lives and spaces work for us!

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