It’s no secret that college dorm rooms are small, and it’s nearly impossible to fit your wardrobe in such a confined space, but the weather is getting colder and it’s time to break out the winter clothes! So how can you effectively swap out your wardrobe and store the bulky sweaters and boots? Follow these simple steps to a successful switcheroo!
1. Out with the old
You’ll want to take home as much as possible to free up space. Remember: you can always make adjustments over winter break if you realize you’ve underestimated your need for tank tops during the winter. Utilize the two weeks between Thanksgiving and winter break as a trial period: take home all summer dresses, skirts, shorts, and sandals, and most summer tops. Take home all summer accessories, such as summer scarves and light fall jackets. You may want to keep a few tank tops and t-shirts at school, but you will not need as many as you probably have in your room. Keep all sweatpants, jeans, and workout shorts. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean your workout has to slack-check out some workouts you can do without leaving your room!
2. Jailbreak
When you’re home, unpack your summer clothes: try to pack only as much winter clothing to take back as the summer clothing you brought home. This will prevent you from bringing back more clothes than you have space for. Do not bring all of your winter clothes back to school! Remember that you will need clothes to wear for winter break, which is over a month! Thanksgiving break is a great time to go through your full winter wardrobe and decide what you will eventually want to bring back to school, and prioritize what you need (or want) to have now.
3. In with the new
For now, just pack a few of everything: long-sleeve tees, sweaters, the much-adored thick fuzzy socks, and accessories. If you have any storage bins, they can be very helpful for organizing sweaters and accessories such as hats, gloves, and scarves. Don’t forget to pack your winter jacket and a pair of snow or weather-proof boots if you don’t already have them at school!
4. Fold, stack, and hang
After Thanksgiving, get organized. Don’t put bulky sweaters in dressers; instead, use storage bins that can be kept under your bed. Fold arms and sides in, then fold once, lengthwise. Place them in the bins vertically, with the necks facing down, so that you can fit more into less space and you will be able to see all your options at once. Also use storage bins for hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Boots can be tricky, but some sneaky places include under your desk, on the top shelf or floor of your closet, or they can be hung upside-down between wall hooks if you have any. As for winter jackets, the closet works just fine, especially if you’ve taken home a lot of summer dresses, but it is a good idea to get a wall hook for easy access during the winter, and you probably will not want to return jackets to your closet if they get wet from snow.
5. Enjoy the feeling of having a whole new wardrobe!
There’s nothing better than wearing an outfit to class that no one has seen before; even if the sweater is years old, the outfit still feels new!