If you were to take a picture of my dorm room, it would make an excellent cover for an I Spy book. 17 pairs of shoes? An overstuffed closet? 53 books? A cluttered vanity? At least 80 posters? Believe it or not, it is all contained in a 10’x14’ (measurements according to Denison’s official website, I speculate they are exaggerated) double dorm room. Don’t be confused, my room is not dirty or gross, just cluttered. People don’t walk in and gag because the space could be classified as a biohazard. The reaction is more like “Wow, you guys have a lot of stuff”. Objectively speaking, this is a true statement. However, I have no interest in shipping things to my house or throwing items away to get rid of some clutter. My dorm room is my home for 8 months out of the year and I enjoy having all of my things, even as excessive as it may seem, in my space. So for anyone who has reached the midpoint of the semester and is asking the question: Do I have too much stuff? But also wanting to keep the homey feel of their dorm room, here are a few things I do to make the clutter feel more like a creative choice rather than cleaning negligence.
One of the first principles that I live by when maintaining a maximalist dorm is that floor space is crucial. The difference between a dorm that feels messy and one that feels aesthetically cluttered is the amount of open space you have on the floor. In my roommate and I’s room we do our best to keep our things on the perimeter of the room and maintain empty floor space in the middle. With the majority of our stuff pushed to the edges of our room, we aren’t constantly tripping over things or having to move items around to make space when guests come over. Additionally, the continuous open space in the middle of the room gives the illusion of our dorm being a little bigger than it actually is.
With that being said, floor space is precious. My primary strategy for maximizing floor space is to use storage solutions with multiple tiers. Move upwards, not outwards. I bought two bookshelves, each with four tiers, to hold both my books and the random knick-knacks that I find myself frequently reaching for. My roommate and I also put things on top of our fridge and hang stuff from command hooks on the wall. We even have items hanging from our bedposts and bedframes. Anything with a sturdy base can serve as a hook if you put your mind to it. To Denison’s credit, they do a good job of providing built-in storage space. Both this year and last year my room has had cabinets above our built-in closets that go along nearly the entire length of a wall. These are perfect for storing cleaning supplies, shoes and clothing that are out of season, and those knick-knacks that I do not find myself reaching for often.
All of these strategies are great for organizing clutter. However, in my opinion, if you want to commit to having a dorm with an aesthetic that is undoubtedly intentionally maximalist and eclectic, the walls need to be absolutely covered. No more morose dorm gray or whatever other questionable color was on sale the week the painters came, stick anything and everything to your walls. Not only does it cover the ugly paint, but it both adds personality and makes it fun to look at a random object and declare it the perfect addition to the wall. For example, the Dunkin in Heath sometimes prints receipts on colored paper. So, right now my roommate and I have a couple of pink and orange receipts on the wall from our coffee trips. We did this to our walls last year and by the time May came around, looking at our walls was like looking at a collage of our freshman experience. It was as if we lived in a scrapbook.
My intention with this article is not to advocate for you to put a dirty dish on the wall in the name of using “artistic freedom” to “curate an aesthetic”. Seriously, that’s nasty. It is more to encourage those of us subjected to dorm living (most of the Denison student body) to make our spaces feel like home, even if we have them for only two semesters. Personally, my room at my house is cluttered so it makes sense that my room at school would have a similar cluttered spirit. Having this mindset has helped me greatly with battling homesickness, especially during my first year. When all of my stuff was everywhere, I did not feel like a total stranger in my own living quarters. So keep all those books and pairs of shoes even if it is a little irrational, there are several ways to make the clutter work.