The spring semester has begun, and the results of Groundhog Day were an early spring, so there’s no better time than the present to get a jump on your spring cleaning! An entire semester of college can do a lot to the once neatly organized, well-styled condition of the room you remember from move in day.
Keeping your living space clean can do so much for your state of mind. Our environments can influence our mood, stress levels, and even our behavior. Your room should be a place that you look forward to coming back to at the end of long, busy days. Not a place that stresses you out even more than your classes do. Whether you’re a clean freak (like me) or you’re just looking to tidy up, with these simple tips you can rid your room of clutter, unwanted items, and a general mess that has been keeping you from fully enjoying the space you get to call your own while living at school.
(Photo Courtesy of The Spruce)
Tip #1: Sort through your clothing
Take a good, hard look at the clothes and shoes that you brought to school with you. Odds are you don’t wear half of the things you thought you would. I find that taking everything out of the closet and the drawers, putting it in a pile on the bed, and then going through each piece one by one is most effective. It forces you to look at each individual piece of clothing and decide whether or not it should take up space in your closet.
Put the clothes you don’t wear but want to keep under your bed in a storage bin or a suitcase so that they are out of sight but are available if needed. With the clothes that you no longer want, ask some friends if they want anything before you go on to donate them or sell them to consignment shops.
Doing this not only grants you more space in your drawers and closet, but it also makes getting dressed in the morning much easier. You can now see what you have and what you like to wear without the clutter that previously surrounded it. I always find myself more inspired by my clothes once I take the time to reacquaint myself with them. I can then think of new, fun ways to wear them that I wouldn’t have thought of before.
Tip #2: Clean out your desk
Your desk is likely the place where everything ends up getting stacked on top of, or miscellaneous items get stuffed into drawers where they don’t belong. It is also probably the place where last semester’s books, papers, notebooks, etc. probably still live.
To give yourself more useable space, recycle your graded papers, notes, study guides, and any other papers that you don’t need for current or future classes. Next, I advise you to donate or begin selling old textbooks. These are often bulky and take up valuable real estate in a dorm sized desk, and odds are you can find someone on campus looking for some of the books you already own. There are already Facebook groups of Furman students that are looking to buy and sell used textbooks, these are good resources to use!
Try to not only clear out things from drawers, but make sure that the surface of your desk isn’t being overrun by things either. Clearing space on the surface of your desk and only keeping the essentials at hand makes for a much more efficient place to get work done.
Tip #3: Go through makeup and beauty products
One thing I always notice in myself and others is the accumulation of products that slowly but surely creeps up on us. Suddenly there are half-finished bottles of lotion, more lip glosses than we knew we had, and products that we don’t even remember buying that make their way into our rooms. While being a beauty junkie is perfectly okay, we want to be sure that we are using the products that are taking up valuable space in our rooms and bathrooms.
Go through your cosmetics and be sure to get rid of anything that’s empty, expired, or just not doing it for you anymore (and probably hasn’t been for a while). It will free up a lot of space and like the clothes, make it easier for you to see what products you have, what you enjoy using, and maybe what you forgot you had.
Tip #4: CLEAN the room!
It sounds obvious, but a deep clean every so often will do you and your room very well. College is full of germs and you’ve been tracking them through your room all semester long. Break out your cleaning supplies, que your favorite playlist, and go to town girl! You and your immune system will thank you.
Spring cleaning is so important because it can present you with a whole new mindset for the remainder of the academic year. Clearing your mind of tasks like cleaning your room and organizing your things, makes room for the important things and causes you less stress in the long run. It also makes moving out much easier as you have reminded yourself of what you have, and you have (hopefully) gotten rid of things you didn’t need.
Your room should be a place for you to unwind and get the rest that every boss babe needs, so creating a clean, clutter free environment is essential for that. I hope my tips can help you turn your dorm room around this spring and offers you some peace of mind in return.
Good luck and happy cleaning!