Did you know that living on campus can increase your college GPA by about half a letter grade? There are certain benefits to being so close to class, but that doesn’t mean dorm life is easy.
From class planning to buying textbooks and moving into your brand new dorm, starting college can be a stressful event in anybody’s life. It doesn’t have to be, though.
If you’re diligent about how you organize your space, you’ll find that your dorm room is going to quickly turn into the coziest place on campus.
It doesn’t matter if you’re heading off for your freshman year of college or are getting ready for a second (or third) year in a new dorm, these dorm room hacks are for you.
Loft Your Bed
One of the easiest ways to totally transform your dorm is to loft your bed. This is going to add so much more space that you can use for storage or activities.
Use the space underneath your new lofted bed to put your desk, a dresser, or even a cozy little couch.
Look for great dorm desk ideas on Pinterest as there are many unique ways in which you can organize a desk to optimize space as well.
Purchase organizers for the top of your desk so that your pencils, folders, and books are always organized.
Then, make sure you try to preserve space under your desk so that you can store things like cases of water or even textbooks that you’re renting for the semester.
If you’re not allowed to loft your bed, then you should at least invest in risers. They’ll help you raise your bed a few inches off the ground so that you can add rolling storage organizers underneath it.
Use the space under the bed to store things like backpacks, shoes, and other unsightly items that you want to keep out of the eye’s sight.
Turn Everything Into Storage
When it comes to dorm organization, the one thing that’s going to help you the most is going to be to turn literally everything into a storage space.
This means things like:
- Adding hooks under your shelves so that they double as coat racks or even mug hangers.
- Hooking a shower caddy on the side of your bed as a way to organize your bedside accessories like chargers and remotes.
- Using a shower caddy on the back of your door in order to store more things up off the ground.
- Hanging up shoe organizers in your closet so that you can stuff underwear and smaller items of clothing in the holders.
There are numerous dorm room storage ideas and all you have to do is get a bit creative to find them. Most of them require that you use various types of organizers for things that they’re not normally meant for.
While it might seem weird at first, you’ll be thanking yourself when you realize just how organized and spacious your dorm is without everything strewn all over the floor.
Invest in eTextbooks
This tip doubles as one of the best dorm hacks and a great college hack in general.
Textbooks are expensive, and that’s why you should always buy used textbooks or rent them whenever you can. That’s going to cut down on your college costs a lot.
However, on top of reducing the amount you have to pay each semester for textbooks, investing in eTextbooks is a great way to save space and keep your dorm room organizes.
Cutting down on unnecessary items in your dorm room is one of the best dorm room hacks out there, and what takes up more space than loads of large textbooks?
Instead, always opt to purchase and download eTextbooks when you can. Not only will you be saving on space in your dorm, but you’ll be able to transport the book a whole lot easier than it would be trying to carry a heavy book across campus.
On top of that, you’re saving paper! These kinds of books are also a whole lot easier to mark up and turn into PDFs on your computer.
Take that saved money and invest it in a great piece of accent furniture that you can put in the place of where you’d normally store all of your books.
Think About Multi-Purpose Furniture
Even though most dorm rooms come with furniture already, you can invest in additional furniture that’s going to make your life easier or at least a bit cozier.
However, if you do decide to add furniture to your dorm room, you’ll want to make sure it’s multi-purpose furniture.
Box organizers that fit under your desk and double as a chair are one great example of furniture that’s practical and has many uses.
Any kind of folding furniture is also going to be your best friend if you live in a small dorm room. Folding chairs, folding tables, and even folding desks are a great way to save on space if it’s limited.
You can also transform regular furniture into handy space-saving hacks if you need them. Instead of using a normal shelf on the ground, put it above your desk to further free up space on the ground.
Then, when you need it, you can take it down and use it as a small desk space when you’re getting work done on your bed. The options are endless!
Saving on Dorm Room Hacks
Using dorm room hacks to save space in your new dorm is just one way to ensure that your school year gets off to the right start. Along with saving space, you’ll also want to focus on saving money.
The easiest way to save money? Cut back on the amount you have to pay each semester for textbooks.
Lucky for you, we live in an age where you don’t have to buy brand new textbooks for every class you take! Instead, look into buying used textbooks or think about renting textbooks.
If you’ve never done it before, then head over to our textbook rental section to see what it’s all about, how easy it is, and just how much money it can save you.