Getting ready to start school means organizing your stuff so that you wouldn’t have to when things get hectic. The days are shorter when you have a lot on your plate, and you’ll probably have so little time to organize your things at the end of your day. Keep your stuff organized so that you don’t have to blame anyone when something goes missing. If you misplace something because your room is too messy, you have no one to blame but yourself.
While mess is unavoidable when you live with another person, who may have a different idea of what organization is about, there are some habits you can develop at the onset that will help make things easier in the long run.
1. Store Freshly Laundered Clothes Immediately
Clothes, fresh ones and those that need to be washed, comprise more than half of the clutter in your dorm room especially if you don’t make it a habit to stow away the clean ones immediately. If you let the clean clothes mingle with the used ones on your bed, you may end up folding and storing the used ones with the fresh ones.
2. Dividers for Your Closet
It can be difficult to keep track of the clothes you discard but you can at least try to organize the clothes you keep in your closet. Use hangers and dividers to group your clothes according to function. Everyday clothes can go together, while your dress clothes can be kept together. Hang the jeans together to make mixing and matching easier. The tops can be sorted according to color. Keep small items like underwear and socks inside a plastic box so that they don’t get lost.
Seasonal clothing can stay in boxes until you need them. Don’t forget to put a label on top of the box so that you don’t have to keep opening it to check what’s inside. You’re bound to forget what’s in your storage boxes after a while. Put these boxes under your bed or other out-of-the-way place to free up more closet space. Dividers are for freeing up more space in your closet. You can have more room for your books, laptop, gadgets and other important belongings.
3. Inventorize and Store Your Accessories
Shoes and accessories such as belts and bags need careful handling because they’re made of leather, and they’re usually more expensive than clothes. Some of the best leather bags and clutches are branded and would cost more than a set of luggage. If you have some of these, you might not feel comfortable leaving them in plain sight, especially if your roommate and other dorm guests have a penchant for borrowing your stuff.
While you may have a communal shoe rack that you share with your roommates, reserve a small spot under your desk or bed for the shoes you don’t use often. Install some hooks inside your own closet to accommodate your more expensive accessories and the ones you don’t intend to lend out.
Photo Courtesy of Tulane Public Relations, Flickr Creative Commons
