College students everywhere – both brand-new freshmen and returning upperclassmen – have now begun the process of settling into their term time home away from home, their college dorm room. But it is not always the easiest of transitions, even if the student has done it all before, if they will share that space with a roommate.
Personal space can be a huge issue among students sharing a dorm room. More often than not, there is too much “stuff” in the room, limited amounts of privacy, and a lack of personal style for the students sharing the room.
Co-existing peacefully and happily for nine months out of the year in a dorm room is possible; however, it requires some attention to detail, a little compromise and persistent college dorm room organization. With that last one being the most important of all.
Here I will be sharing some things I have learned as both an interior designer and a professional organizer that will help students get the most out of their college dorm room experience when living with a roommate.
There is one more thing I can offer too, virtual professional organization help. We can work together, via Zoom or another platform, to organize your space on campus and make it work for everyone using it, whether you have two roommates or more.
We can schedule these virtual dorm room organization sessions around your classes and your schedules, and for parents, the gift of such a session to your college age child is far more useful than a snack package! You can get started by booking an appointment here.
For now, however, let’s get back to those basic tips on shared dorm room organization I mentioned:
Creating Distinct Zones and Room Dividers
Some roommates find a happy medium by drawing invisible, agreed-upon lines in the room that divide the dorm room into three distinct zones. Each roommate has one zone of the room that is entirely their own, to do with whatever they wish, and then a third zone is ‘community property’ that is shared by both roommates.
Room dividers can help to add an air of privacy to each person’s section. You can use drapes or folding screens as room dividers. Two room dividers can separate the ‘community’ zone from the zone that contains each roommate’s sleeping area.
Not sure where to find such things? I love this folding room divider, especially as it features extra attractive storage, or as an easy to open and close alternative room dividing drapes like these. They hang easily on tension rods, so there are no nails and brackets involved, the use of which is usually not allowed in college dorms anyway.
Agreeing on Colors
When sharing a dorm room, it’s difficult to come to an agreement on the color scheme. Avoid the mindset that all colors must coordinate with each other. Settle on a basic neutral scheme and then allow each roommate to add personal style to their section of the room. You can express individual color choices and style choices through bedding, pillows, throws, drapes or curtains, throw rugs and wall art.
Smarter Storage
Students bring a ton of stuff to their door room and accumulate even more as the semester wears on. And tons of stuff can mean clutter. Clutter can quickly make that tiny dorm room space feel even tinier.
Make use of all available closet, dresser, and desk storage. Invest in bed risers to raise the bed up and then place under the bed storage drawers or tubs below.
The less visual clutter that is in the room, the more peaceful and less cramped the space will feel. If there is not enough room to put everything away properly, decide what can go back home and what needs to remain.
Some dorm rooms will have an individual closet for each student, while others will have one closet for each roommate to share. Hanging closet organization cubes are a huge help here, and back of the door organizers are perfect for college dorm room organization, and you will find them handy on the back of a closet door for hanging shoes, or the back of the bathroom door for storing toiletries and other small items.
Toiletries can also be stowed in a caddy or bucket; this is especially useful if you don’t have your own bathroom and must travel back and forth to a shared bathroom down the hall. Storage totes that stack up in the closet floor are also ideal–and remember, leave as much stuff at home as possible. If you don’t really need it, don’t bring it.
Nix the Duplicates
Often I find that communications between roommates were stalled before move in day and the shared dorm room features a lot of duplicates. Getting rid of these will help free up space and make keeping things clutter-free, tidy and organized much easier.
Deciding what goes can be fraught. Whose TV is better? Why not two TVs? Which fridge is better? Do shared fridges ever work? These are conversations that need to happen though (and they can be made easier by the impartial input of a virtual professional organizer like me by the way)
Make an Organizational Plan, and Stick to It
The school year is long. Students are busy. People are different. Some of us are clean freaks, some a little on the messy side. To avoid arguments, and mess, it’s important to have a shared dorm room organizational plan – and yes, a cleaning rota – in place from the start.
This is where a virtual professional organizer can be especially helpful. After ‘seeing’ your space (via the magic of the Internet) and talking with you, I can help you devise an ongoing dorm room organization plan that works for everyone involved. I can even ‘keep you straight’ by checking in regularly via email afterwards!
Working with Taya and her team is easy. You can book an appointment easily on her website, or contact her directly at 832-271-7608
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