Stack your books vertically, instead of lining them up horizontally. Place the thickest, widest and heaviest books at the bottom and stack them vertically. The books must decrease in size as the stack gets higher. Keep the stack at a manageable height, such as up to your shoulder at the highest, to minimize the risk of injury if the stack falls.
Raise your bed, using cinder blocks. This gives you more room to store items, such as your backpack, shoes, a laundry basket, toiletries and musical instruments. Some dorms also allow lofting, which positions the bed higher up, so you can place a desk, couch or other objects below the bed. This utilizes all the possible room under the bed.
Hang things on walls and doors using nails or screws, which act like hooks. Before doing so, check with your dorm to make sure they allow nails or screws in the walls and doors. After lightly hammering in a nail or screw to a wall or door, hang items, such as coats, necklaces and your laundry bag. This saves floor and closet space.
Use both parts of your clothes hangers. Hangers typically have two parts: the curved part for hanging jackets and shirts and the horizontal bar for hanging pants. Cut down on closet space by using both parts at the same time. Hang a pair of pants from the horizontal bar, along with a button-down shirt or other top on the curved part. You can also hang other items from hangers, such as neckties and scarves. This frees floor space and organizes your closet.
Utilize the dresser that comes with your dorm room. While you may think of a dresser as just a place for clothes, it doesn’t have to be. If possible, keep a drawer or two reserved for other items, such as school supplies, computer supplies, textbooks, CDs and movies. This lowers the need to buy additional storage containers.
Take advantage of shoeboxes. Instead of throwing out the shoebox after buying shoes, use it as a way to organize small items, such as batteries, toiletries and school supplies. Using a marker, write on the outside of the box what the box containers. Stack this shoebox on top of other shoeboxes under your bed or in your closet.
Bring only what you need. This is a key to dorm room organization. Cut down on the number of clothes, shoes, school supplies and other items. Chances are you don’t need 30 different pens or four pairs of similar-looking khaki pants. If you still live relatively close to your parents’ home or will be making trips home for holidays and other occasions, you can always swap out clothes and other items. Some items you can also share with your roommate, such as toothpaste, hand soap, a printer and other electronics.