Guest Blogger: How to Decorate your Dorm Room to Maximize Space

Guest Blogger #358, Entry #941, February 6, 2012

Often, dorm rooms come with a few basic pieces of furniture for you to work with: a desk and chair, a bed, and a closet of some sort. In fact, most come with duplicates of these items (for you and a roommate) but very little space in which to house the rest of your stuff (or walk). The idea, of course, is economy, but that doesn’t do you any good when you show up with a lot of luggage and other furnishing in mind (not to mention textbooks and school supplies). So here are just a few decorating tips that will help you to maximize your space in order to squeeze in all your stuff.

Ideas to help you maximize spae in your dorm room

Image via: Home Sick Designs

Arranging your dorm room

To begin with, you should consider the arrangement of items already in the room. You may have the option to arrange the beds bunk-style in order to create more space, or even to put both beds up on risers in order to situate desks underneath. If possible, this is an ideal arrangement that can dramatically increase the usable space in your dorm room. So the first thing you should do is talk to the RA or facilities manager about enacting this change in your room.

 Maximize your space

From there you need to consider all of the space in your dorm room as usable space, including the walls, the ceiling, and the tops of cabinets (provided they aren’t floor-to-ceiling). But while it’s easy enough to stash stuff on top on the closet, you may be puzzled as to how to go about utilizing walls and ceilings to your benefit. The answer lies in hardware, and you will have to do a little work to make it manageable. The walls, for example, can provide an ideal space for housing books and other items with the addition of shelving, bookends, and bins (for loose items). As for the ceiling, if it is sturdy (which is to say solid rather than tiled) you may be able to hang nets to house lightweight but bulky items like extra blankets, pillows, and winter coats, for example.

Creative ideas for your dormitory room

Organize storage space you already have

Don’t forget to organize the storage space you already have. And when it comes to linens (clothing, blankets, towels, etc.) there is an ideal solution. You’ve probably seen those commercials about “space bags” that can be vacuum sealed. It’s as though these handy storage devices were made for college dorms because they allow you to shrink down soft items to a fraction of the size for space-saving utility. Of course, most of them require an actual vacuum to seal, but even a tiny hand-vac can do the trick as long as you can attach a hose extension (and you’ll probably want one to suck up dust around your room anyway). As for items that can’t be deflated (like shoes), you’ll want to measure your space so that you can install stackable bins to neatly house everything.

Down the road you may look into online MHA programs as a way to earn a degree while staying at home, but if you’re stuck in the dorms at the moment, consider how you can make your room more functional by installing some space-saving décor. It can only make your life more manageable, and that’s something every college student can get behind.

For more dorm ideas on Stagetecture, click here.