Moving into a tiny room – making the most of your space

Moving to college. Oh, what an exciting time! You will be living on your own for the first time. You will experience true freedom and lack of parental supervision. Surely, college is time to explore and to experiment. And you will get to do it all in a dorm! As exciting as it may sound, there is a downside. College dorm rooms are usually very small. Learn how to maximize your space when moving into a tiny room.

College is the time when you will learn many things. Not only will you learn a lot in lectures, but you will learn even more outside them. You will share a room with a roommate you’ve never met before. So you will need to learn how to deal with them.  You will learn so much about time management, now that you won’t have your parents to remind you of your obligations all the time. And you will definitely learn how to live in a cramped space, since college rooms are usually only a couple hundred square feet large. So, here are top 10 crucial tips for making it work in a small college room.

1. Prepare before moving into a tiny room

Preparation is key to success. It’s important to stay organized when moving to college. And how can you do that? Plan in advance. Find out the size of your room and the furniture you will have at your disposal. Usually, dorm rooms are equipped with a single bed, a desk and a chair. If you are sharing a room, then your roommate will have the same set. It’s not much, you’ll admit. Especially in comparison to what you are used to at home. But, as we said, you will have to learn quickly at college. And living without some things is one of them.

So, let’s see what questions you should ask yourself before the move:

• Do I really need this item? – Not all items you hold dear will be essential in your tiny dorm room. Like your Marvel comic book collection.
• Where am I going to put it? – When deciding which pieces to take with your, think of the space you have at your disposal, or rather the space you don’t have.
• Is this item multifunctional? – The key to making small living spaces work is to use multipurpose items.

2. Coordinate with your roommate prior to moving in together

The advantage of having a roommate is that you can share some things. You are allowed to have a mini-fridge and a microwave in your modest dorm room. So, there’s no need for you to buy both. Find out who your roommate is and talk to them before moving into a tiny room together. You can get the fridge and they can get the microwave, or vice versa. Either way, you don’t want to cram two refrigerators into your limited living space.

3. Raise your bed for extra storage room

Use the space under your bed for storage.

Some dorms have beds that are a few inches off the ground, others don’t. If you have a low bed, you should definitely buy a bed raiser. It’s not a big investment, but it will bring you so much additional storage space. You can put your shoes and boots or bed sheets under there. You can put practically anything under your bed and free up your floor space. It’s best to buy plastic storage bins with lids. This will keep the dust off of your things.

4. Use the space behind your door

Instead of putting up posters on your door, like you did in high school, you should put up an over door hanging storage. It’s much more useful than a poster, believe us. You can put your charger, hair brush, hair dryer, caps or scarves in there. And if you hang them on the inside of your closet, you can put your footwear in it. Huge space saver!

5. Put a tension rod in your closet

To double the amount of space in your closet you can put a tension rod in the middle. You can hang your boots on the lower half. Another way to get the most out of your closet is using skinny clothes hangers.

6. No nightstand, no problem!

You might be used to piling books and phones and cups on your nightstand at home. But this is college. There isn’t enough space for a nightstand in your tiny room. But you can get around it by purchasing a bed caddy. It will do the same job as a night stand, without taking up so much space.

7.  Maximize your wall space – think vertically

When floor space is limited, you have to start thinking vertically. Since there is a rule against drilling dorm walls, you should get adhesive shelves. You can put your books or picture frames on them. You can also put up adhesive hooks for your keys or decorative lights.

Put up adhesive shelves and hooks to maximize your space.

8. Hang a mirror after moving into a small dorm room

Use a mirror to give your tiny room a more open vibe. If you hang it horizontally it will make your room feel twice as big.

Light walls make a tiny room seem bigger, while mirrors can make it feel even larger.

9. Paint your walls white

Light spaces seem more spacious than dark ones. Use this decorating hack when moving into a tiny room to make it feel bigger. To add some flair to the walls you can go for a strip of colorful wallpaper. But white or some other light shade needs to be the basis.

10. Multipurpose items are your best friends when moving into a tiny room

Making small spaces work requires using multipurpose items. So, when buying an ottoman buy one with inside storage. Get a desk that folds up the wall or a foldable hamper. When you are not using them, you can enjoy more space in your tiny room.

Now you know the top tips for maximizing the small living space you have in college. But functionality isn’t everything. If you are looking for some decorating tips, check out out post about it. And for more advice on moving into a dorm room and starting college life, you can watch this video. Good luck!