Face it. College dorm rooms are small and simple. You need to devise a place for everything and everything should be in its place. How to reach this storage nirvana? First and foremost use your noggin.

Know your dorm room

If you have visited your college, you have probably seen your dorm room or at least something comparable. If not, check online and see if your college has some images of dorm rooms on their website.

Tip: In addition to photos of dorm rooms, look for floor plans of the various dorms and for listings of room dimensions, furnishings, and floor amenities [such as laundry and kitchen-type facilities].

In other words, really snoop the place out. Once you have a visual image and some working dimensions, it is much easier to determine what to pack and more precisely where all your stuff will be stored.

Create your zones

It only takes a few steps and if you have a roommate, be sure to talk about these points with them.

Establish zones for the functions of your room and develop the storage for that zone's function.

Study Zone

• Use small portable plastic baskets [for inside desk drawers] to hold small items
• Sturdy, portable, closing paper file folders hold papers
• Canvas totes, old suitcases-stacked, baskets with lids, and small bookshelves can store all study essentials

Sleeping Zone

• Get risers for your bed
• Purchase low, plastic covered storage containers, of various sizes, which can possibly stack and slide under your bed

Eating Zone

• Stackable storage containers with lids can be purchased in plastic or Pyrex and used to store food and snacks
• Plastic portable containers with lids work well to store dirty dishes-prior to you hauling them to the kitchen for washing

Entertaining Zone

• Think portable storage: plastic storage drawers on wheels will hold dishes, food, and kitchen utensils
• Plastic storage cubes can be handy for stacking, storing, even double as extra seating, hold speakers or act as a small table

Storage Zones: closet or wardrobe, for clothes and other essentials.

• Get some hanging storage for shoes, purses, and other small lighter weight items
• Buy all the same-sized hangers, so they fit uniformly in your closet
• Shelf dividers, which clamp onto the closet shelf, will hold and separate clothes and keep everything from getting all jumbled together
• Hanging closet shelf organizers help hold everything and come in different widths and sizes
• Over-the-door hooks make great storage for coats, towels, and you name it

Author: Mary Wiseman Mary Wiseman has a passion to assist her clients in establishing organizing systems, so they remain focused on their life desires. She possesses a charming array of fresh ideas, uses tried and true steps to simplify those sometimes overwhelming goals and an unlimited supply of contagious enthusiasm. Business URL: http://www.collegelifetips.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Wiseman

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