Storing Fashion Items? Organization Is Key

By Amanda Cohen on September 8, 2016

Going from your bedroom at home to a college dorm room, house, or apartment can be quite the shock because of the lack of space. At home, I’m sure that everyone has at least one, two, or even three “junk drawers,” but, as my favorite meme says, in college, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

Every inch of your living space at college needs to be used extremely effectively. For us fashionistas, this can be tricky with the mountains of clothing, shoes, jewelry, hair products, and general accessories that we own. However, have no fear, because there are ways to bring all of your favorite fashion items with you, and I am here to tell you how!

The tricky thing about college living is that every person’s living space/situation is different depending on a variety of factors — number of roommates, type of housing, how long that particular living area has been around for, specific university, and more. Some people will live in dorm rooms the size of South Quad (Go Blue), while others will live in dorm rooms the size of Markley (Go Blue, but still needs some work). This article is catered to those whose living situations are less than ideal and are extremely minimal (I’m talking shoebox size).

As a Type A college student, everything I own must fit into my living space, but everything also must be extremely organized. Even if you aren’t as Type A as I am, you will find yourself becoming more and more like me when dealing with a tiny room. This is why I am a huge fan of under-bed storage drawers … NOT BINS!

Even though bins and drawers may seem one in the same, they aren’t. Drawers are almost always deeper, and you can retrieve items without having to pull the entire “instrument” out from under your bed. This form of storage is best for big bulky items that you don’t want taking up a monstrous amount of space in the dresser provided for you. So, I recommend putting sweatshirts, sweatpants, and sometimes even sweaters if you don’t mind mixing them into the pot.

When it comes to optimizing your closet space, there are three things you need to consider; number one, the hanging items, number two, miscellaneous folding items that do not need to go into a dresser, and number three, shoes.

At home, for me at least, I liked to hang up as much clothing as possible, but you need to be more conscientious about this in college because you simply will not have the space to hang up everything you want. So, obviously hang up items that are easily wrinkled (blouses, certain pants and shorts, rompers, etc.). When it comes to hanging up pants and jeans, go for the clip hangers that allow you to hang four or more items (trust me, these are lifesavers in college dorm rooms).

For miscellaneous items, such as bathing suits, random tailgate apparel, and themed party accessories, purchase the soft colored cubes from literally any website (I got mine off of Amazon) and order three or four of them to put at the top of your closet. Lastly, shoes are always a huge issue when it comes to spacing.

Always attempt to put a shoe rack in your closet, but if that does not work, get a tall, white bin and try to organize your shoes in it as neatly as possible. Sometimes, in college, you just have to make compromises.

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Last, but definitely not least, your jewelry, makeup, and any other random accessories that you haven’t placed in a storage box yet. For jewelry and makeup, you need to find a huge, cheap makeup organizer that you can tuck in under your desk or something and a jewelry box that can be tucked in right next to the makeup.

I live in an apartment this year with a lot more space than a dorm room and I still use these two methods of organization. For hair accessories like headbands, scrunchies, and clips, get a cute mug with a funny saying on it and put it all in there next to your hair dryer. For any other bathroom products, just try to fit them into your shower caddie (#dormroomliving).

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If you are fortunate enough to have more space than the average college student, buy another dresser or buy an ottoman that opens up as a storage unit. This way, you can hide your fashion items in something that is also considered fashionable (I know, mind blown). No matter what you decide, I promise you that you will find the space for all of your things.

Just don’t bring your winter clothes in the summer, and then switch everything out at Thanksgiving break so that you are not cluttering up your room with clothing that you don’t need yet!

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