Walking into my Pinewood room freshman year was one of the oddest moments of my life. As I looked at the bare white walls and the wooden furniture in the tiny room,a single thought immediately entered my mind: “Oh no. I think I packed too much stuff.”
One of the hardest things to do was decide how to pack 18 years of my life up and fit it into this new room, which I would own half of for the next nine months. It was a challenge, especially since I never shared a room before, and was used to having my system of organized chaos sprawled across my floor and desk at home. Luckily, my roommate at the time was very understanding and we were able to make our empty little room into a comfortable living space with a few trial and errors.
Making a dorm room or suite your own personalized living space is not that hard with these few tips that I have learned from living on-campus these past two years at Monmouth.
Bunk/loft your beds. This was probably the best thing that my roommate and I agreed about on move in day. By lofting or keeping the beds bunked, it creates a little extra floor room so you and your roommate are not tripping over one another. If you loft one of the beds, you can place your dresser or desk underneath for extra space as well.
Usually there are information cards in every room with a service that will loft the beds for you, so it might be useful to keep those. Just remember not to put your lofted bed(s) or bunk beds near the light in ceiling to avoid injury.
If you are not too keen on sleeping that high up, try placing the beds in an “L- shape” manner. This too will provide a little extra floor space as well as making the room feel a little less cramped. In this “L-shape” feature, it would be ideal to raise the beds in order to have under bed storage. With the beds raised, one’s printer, hamper, books, and even refridgerator can fit underneath creating a practical solution for the small area.
Use every inch of closet space. Even though the freshman dorms have limited closet space, it can still be used to your advantage. One trick that we used freshman year and still use is to put the dresser in the closet. Also, any type of shoe organizer or storage bin will be very useful for extra clothing and accessories you may not wear right away in the beginning of the year. Storing clothing away as the seasons change will keep things tidy and will prevent overstuffing drawers and closets.
If you do not want to follow through with this idea, it is also practical to leave your clothes that do not pertain to the current season at home to save even more closet space.
Location, Location, Location. It will take time to get everything just right to make your room a comfortable living space. Do not worry if you feel like you are not settled in your new room within the first few days. It is a completely different situation that will take time to adjust. Also, do not feel like you need to have everything arranged perfectly the first day. If it takes six arrangements to get everything the way you want it, then that is how long it takes. You will know when things are finally settled perfectly. Just make sure that your roommate is on the same page.
Share with your roommate. More often than not, a single room that two people share only need one refridgerator and one television. Therefore, talk to your roommate and decide if you both really need to have your own fridge or televison. For girls, sharing something as simple as a straightener can save some space.
Even sharing something as simple as eachother’s clothes will add to your closet space because you would not have to bring as many clothes of your own. For guys, both of you do not need to bring your own gaming system; sharing will save a decent amount of space in your room.
Sophomore Ashley Navin believes that sharing is key to making sure a room does not become cluttered. “(My roommate and I) share a printer, fridge, and a fan,” she continues, “We did not bunk our beds but we lofted them because you can fit stuff underneath and we also try to keep our room neat to make the room look bigger.”
Not a dorm, but a suite? Being in a suite easily creates more space since a common room is an added feature. Though it maybe hard at first to decorate a common room because there are seven other people’s opinions to consider, it will become easier as time goes on to get everyone in the suite’s approval of your selected decor.
If you are in a suite, it would be a novel idea to not clutter your room with an extra chair but instead, put that chair or extra furniture in the common area to create a comfortable environment. Extra wall hangings can also be put on the walls of the common area instead of cluttering your own room.
Splitting Sides.Do not feel as if you and your roommate have to split the room and each have your own respectful sides. Sometimes, what works best, is actually to have both desks on one side of the room if the beds are bunked or even in an L-shaped form. It is possible to even put your dressers on the same side of the room. Keep your mind open to your own unique ideas rather than mimick the set up of other rooms you see.
Get creative. There are so many sites like Stumbleupon. com and Pintrest with all sorts of decorating ideas. Just make sure that there is nothing that would be considered a fire hazard or anything that would get you into trouble. Create a collage of pictures from home on your walls and add to it as you create new memories here at the University.
While saving space is essential, creating a comfortable environment should come first. Therefore, have a scoreboard with how many Monmouth events you and your friends can attend in a semester, or keep it simple with hanging a dry –erase calendar to stay organized.
Essentially, make your room a reflection of yourself. It will make your space look homier to you and more inviting towards others. The possibilities are truly endless to turn any regular room into a fabulous friendly hang out
