Saturday, May 16, 2009

Maximizing Your Dorm Room Space

By J.M. Patin

No matter how big a university campus is, it is fairly safe to say that its dorm rooms will be small. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, however, because just by using the following tips, college students can learn to maximize their living spaces.

Most dorms do come equipped with storage such as a dresser or bookshelves, or even under-bed drawers. If you plan on bringing more than just clothes and books to college, however, you will need to bring extra storage. All the furniture you bring in should be multipurpose; it can be a decoration (such a vase), but it also has to have a specific function, and it's best if that function is storage (like a place to keep your change). Other examples of extra storage you can bring include a stack of plastic drawers or a freestanding bookshelf.

After you're all moved into your dorm, you must determine where all of your things will go. These will be permanent homes for your belongings. It's important to set a home for your items so that everything can quickly be put away and your room will always look neat. This will only work if you actually put your things away, though. So in order to always have a spacious-feeling room, take the extra few seconds it takes to put something where it belongs once you're finished with it.

One more action you can take to make your room more spacious is to be mindful of the dcor you bring in. There are certain steps you can take to make sure the decorations and colors you put into the space work towards opening it up and not closing it in. For example, light colors in the same family will help your eyes flow through the room, while bright or dark colors of different shades will make you focus on several different things. Also, adding light to the corners will open it up as well.

One you have your room all set up, the single most important act you can do every day to make your room feel bigger and more open is to make your bed. This way, you and your friends will have an inviting place to sit. Also, an unmade bed instantly makes the room feel messy which can make you feel unproductive.

The key for these tips to work for you is to actually work at them. For most people, it's not second nature to be neat, especially not in our bedrooms, but with a little practice, it will be. The reward of always having a clean and spacious room to study or hang out in will help you to see that a little hard work is more than worth it!

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