10 Dorm Room Hacks For First Years

A dorm room is a place thousands of students call home for a good chunk of their educational career. Dorm rooms are especially common for first-year students, as it’s best for them to have easy access to campus and they usually receive priority over upperclassmen.

But with the tiny space should come big ideas on how to utilize it best. Here is a list of 10 dorm room hacks every first-year student should know!

1. Storage Foot Stool

Dorm rooms call for close quarters as you’re usually sharing the space with a bunch of other wide-eyed, excited students. Because of this, you need to utilize your space, so invest in a storage footstool. This dorm room hack is perfect as an extra seat with the added storage!

2. Utilize Soda Tabs

Next time you drink a can of soda, remember to hold onto the tab at the top of the can. This little tab can be very useful in small places. Use it on hangers to add other hangers, making more storage space. This dorm room hack can even be used to zip up that broken zipper on your pants for when you’re late for class and can’t find any jeans with a working one!

3. Use The Walls

Walls are a great place to use as storage. Invest in some bookshelves or little box cubbies that you can screw into your wall. This dorm room hack creates an ample amount of space for all the textbooks and notebooks that will need a home for the year!

4. Silverware Organizers

These babies can be used for more than organizing your forks and knives. Put it in your desk drawer, night table and even in a bathroom cubby. The divided up spaces are perfect places to keep your things organized. From pens to tampons and your toothbrush, this dorm room hack works for all of it!

5. Binder Clips as Cord Holders

If you keep all of your cords in one place, you’re familiar with the risk of getting all of them tangled. This is especially evident in smaller spaces like dorm rooms. For this dorm hack, use binder clips to keep everything nice and organized. Just clip then onto the side of your desk and attach your cords.

6. Shoe Hanger

A door can be used for more than just privacy, it can also be used as storage space. Hang a shoe bag on the back of your door and put all of your shoes in there. This dorm room hack frees up valuable floor space without forcing you to leave any beautiful shoes at home!

7. Use A Car Freshener

Those little car freshener things are small, cheap and smell really good. For this dorm room hack, clip one of those car fresheners onto one of the ridges of a vent. When the air is on, your dorm will smell fresh and clean!

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8. Get a Kettle

A kettle is a valuable kitchen appliance in a dorm room. It can make ample amounts of ramen noodles, coffee, tea, oatmeal and a bunch of other things. Some dorm rooms have restrictions on what appliances can be used, so a kettle is the perfect food dorm room hack!

9. Use an Iron

Irons are the perfect dorm room tool because so much can be done with them. Besides ironing your clothes, you can make a grilled cheese sandwich, straighten out your crumpled up notes and warm-up pizza, amongst a bunch of other things. P.S. don’t forget the aluminum foil!

10. Grow Fresh Herbs

This dorm room hack sounds more difficult than it actually is. Simply put the remainders of your favorite herbs into a jar of water and watch it bloom. Add it to your ramen or other foods because living small doesn’t mean eating meals without presentation!