Back to School - Get your dorm room ready!

Moving into a dorm room, whether it’s for the first time or with a roommate(s), can be a difficult task. There are usually a lot of things that need to be placed into the small space that will be your home for the next year, and there often isn’t a lot of time to organize and keep track of all of your belongings. Below we have some tips on how to set up and organize your dorm room in a way that will make it easy to store and find the items you need on a daily basis, and maintain organization throughout the school year:

-       Labelling: not only is it important to label all of your boxes and bags when you’re moving into your dorm room, but especially if you are living with a roommate or more, it’s important to make sure that you can clearly identify the items that are yours. Consider colour coordinating bins and containers that you use, or simply sticking your name on a label onto your items. It might also be handy to label what items are shared as well, especially communal food items and supplies. This can also be done with labels or tape.

-       Checklists: It’s important to make sure that you have all the essentials with you, as it can be easy to forget or hard to find the time to pick up items especially if it’s an emergency. Aside from the obvious items like clothing, bedding, furniture, and food, it’s also important to consider the essentials like a first aid kit, small tool kit, flashlights and batteries, sewing kit, and school supplies. However, because your space is limited, don’t buy more than what you think you might need – keep these essentials to a minimum and store them altogether so they’re easy to find when you need them. There are many college essential packing checklists that can be downloaded for free online, like this one.

-        Under the bed: The space that is available for storage under your bed should not be overlooked. Containers and racks for shoes that fit under the bed can be stored there, as well as containers for items that aren’t used every day like seasonal jackets and clothing, sports equipment, suitcases, and other bulkier items. To increase the storage you have under the bed, consider purchasing a bed raiser, like this one from Bed Bath and Beyond, which also has an outlet to charge your electronics.

-       Doors and walls: Your wall space in your closet and dorm, as well as behind your main door, closet door, and even cabinet doors can be used to hang storage units or hooks that can hold laundry baskets, clothing, towels, robes, and more. By hanging items on cabinet or vanity doors, your items can be stored out of sight and out of the way, cutting down on clutter in the other areas of your room. This also leaves your surface areas, like desk and dresser tops, drawers, and floor space free for other items that you may use more often.

-       Command centre: This is a great idea especially if you’re living with roommates. Set up a small space or area for a calendar and/or whiteboard to keep track of important dates, as well as anything that needs to be purchased like groceries or other shared items. Time for organization and decluttering of your room can also be scheduled in for everyone to see. Even if you’re living on your own, it’s a good idea to have a place where you can keep track of the important things that are happening or need to be done. 

Unpack to Organize - The Garage

The garage can often be pushed to the bottom of the priority list when it comes to unpacking a home. However, the garage is often a major storage space. There are a lot of items that need to be unpacked, organized, and stored in an easily accessible way.

The first thing to do when unpacking a garage is to go through all your items and purge. It can be a challenge to part with items and easy to justify keeping old exercise equipment and gardening tools, but try asking yourself when was the last time it was used, if you are very likely to use it again, and if there will even be room for you to store it.

Once items have been decluttered, sort like items with like. For example, gather all the hardware tools, gardening tools, sports equipment, and others into separate areas.

After you determine what items you have, and they are sorted together, the next step is to plan out the storage in your garage. Creating different “zones” for each category of items is a great way to stay organized and make it easier to find specific objects. This guide can help you plan out where to set up zones around your garage. 

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Now, depending what objects are in each zone, the type of storage must be determined. For example, peg boards are useful for tools and hardware. Racks are good for larger tools like shovels and rakes. Check out our next blog post coming later in the month for 5 Ways to Maintain Order in Your Garage!

In these before and after photos of a garage Calm Order worked on, wall panels were installed on the wall, and hooks, baskets, and racks were added to store the items.

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Before image of a garage Calm Order organized.

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After image of a garage Calm Order organized using wall panels.

It can be easy to post pone unpacking and organizing the garage. As Peter Walsh said, “later is the best friend of clutter.” Don’t leave it until later – get unpacked to an organized garage now! [INSERT TWEET THIS LINK].

Unpack to Organize - The Office

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An office room can be made up of multiple parts and items will all need to be unpacked and placed in the right spot after moving. From computer cords and accessories to paper clips and pencils, unpacking an office may seem like a daunting task – but it doesn’t have to be!

-       First, take stock of all of the items you have, and make sure that each item is necessary and will have a place to go. This is your chance to purge old or damaged supplies, or donate unused items.

-       Next, plan out your office space. Before moving in desks and shelves, make sure you know where everything is going. Also, determine what drawers, shelves, and cupboards will store what items, what files and folders will go in what cabinet, and if any other shelving materials need to be purchased. This plan will help relieve a lot of stress when it comes time to put office supplies away!

-       Once all of the furniture and larger pieces are put in place, it’s time to tackle the electronics. Computers can have a lot of attachments and wires, so don’t rush this step. Make sure everything is connected properly, and that cables are kept neat and organized to prevent anything from catching on them. Other electronics like a phone, printer, and lamp, can also be set up.

-       Start unpacking your office supplies with the frequently used items first, like pens, pencils, paper, and calendar. Use drawer organizers to help keep all your office supplies organized. Try to tackle only one box at a time – don’t get overwhelmed!

-       Filing cabinets and bookcases can then be unpacked, because the items typically aren’t needed right away. Any paper weights or office decorations can be added too, but remember, try to keep the decorations to a minimum, because a lot of them only invite more clutter into your space.

Creating a plan for your office space, and knowing what items need to go where before you start unpacking your boxes will make unpacking into an organized space a lot more feasible. There are a lot of different components that go into an office, so unpack step by step until the space is complete!

Moving Tip - label your electronic cords Before you take them apart. It will help you know what cord goes with each device!