10 Space-Saving Tips to Help Organise Your Room

Students are often unfairly labelled as being messy and disorganised, with the freedom of independent living making it easy to overlook chores and tidying duties. However, if you want to start university life on the right foot, and avoid embarrassment when friends and family come to visit, it’s important to know how best to keep your room tidy and organised. While aparto student homes are spacious , you’ll still want to keep your room neat, tidy and organised to maximise space and have a productive area for studying. In this guide, we offer 10 space-saving tips for an organised university room, incorporating advice from expert bloggers and current students to help you create a welcoming and functional space.

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1. Create a Capsule Wardrobe

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Clutter is the last thing you need in a small space, and this kind of disorder usually stems from the wardrobe, particularly if you have a penchant for hoarding clothes. Recent graduate and founder of lifestyle blog Monalogue, Ramona Jones, believes that the trick to a clutter-free student room starts with creating a capsule wardrobe – a small collection of clothes that won’t go out of fashion, but complement each other perfectly.      

Here, Ramona offers her on creating a functional and space-saving capsule wardrobe: “Creating a capsule wardrobe means only holding onto the minimum number of pieces which each complement one another – this is a great way to downsize your range of clothing, and can save you those precious minutes when getting ready for lectures in the morning. I aim to have fewer than 25 items at any one time – which makes choosing what to wear a lot easier, too!”

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2. Use Over-Door Hooks to Maximise Vertical Space

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When floor space is at a premium, any interior designer worth their salt will tell you to make better use of vertical space as a means of storing items and keeping things organised. While we certainly wouldn’t recommend you go screwing shelves and hooks into the walls, there is a way to get functional hook space in your room – and that’s with an over-door hanger. These useful and inexpensive hook-boards are designed to slip over a door (or any other thin surface such as the side of a shelving unit or even a bedframe) to provide space to hang your stuff – be it a rucksack, dressing gown or your jacket collection. We’d especially recommend getting one of these for your bathroom, so you’ve somewhere to store those daily essentials.

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3. Invest in the Right Laundry Basket

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Staying with the issue of maximising floor space; make sure you get a laundry basket that fits into the profile of your room. A tall and narrow one will slip seamlessly into a corner without taking up too much real estate, while a low and wide option could slide into the bottom of your wardrobe. A laundry basket is essential to keep your room free from clutter, so make sure you choose the right one.

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4. Keep Items in a Dedicated Space

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A disorganised space will make it easy to lose things in even the smallest of student rooms, so it’s a good idea to use different boxes or containers for all your belongings – keeping certain items together for ease and convenience. Current student and lifestyle blogger Liana Mayendee is a firm believer in organising things into dedicated boxes. She says: “My top tip for organisation is to keep everything in a dedicated place – for example, using boxes to store items that relate to each other, and only taking those out when you need them. This way, instead of wasting any space unnecessarily, you can make the best use of the area available to you – decorating it with things that you like.”

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5. Organise Your Desk with Stationery Holders

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They say a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, so do yourself a favour and make an effort to keep your workspace clean and organised throughout your studies. From desk organisers to stationery holders to desktop shelving, there are lots of products out there that can help you take back control of your workspace, ensuring you’ve always got a clear and clutter-free study space.

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6. Make Your Bed as Soon as You Step Out of It

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There’s something unsettling about an unmade bed, and it can have a big impact on how tidy, organised and productive your room looks and feels. This is something many people agree with, including Elena Gaor, who’s currently living in our Dorset Point accommodation while studying English Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. Like many students, Elena found her room slipping into untidiness during her first few weeks of independent living – and the bed was a large part of this. Here, Elena explains why making your bed is the first step to an organised living space: “It might sound obvious, but the first step to a clean, organised room is to make your bed as soon as you step out of it. This will help get you in the right mindset and is a welcoming sight upon returning from a long day of lectures.”

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7. Take Advantage of Under-Bed Storage

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When it comes to storing unessential, bulky or seasonal items out of sight, it’s a good idea to take advantage of any available space under your bed. There lots of modular storage solutions specifically designed for storing items in a horizontal tray beneath the bedframe, with wheels or sliders that make it easy to access the things you need and ensure everything is kept compact and organised.  Luckily, our aparto beds have storage built in – making them ideal for keeping bags and luggage out of the way.

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8. Get Additional Space with a Bed Pocket Organiser

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If you’ve limited space in your room for storing essential items such as books, glasses cases, and other small paraphernalia, why not invest in a bed pocket organiser? These nifty storage solutions are held in place by the weight of the mattress, and offer a series of pockets that can be used for conveniently storing life’s essentials. We’d recommend this one, which can hold everything from your smartphone and make-up to a few textbooks for late-night study sessions.

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9. Use Drawer Dividers for Organised Storage

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Drawers are an essential storage solution in bedrooms of any size, so it pays to keep them tidy and well organised. As an aparto resident, you’ll have access to a number of drawers in your room (depending on the accommodation), helping you store everything from underwear and clothing to make-up, personal effects and textbooks.

To ensure your drawers stay perfectly well organised, we’d recommend using drawer dividers to maximise space and compartmentalise your possessions. Drawer divider inserts are great for when you want to store different items in the same space, and mean that you can keep your socks well away from your stationery and textbooks.

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10. Get Clever About Wardrobe Storage

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You’re halfway through unpacking your suitcase and your wardrobe is already three-quarters of the way full – what do you do? Rather than squashing everything in and carefully pushing the door shut, invest in clever wardrobe storage solutions that will condense your clothes and mean you can fit in twice the amount of stuff. A hanging wardrobe organiser is a great solution for fitting more clothes into a cramped space. Hanging from the wardrobe rail, these clever organisers maximise the cupboard’s vertical space, so you can store items such as t-shirts, underwear and even shoes without taking up an excessive amount of space. We hope you find this list of space-saving tips useful in organising your student home. For more helpful student advice, visit our blog or head to the homepage to find about our range of modern and welcoming student homes in the UK and Ireland.