Dorm Decorations

I love organizing and with a dorm room that’s only 9x14 I’ve had to get creative. I’m always looking for new ways to keep everything functional, beautiful, but still on display. Here’s the ideas I’ve used in my own dorm room. Whether you have a dorm, small apartment or just want to reorganize the house I hope these ideas help and if you have any questions or requests let me know! :)

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KITCHEN

This is the view from outside the doorway. I turned my bed to stick out in the room which created 2 mini rooms! On this side I have an armoire (behind the door), hamper, small bookcase and my desk. On the other side is a comfy (vintage!) chair with a storage ottoman I refurbished and my kitchen. I use my fridge as a bedside table too. I also bought a few yards of fabric and made my own drapes.

Try to keep the top space clean so you can work!

This table came with two drawers so I used one for tools and one for extra spices.

I got the wood spice rack for free at William’s Sonoma because I bought 6 spices (ranging from $5-7 each, I had a gift card I also got free in a promotion they did before Christmas!)

I got a cheap but nice knife kit from k-mart and an (on sale, $8) Italian terracotta storage container to hold my cooking tools.

Use the space UNDER your lowest shelf as extra shelf space! I’m storing my plates and pans under there since they’re flat.

I got nice plastic air tight containers for about $4 each from Wall-Mart and K-Mart to hold all my dry ingredients. I also used a few glass jars I had laying around!

I made pretty labels for all my canisters and added the touch of the amazing rolling pin I got for Christmas as a decoration and functionally to store it!

A pretty $3 bin on the side holds all my specialty (Stonewall Kitchen) items like jams and organic soup starters.

I already had this mesh rolling table but put a pretty bin on top to make it more decorative and increase my storage space. It’s holding all my baking decorations and underneath are all my cleaning supplies. Of course I have to have my Torani’s!

A few wall stickers and you’ve got a functional, beautiful, well stocked mini kitchen! Whether you’re in a dorm, a small apartment or just organizing your kitchen I hope these ideas help!

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DESK

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Day 2 of my dorm room organization series! Today I’m showing you how I arranged my desk. With half my room devoted to the kitchen space and a vintage arm chair I really had to condense. To make it more complicated 3 of my professors required 8 books, I have a total of 28 books this semester!!

I got this bookcase for $20 at target last year and used it as a bedside table and storage! My desk functions as a study space, tea station and where I get ready in the morning.

With so many books I know they won’t all fit on my bookcase so I put the ones I’m using at the moment on there and the rest went in my bottom drawer with my lesser used teas! The bookcase is organized as: top= class books, middle= cookbooks, bottom= fun books (in my case anthologies of Emerson’s poems, Whitman’s poems, War of the Worlds, Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Anna Karenena.

I got this pretty blue plate on sale for $1.50 at Target and use it to organize all my products! I have a pretty box to keep all my jewelry in and two super cheap mesh cups for my hair things. My workout earmuffs and weight lifting gloves are on the right too.

Tea station with my top 12 teas. I’m trying to switch over to unsweetened teas so no sugar here! I have my teapot but I also keep two boxes of fillable disposable tea bags for when I’m on the run. These tins are from Teavana, they’re wrapped with origami paper.

The top shelf has my supplies- printer, a really handy $14 pen/pencil/clip organizer and storage for extra lined paper, notebooks and old important papers. I like to add fun decorative touches here like the cupcake shaped notepad and pretty tree jewelry organizer.

And that’s my desk! Generally try to keep as much space clear as possible so you don’t feel crowded while studying. Use pretty boxes, file folders and drawers to keep what you’re not using organized but out of sight. Tomorrow I’ll show you my closet and later this week my fridge! :)

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The best way to add more space to a tiny room is to cut down the furniture, I did that by getting rid of my dresser. With careful organization I fit all my clothes into my closet, here’s how I did it! Try taking an hour to reorganize your clothes, you can burn 160 or more calories and will have a fabulous closet to show for it!

I stored everything that would be in a dresser in pretty bins at the bottom of my closet. The items I use less (like my warm weather golf clothes) are in the back whereas stuff I use often like workout gear and pajamas are in the front. Only keep the amount of hangers you need!!! You can save a ton of space by removing excess hangers, I keep them in a bin under my bed so they don’t take up valuable closet space. Extra tip: use pant hangers (the kind with the clips) to hold 2 pants, one on each clip to maximize space!

Utilize shelves, drawers and doors! I keep towels and cold weather gear on the top shelf and moved all my shoes into the bottom drawer! It makes them easier to see than if they’re under the clothes. I got a towel/ coat hanger for over the door and use it for all my purses. I have another clip on my actual door that holds my two winter coats.

I added pretty touches like the stickers on the door and this beautiful mirror to make the space more appealing. The mirror sticks with my beachy theme and makes the giant armoire feel less invasive in the room.

So that’s how I fit a whole wardrobe in one piece of furniture! Keep things to a minimum. I use the space under my bed and on top of the closet to store out of season items. I organize my clothes by type (sweater, long sleeve, short sleeve, tank, skirt, pant, jacket) then by color.