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How to Organize Your Room To Start The New Year Off Right

Margaret Pfeifle
Bailey McBride
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

Lets face it: keeping a dorm room clean is next to impossible. One minute, your room is sparkling clean and the next, it looks like a tornado flew through. Here are a few tips on how to effectively clean your room to start 2020 off right.

First, do the basics:

  1. Clean your bedding: there’s honestly nothing like going to bed in a comforter that has been freshly washed. It’s warm, comforting, and smells like heaven. So, take all of your bedding (and I mean all of it, your pillow cases, blankets, sheets, and comforter) and throw it in the washing machine while you clean the rest of your room.

  2. Get rid of all the crumbs: honestly, a dorm room is like a mini-house, which means that you probably do a lot of eating there. That means that there is probably a lot more crumbs than you care to admit. Sweep, wipe down your desk, and shake out your rug to get rid of the pesky reminders of your late night snacking.

  3. Sanitize everything: with cold and flu season in full swing, it’s really important to remember to rid yourself of the germs that are abundant in a college dorm. Use some disinfecting sprays on your desk, door knob, and anywhere else that you think needs it. It might even be useful to clean out and sanitize your microwave (because, think about it, have you ever even done that?)

  4. Clean out the mini-fridge: while we’re talking about microwaves, it might be useful to clean out your mini-fridge, because, after all, are you ever going to eat that month old yogurt? It might be a good idea to go through your snack bin afterwards, too.

Then, go all in:

  1. Clean out your bookbag: Nobody needs that many pens, gum wrappers, and crumpled up paper at the bottom of their bags.

  2. Organize your books: If you don’t have one already, get a container to put all of your textbooks, notebooks, and binders in. With an easy dump site, it’s hard to just let them clutter up your desk or floor.

  3. Clean out your desk: That random drawer in your desk that has manifested itself into the junk drawer? It’s dying to be organized. Start the New Year, and the new semester, off right and clean it up. It’ll make life a little less stressful.

  4. Spotcheck: Look around your dorm room. Are there things you can immediately see that you feel should be put away and organized? Are there bins you haven’t gone through since move-in? Is there a pile of laundry on your desk chair? Clean it up, and go through it. Make sure you are utilizing the space you have in the best way, a way that makes your life in the dorms that much easier.

 

Good luck in 2020 (and in the new semester)!

Margaret is currently a junior at Penn State University, studying Public Relations in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. She is a contributing writer for Her Campus at Penn State, a member of the The Lawrence G. Foster Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, and is involved with THON. In her free time, Margaret enjoys making playlists, reading, and watching the same romantic comedies over and over again. You can find her on Instagram at @mnpfeifle.
Bailey McBride is a Senior at Penn State University pursuing a Broadcast Journalism degree with minors in Political Science and Digital Media Trends & Analytics. She is a sister of Delta Gamma. She enjoys making hyper-organizational lists and looking at future pups to adopt. Her dream job is to be Press Secretary of the White House.