*I took all of the following photos of my own belongings*
When your entire life has to fit inside one half of a 200-square-foot dorm room, you’re bound to run into some obstacles. As a self-declared minimalist, I usually don’t have trouble setting up my school supplies, room decor, or pantry shelf. The one place I struggle is my closet. I love clothes and as much as I enjoy reading about minimalistic fashion challenges and watching Marie Kondo purge closet after closet, I’ll never fully commit to a capsule wardrobe. So here are a few strategies I used to keep my closet nice and neat, while maximizing storage space.
1. Rolled pants in drawers. Unlike stacking your pants in tall piles, this allows you to see everything all at once and it works great in shallow drawers, like the ones I have in my dorm.
2. Over-the-door shoe storage. Getting a rack like the one pictured can help save space in the closet, since you won’t have to cram all your shoes on the floor. You aren’t limited to just storing shoes in here either–toiletries or snacks would fit just fine.
3. Scarves on pants hangers. I came up with this when I was trying to fold my scarves into my dresser, but there was no space in the drawers. Hanging scarves on regular hangers usually means they slide off every 20 seconds but here’s the solution! Drape the scarves over the ends of the pants hanger and secure the sides of the fabric into the clips. Storing belts is also super easy with these hangers, just slide the buckle through the metal loop and let it hang down.
4. Socks and underwear in bags. I always have trouble keeping socks and underwear organized; they seem to float around the drawers and end up in messy piles. Then I started using containers in my drawers, and it changed the whole game. It helps to save space by keeping everything contained and compact. I didn’t want to buy fancy drawer organizers, so I just used plastic shopping bags. You could utilize shoeboxes or small buckets–whatever you have on hand.
5. Use a pencil box and some small bags to store jewelry. This is a simple way to store necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, etc and it’s a great way to reuse things you already own rather than buying new stuff. You just need a pencil box and some small containers (I used the boxes that the jewelry originally came in). Then put different pieces into the smaller boxes or bags, arrange everything in the pencil box, and you’re done!
6. Clothes as decorations! I got this awesome pair of leopard print flats a while ago, and I didn’t want to hide them away under my bed. So I put them on display instead! Clothes and accessories can make great decorations, and you’ll save cloest space by storing items outside of the closet! You could find a place to show off your shoes, like I did here, or you could tie pretty scarves around bedposts or place cute headbands on your desk.