Ultimate Dorm Storage Solutions

So, what have I ended up with? Here’s a look at the dorm storage solutions I’ve found that will hopefully make his year long stay in this tiny space a little more enjoyable. 😉

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Maybe the best way to explain what I’m doing here is to show a few (albeit bad) pictures of the space. Ashley attended a camp at BYU this summer and stayed in the same Heritage Halls apartment style dorms that Andy will be living in, so I had her snap a couple of pictures of the space for me so that I had an idea of what we were getting into. 🙂

These apartment dorms called Heritage Halls, are 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and have a kitchen and living area. They are designed to house 6 people. They were built very recently and are really nice as far as dorms go. I would have loved to have a room like this! My room was even tinier and had a bathroom down the hall with 2 shower stalls and 3 toilets shared by 25 girls and no kitchen. We were roughing it! 😉 Each of these bedrooms has two XL twin beds, 2 desks, 2 chairs, 2 drawer units and 2 closet spaces. Pretty basic with NO storage, but here’s how we’re going to maximize this room!

First up, raising that bed! we will use these bed risers to utilize the space under the bed. These under bed storage cubes will come in handy for sweatshirts and cold weather gear that he will only need part of the year. 

We will move these drawers (this is two sets stacked on top of each other) and put them under the bed as well. Those will be used for underwear, socks, swim trunks, sweats, PJs etc.

With no hooks for things like towels, hats, backpacks etc., I’m going to add this over the door hanger to make the most of that space. 

In the closet, we are going to really maximize that storage space! The closet is only 4 feet wide and the ceilings are 9 feet…with the shelf hitting at about 6ft. This shoe rack will sit on the bottom of the closet. I like that it’s only 18 inches tall, but is also sturdy enough to set something on top of it if needed. It’s designed to hold like 200 lbs or something, so if he needs to use it for a bench or to hold a printer or something, it will work for that too.

One wimpy rack for a year and 3 seasons worth of clothes. Oh boy! 😉 Here’s how we’re going to tackle that problem! I love the idea of this hanging organizer. These will come in handy for sweatshirts, jeans, shorts, etc…anything that can be folded. As far as hanging space goes, these awesome space saving hangers should do the trick. These hangers are AWESOME!!  We will use these for all of his shirts. They should give him SO much more space to hang things!! I love these pants hangers for his slacks. He will have church clothes that need to be hung up. 

Up on the shelf, we’ll add these storage cubes. They will be easy to pull down and grab things out of..another great place to put his work out clothes and soft items that can be stored without necessarily being folded. Let’s be real…he’s a 20 year old boy. He will be shoving things in there, not folding anything! lol! 😉

These hangers are the best. I use them because they are very slim and hold onto stuff so it’s not sliding off all over the place. 

In the bathroom, there is really no storage. One hook for a towel while someone is in the shower, and nothing else. Kind of crazy when you know that three people are going to be sharing that bathroom for a year! I am looking to solve that problem with a few handy items…

This over the toilet shelf unit is inexpensive and will make the bathroom SO much more functional!! Another over the door set of hooks should hopefully solve the towel issue. 

This storage caddy will make it easy to keep shampoo, conditioner, razors and other things up off the floor and easy to use. 

There’s a shared vanity out in the hallway so that if both of the showers are being used, the other kids will still have somewhere to get ready. 

Each person gets a small shelf…about 5-6″ deep and 8″ high or so. Again, not a lot of space. I THINK there will be room for these rolling storage drawers.  I’m getting the two pack because I figure there are 6 boys and if I get enough they can each have a drawer. 

A few other things that are necessities…a good laundry hamper! I ordered this one because I think that it will be really handy for hauling all of his stuff to the laundromat in the basement of the building. I also like that it stands up on it’s own and isn’t just a  flimsy bag when it’s in his room. 

I LOVE clever storage…maybe a little too much. 😉 This cool caddy for the end of the bed and THIS amazing cubby to hook on the side of the bed are AWESOME!! The fact that he will be up on a tall bed and need to reach things but have nothing nearby to set things on…this will solve that problem and make use of every inch of space!

I’m getting most of these things knowing they will be shared. There hasn’t been a whole lot of communication amongst the boys as to what  they will each bring, so we’ll see when we get there on move in day what everyone has brought, but I want to be prepared and I think this should do it. If I end up needing to return some things, that’s fine with me, at least I am prepared! 😉

You can shop any of these dorm storage solution ideas here. Just click on the image for more information.