College move-in and dorm room organization can be a daunting task. Between the two of us, we’ve moved into five dorm rooms in the last six years and we have lots of tips for you! The key is to have multi-use products that keep your student organized – and products they’ll actually use (not things you hope they’ll use). If everything has a place, life in that tiny room will be much easier for them! The Container Store is our go to for organizing products – check out their college section on their site for more college tips and checklists.
You can shop all our favorite college/dorm room organization finds on our shopping page (here).
For more college must haves to make moving day a breeze, check here for packing bags, rolling carts, and much more.
If you are an experienced college mom, add your tips to the comments below. Let’s help our new college mom friends have a stress-free move-in this fall! Know a new college mom? Forward this blog post to her – she’ll thank you! #friendssharethegoodstuff
Pro tip: Sign up for the Container Store’s Organized Insider to save up to 25%.
Use these anywhere! Container Store has lots of different styles. Perfect stacked in a closet for extra drawers. Add some next to a desk for supplies, snacks, electronics. These Like-It drawers (shown) come in a variety of sizes and have optional casters to roll them under a bed.
Megan’s tip: Drawers give everything a home, whether it’s snacks, socks or school supplies.
Christa’s tip: Check with your dorm to see if beds can be raised. Raising your student’s bed gives so much extra space to use for luggage, bulk packs of TP, cleaning supplies and organizers.
2 Refrigerator (or Printer) Stand
This elfa Printer/Fridge Cart is a must if your student has a small fridge. It get’s it up off the ground to a regular height. Store solo cups, paper plates and snacks in the bins below. It’s also perfect for your printer with space in the drawers for ink cartridges (they always run out at midnight!) and reams of paper.
Megan’s tip: Having this little cart on wheels makes it so much more versatile. You can roll it wherever you are working.
Christa’s tip: Check with your student’s campus to see what printing options are available. Chances are they won’t need a printer – and this is more useful to raise the small dorm fridge with storage for snacks/kitchen items.
The back of any door is found space for storage and these over the door shoe bags are not just for shoes! Take full advantage of any vertical space you can find.
Megan’s tip: Great place to store shoes and sunglasses, sunscreen, socks, winter hats and gloves!
Christa’s tip: This over-the-door shoe storage is perfect to store snacks!
4 Poppin Box Seat (Collapsible)
We both agree that this is a must-have!! This is one of the few items that made it out of college with my son! The box is strong enough to serve as a seat or step if the bed is high. Well worth the price in value.
Megan’s tip: My son used this to store his extra towels and sheets the first year. And as a step to get up to his lofted bed.
Christa’s tip: My daughter used hers to store all her hair tools (blow dryer, flat irons, etc.) and an extension cord for them.
Ok, so my roommate and I used LIQUID NAILS to hang all of our Rob Lowe posters on the walls, way back when. Now we have command strips to do the job!
Megan’s tip: We used these to hang flags, make a hook by the door for keys and lanyards and to hang posters.
Christa’s tip: 3M Command makes strips for picture frames. Just remove the glass (to make them lighter and easier to pack). My daughter personalized her space with large wall gallery of framed prints and photos next to her bed.
So many uses for this cart. Use it as a bedside table, an office with all your school supplies, a beauty station with makeup/hair tools, you name it! And they sell lots of organizers so you can customize each shelf to fit your needs.
Megan’s tip: My son used this to keep all of his bathroom supplies contained. He had a sink in his room and a shared hall bath. Shower caddy on the top shelf for a quick grab and go and hair brushes, contact lens stuff on the 2nd shelf, cleaning supplies on the bottom.
Christa’s tip: My daughter used this in the dorm room as a bedside table. In her apartment, she used it as a mini-office with all her desk supplies.
Pro tip: The Container Store salesperson said this is the best value in the store!
Collapsable closet organizers are a great way to make better use of closet space and they take no space in your UHaul (oh wait are we the only one’s that needed a UHaul??).
Megan’s tip: My son hung this in his closet and then stacked all his tee shirts and shorts in them.
Christa’s tip: Closets and drawer space are at a premium in a dorm room – these help make the most of the space for folded clothes like sweatshirts.
Making use of ALL the spaces is the name of the dorm room game. This skinny hamper (with a muslin bag insert) won’t take up much space in a closet or squeezed between a desk and bed. The removable bag makes it a breeze to pull out and do your laundry.
Megan’s tip: Keep your laundry pods (all the college kids use pods) in the bottom of the laundry bag so you never forget them.
Christa’s tip: My son used this in his dorm room – the slim design made it easy to slide this into his closet and still have room for other stuff.
The Drawer Doubler basically doubles your space. This one is great because it expands to fit multiple sizes.
Megan’s tip: Use this in a dresser for small accessories or jewelry.
Christa’s tip: Organize the desk so studying is a breeze!
MORE FINDS FOR DORM ROOM ORGANIZATION
A few bonus items that are worth mentioning:
Megan’s tip: The pant hanger was a life saver the year my son didn’t have a dresser. Kept them all nice and tidy! The under the sink storage is perfect for all your surplus supplies (shampoo, contact solution, tp).
Christa’s tip: The cable holders are great attached to the bed frame to keep chargers handy (right).
left: pant hanger // middle: under-sink drawers // right: cable organizers
Megan’s tip: These shelf dividers made the space more usable in the top of the closet. It kept all the sweatshirts from being a huge jumble.
Christa’s tip: Most dorm closets are very basic. Double your closet space with the hanging closet rod (left) and add a light so you don’t disturb your roomie when you’ve got an early morning class.
left: hanging closet rod // middle: shelf dividers // right: closet lighting (similar linked; roommate will thank you!)
Megan’s tip: Friendly reminder not to forget to bring a waste basket! We almost did.
Christa’s tip: My kids used individual over-the-door hooks on the end of their bed frames to hang backpacks, hats and jackets (middle).
left: solid trash can // middle: over the door hooks // right: poo pourri (roommate will thank you!)
Be sure to pin the photo below to save our dorm room organization tips and links for when you’re out shopping later!
Friends share the good stuff! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram where we share our favorite fashion, decor and beauty finds.
You can also subscribe to the blog and get all the good stuff delivered right to your inbox…plus a subscriber-only monthly email just for you! Join us today!
We earn from qualifying purchases or from clicks made through links in this post, at no additional cost to you.
My son was in a suite of four boys with a shared a bathroom. A corner tension rod shower caddie with several shelves was helpful for all of their shower storage needs. And don’t forget to get a shower curtain and hooks, as well as some bath rugs. We also found that having a lot of over the door hooks throughout the dorm room and bathroom kept wet towels off the floor. An over the door hanging laundry hamper bag was also a great way to free up floor space. If the bed is lofted or if they get the top bunk, a bedside shelf that clips to the bed can hold a laptop, phone, charger, water bottle, etc. Lastly, a ten foot phone charging cord is also great for a dorm room.
Thanks for all the great tips! Maybe Bed Bath and Beyond should be our next blog outing. 😂 A great place for everything you recommended!
You’ve just saved me; the summer has flown by and we haven’t begun to shop for college move in. I am headed to Container Store and buying everything on your list!
So glad it helped. Let us know what else you’re finding for the dorm room! Happy shopping!