Shoes-A-Palooza

A constant stumper on the best way to be organized is absolutely shoes. They come in all different shapes and sizes, making them difficult to store. Many closets, including my own, look like this.


Yes, I am admitting that I have no idea how to properly store shoes. My roommate has a system that seems to work for her.


I have pondered this idea for years. For a while I stored my shoes in their original shoe boxes, and stacked them. That worked for quite some time, but then the boxes began to take up too much space, leading me to need a new method. For a while I tried the shoe rack on the closet door like my roommate, but this was short lived.

So now I am officially stumped. If anyone has any ideas, pleaseee im begging you to share. I need to stop this shoe catastrophe.

What Closet Space?

Being a college age female, I find that most of my clothes are hanging up in my closet. This was not easy to do in a dormstyle of living however. Being the neat freak that I am, I have my tops color coordinated, beginning with white and ending with black. I then have my jeans hanging from light to dark, followed by dresses and jackets. I have very little closet space in my sorority house. I found the best way to utilize this space is by purchasing ultra thin velvet hangers. The hangers maximize your closet space by shrinking the space that hangers would normally take up. So your closet are more compact. Here is what to look for at the store.

These sell for about $10 for a package of ten. They are made out of velvet to prevent clothes from falling off the hanger.

Another way to help utilize closet space is to put in a shelving unit. While you probably cant drill holes into your closet at school, there are other ways to go about doing this. They make stand up shelving units that can be placed on the floor of your closet. You can fold any type of clothing and stack it inside the cubes. They make several different kinds as well. They have sold plastic singular cubes which can be stacked, or wire cubes that are already attached to one another. You will have to choose which works best for you.
Here is one example of what to look for.


Another great way to utilize your closet space is to purchase a rack to hang over the side of your closet door, preferably on the outside as to not take up unnecessary space within the closet. I have one, and it is a life saver. I hang my purse, sweatshirts, scarfs, umbrellas, hats, and anything else you could think of. These are extremely cost efficient as well and can be found at walmart for under $20.
Here is an example of one may look like.

Utilizing the Space Under Your Bed

As we already know, the space in our dorm rooms is very limited. We most likely have to share that space with a roommate as well. I have found that the easiest place to make more space is under the bed. I purchased bedrisers at target for $20.


This gave me 8 bedrisers. I was able to stack 2 under each leg of the bed. This opened up space for several pieces of tupperware. In those pins I put all of my towels, as well as any snacks. I have plenty of space for luggage if I'm planning on visiting friends, as well as any other odds and ends. You can buy tupperware drawers to put under the bed as well. This drastically helps the need for more closet space. You can fold jeans, pajamas, tops, jackets, sweatshirts or any other accessories that need their own place.

Everyone comes into my room this semester and immediately remarks on how high up my bed is. While some may find it a hassle to get into bed every night, I find that the inconvenience is minimal compared to the positive outcomes. I have no clutter anywhere within my room. I even have 2 empty drawers, which I pla nto fill with new clothes ;) haha

While everyone remarks upon how high up my bed is, everyone also makes a comment on how they wish their bed was this high. No one seems to have enough room for anything under their bed.
Below is a few pictures of different ways to organize under your bed.

The Best Way to Organize Your Desktop

One of the biggest problems us college students are faced with is keeping our school work organized. Since the main area for studying is at a desk, piles seem to build up all around us and our laptops. This is exactly the case for my roommate. She has stacks of single leaf papers strewn about, as well as makeup and hair products cluttering her work space. How do you expect to produce efficient academic work if you're distracted by surrounding clutter? It's simply too much.

I keep my desktop workspace immaculate. I have space for my laptop, printer, lamp, a table top calender, and a file folder to hold my books. However I was poking around online the other day and found a very convenient shelving unit that I feel would serve as an even better organizer for your desk tops. Below is a picture.


This is a shelving unit that goes over your desktop, with space for texts books, notebooks, folders, binders, cds, your lap top, a printer, and anything else you feel is needed. By elevating most of your materials, you are given a much freer amound of space to work with. I know that next semester I wil be purchasing this to help me stay even better organized.

You can buy this product at your local walmart for around $35.