When you are a student, it seems like there is never enough space for your stuff, ever. You took the tiniest amount of items away with you, and yet, it seems like you’ve got barely enough room to walk around. Did someone add loads of extra clothes to your wardrobe during the drive up? Did you desk shrink overnight? Is that someone else’s stuff in the drawers?
No, you’re just struggling with space, the same as many students living in student accommodation, Exeter.
Students usually start off the year with minimal amounts of stuff – tech, stuff to charge tech, clothes, toiletries, bedding and maybe a few bits of sports equipment. Then before the year is out, the local shops have been discovered, new style influences have occurred and the independent life has led to expression via fashion – so you now have many more clothes, shoes and accessories than you came with. You’re also likely to have plenty of fancy dress kit, little crockery trinkets you’ve picked up out and about, other decorative items you have bought to make your room look cosy, and possibly a very chaotic desk full of endless piles of paperwork.
Don’t worry – this doesn’t have to mean your room has to resemble a charity shop, there are ways and means to reclaim your space, here’s how:
Have A Clear Out
If you have lots of items you don’t need, it’s time to have a clear out. Set out four piles – keep, sell, give to charity and chuck. Keep items should be those that are functional, that you deeply love or that mean something to you. Sell items should be items with a good enough value to either sell online, or to car boot. Remember old clothes might only be worth 50p a piece, but it all adds up after a few hours of selling on a Sunday morning. Give to charity items should be in good condition and clean – perhaps you don’t have enough to sell, the items are very low worth or you just don’t have the time to sell – this is when you should give to charity. Chuck items should be clothes with holes in, with stains, or that are badly damaged. They should also be any items in your room or that belong to you that are damaged beyond repair. Make an afternoon of sorting your stuff out and relish in the space you have created afterwards.
Self Storage
Loads of students use self storage, especially if they have travelled from overseas or travel long distances between uni semesters. Units can be as small as a locker, and prices are often very cheap.
Storage Boxes
You can’t just take items and put them under your bed – you’ll be pulling them out all over the place again in no time. However, what you can do is fill boxes up with items that take up space and then push the boxes under your bed – this will save infinite amounts of space.
The Rest Of The House
If you’ve been keeping a lot of your kitchen items in your room, perhaps it is time for you to claim some space in the kitchen for yourself so your bedroom can be more spacious. If the other housemates are already using up cupboard space, at the next house meeting ask about getting your own cupboard set up.
Shoe Holders
Rather than have your shoes all over the place, get a small stack of shelves, or even a material hanger with holes in (usually designed for clothes) and store your shoes in it, anything to keep them off the floor.
Laundry Basket
It can be so easy to toss used clothes in a pile on the floor, instantly cluttering the room. Buy a cheap laundry basket to solve this problem, ensuring as soon as it gets full you get the clothes washed so you don’t get overspill.
Folders, Desk Trays And Stationery Holders
Go back to the good old days of early September when you were allowed to go into town and pick yourself out brand new stationery, notepads, pens, pencils – it was so exciting back then, wasn’t it? Well, it’s time to relive that excitement and get yourself some new kit to give yourself a desk to be proud of. Consider visiting a popular Swedish furniture store, or somewhere similar and treating yourself to desk dividers, pencil holders, laptop mats and other great organising items – you could even pick up that laundry basket and show holder while you’re there!
