4 Tips for Organizing Your Apartment

By Ian Acosta on November 10, 2016

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So you have just moved into your new apartment with your roommates. In addition to fighting for the best room and preparing for the first night out on campus, you and all of your roommates have to decide how the space will be efficiently allocated.

From deciding which bedroom to take to clearing out enough space in the kitchen for each person’s groceries to divvying up enough space for each person’s toiletries in the bathroom, organizational plans can almost seem as difficult and complex as final projects. Not many like to deal with this hassle on a quarterly, monthly, or even daily basis (depending on certain roommates) for obvious reasons.

Here are some tips to help create an apartment plan in which everyone has the perfect amount of space for themselves while also making it simple to stick with.

1. Plan out each room.

If you are a person that takes planning and organization to the extreme or has a roommate with these similar methodical qualities, it might help to create a blueprint or floor plan for each room. By creating a floor plan, it will allow the best, optimal space for everyone.

For example, a problem I personally had from time to time with my roommates was our kitchen and cabinet space. With three people in a limited sized kitchen, you can imagine how valuable cabinet space is. By creating a plan to organize all of our food, pots, and other utensils, we were able to make the space seem bigger in a sense and maneuver our kitchen mostly hassle free.

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Plan out your bathroom. Plan out your closet. Plan out your common area. It cannot be stressed enough how important an organized plan is. Every space will seem much bigger and in turn will help you get the most out of limited apartment space.

2. Create a cleaning schedule.

This is so important. Cleaning is a necessity. For all of you clean freaks out there, you know exactly what I mean. A cleaning schedule will again help members of your apartment stay on top of the daily hassle of staying organized with limited space in a college apartment. Dirt creates clutter, clutter in turn creates stuff all over the place.

Now you might say, “I do not have the time to study, work on projects, and have a life, much less clean!” Believe me, I know college is a busy time. It is busy for everyone. However, college is where you create habits that will last you for a long time.

Take the extra hour to organize, clean, and stay on top of it all. Creating habits like these will help you to not only create other great habits to better yourself throughout college, but also instill ones to carry on after graduation.

3. Buy storage space.

Thinking of other ways to create more space and get the most out of your apartment? Take a ride to your local store and pick up some shelves, storage containers and hangers. Unless your apartment comes completely furnished, you are going to need some space for all of your clothes, books, electronics, and miscellaneous odds and ends.

Even just a couple containers for clothes and books can create a massive amount of space in your room and will help you stay organized and detailed.

4. Reassess your plans periodically.

Plans can change from time to time. So too can cleaning plans and room plans. After a month or two see how your own plan is working, take a step back and reassess it. Take some time and find out what works and what does not. For the aspects that are successful such as layouts or storage space, brainstorm some ideas on how to improve your plan and try them out.

After consulting your roommates and getting their feedback, try and implement the necessary changes immediately. Change takes time and not every plan is a perfect plan right off the bat. Take feedback and have constructive conversations with your roommates while also keeping in mind to respect each other’s space. The best apartment plan is one where every roommate is involved and has an equal say on how to best utilize their living space.

Space is a luxury. Space in an apartment occupied by college students is that much more valuable. As you struggle to make the most of your cramped apartment space, try your best to keep these tips in mind. It will not only help build great organizational habits for college, but also instill great space management habits for when you get out on your own in the real world.

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One final piece of advice is to always keep your roommates’ space in mind also. There is nothing worse than impeding on others’ space, especially the people you live with for a whole school year. Happy organizing!

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