How To Use Under-The-Bed Storage To Its Fullest In Your Dorm Room

Moving into your first college dorm room is an exciting time as you pack up your bedroom and prepare to move on to the next phase of life. It can also be challenging, a mix of emotions and logistics complicating things. One of the hardest decisions to make when packing for your dorm is downsizing — deciding what to bring with you and what to leave at home. The decision is necessary, though, with the average dorm only measuring 228 square feet total, to share with a roommate, via StudentRoomStay.

With such a small space, storing and organizing the few things you can bring can be challenging. Luckily, there are hidden storage areas hidden all around your dorm that you can use if you know where to find them. One of the most lucrative spaces is under your bed. While it doesn't have a lot of widths, they usually have a lot of height you can use to your advantage.

Most beds in college dormitories are a size twin XL. While they don't offer a lot of widths for under-bed storage, they are longer than a basic twin bed and usually lofted. Your bed at home may only be able to fit a small rolling storage bin, but your college bed can typically store whole pieces of furniture underneath. The best tip for under-bed storage at college is to use vertical space as much as possible.

If possible, a simple and cost-effective method for extra storage is to put your dorm's dresser under your bed. However, this doesn't apply to every dorm. Instead, consider using cube storage shelves, recommends Simplifying College. These storage shelves are usually very affordable and easy to assemble without power tools, making them ideal for college students. Simply slide them under your bed, and you have multiple, easily accessible shelves, making expert use of your vertical storage space. As a bonus, you can use the cubes in your first post-grad apartment or bring them home with you when the year is over.

Cube storage shelves are great for storing various items, but they're specifically designed to hold square-shaped canvas storage bins. These canvas bins are decorative and functional, perfect for college dorms. As Organizing Moms points out, the content of the canvas bins can be swapped as desired and needed. The containers also hide your stored items while adding decorative value to your dorm.

You don't need cube shelves to use canvas bins, though. If your bed doesn't loft, you can store multiple options under it just the same. There are plenty of ways to organize these bins, but ideally, you should stick to one theme per bin. For example, dedicate one to schoolwork, another to snacks, another to cleaning supplies, etc. You can go by memory or use a color code system. Alternatively, you can add storage markers like name tags or tied-on labels to indicate what's what, per iHeart Organizing.