Moving into a hostel can be an exciting yet stressful experience. With limited space to utilize and shared facilities, it’s very important to keep your room organized in a manner that’ll maintain a comfortable and stress-free environment for you.
Here are 20 practical tips to help you maximize your PG room’s potential and make it a cozy, efficient living area.
1. Declutter Regularly
The first way to a clean room is by removing some clutters regularly. Get rid of things you do not need by making a habit of cleaning out your space once a week. Organize all your things into what you want to keep, what you want to give away or donate to someone, and what you need to throw away. It needs effort to do so, but a clutter-free room will create a relaxed and stress-free environment.
2. Use Multi-Functional Furniture
Go for multi-functional furniture. A folding desk that can be folded and stored away whenever not in use is another option. A multi-functional purchase not only saves you space but also keeps your room clean and organized. Consider investing in folding wall hangers to free up some floor space or a storage ottoman that doubles up as seating.
3. Maximize Vertical Space
Use wall-mounted shelves, hooks, and hanging organizers to free up the floor area and make it look tidy. Vertical storage is a game changer for compact rooms. Install shelves above your workplace to hold books and decor, over-the-door hooks for bags and jackets help a lot, and hanging baskets for little items like toiletries and snacks.
4. Invest in Storage Bins and Boxes
Classify the required things in appropriate, labeled storage bins and boxes, in an organized manner. Through clear boxes, one can see what’s inside the box without opening it. You can store your food items like biscuits, snacks, cakes, etc. Similarly, stackable bins help in maximizing the closet area. Decorative boxes are used to store much smaller items like accessories, stationery, and toiletries.
5. Create a Cleaning Schedule
Clean your room regularly. Put up a chart with daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. Your daily tasks would be making your bed and putting away your clothes. Weekly tasks include dusting and vacuuming. Monthly, you might want to do deeper bathroom cleaning and change bed linens. Even though all these cleaning facilities are generally provided by most of the PGs.
6. Utilize Under-Bed Storage
Less commonly used goods are ideal to store in the space beneath your bed. To keep everything accessible and organized, use flat storage boxes. Shoes, extra blankets, and out-of-season things can be stored in rolling bins, while seasonal apparel and bedding can be vacuum-sealed and stored in bags.
7. Optimize Closet Space
Use multiple garment hangers to save space, and add some hooks inside the doors of your closet for accessories. You can also consider a rack for shoes so that those are also organized. Hanging organizers for your shoes, scarves, and belts will use up some vertical space as everything is hung out, while shelf dividers will help to keep nicely stacked piles of sweaters or t-shirts.
8. Keep a Minimalist Wardrobe
Wear very few and easily interchangeable pieces. Give away or store items that are rarely worn to free up some area. A capsule wardrobe doesn’t only save space but makes getting dressed much easier, too. Use your color palette and choose things that are simply very easy to mix and match.
9. Use Command Hooks and Strips
Perfect for hanging things on the walls without peeling off the paint. They’ll hang up keys, bags, hats—really, everything. Hang them inside your closet for belts and ties, in the kitchen to hold utensils, or near the door for keys and masks.
10. Label Everything
Labeling bins, drawers, and boxes can help keep things organized and save time while looking for anything. Label contents clearly with a label maker or with only masking tape and a marker. This is especially helpful for things that are shared in a public area.
11. Create Designated Zones
Designate particular areas for particular activities like studying, sleeping, and relaxing. This shall not only maintain cleanliness but also prevent clutter all over the place. Allocate a studying corner with a desk and light, a sleeping area with comfortable bedding, and a relaxation zone with a chair or bean bag.
12. Keep a Laundry Routine
Set up some regular laundry days so that your dirty laundry does not pile up. Having a laundry basket helps put everything in one place. Meanwhile, invest in a space-saving drying rack indoors and a sturdy laundry bag for easy transport down to the laundry room.
13. Personalize Your Space
Make it homely, add your personal touches like photos or posters to your room, and define your style. Add personality to a space without worrying about the hassle of damaging the area by using removable wall decals or washi tape.
14. Use Over-the-Door Organizers
These are perfect for items like shoes, toiletries, and many other small items to keep them handy, maximizing the unused space on the door. Opt for a clear pocket organizer for enhanced visibility or a fabric one for a more subtle look. In addition, these over-the-door hooks could be perfect for hanging towels, robes, and bags.
15. Keep Your Desk Organized
Keep papers, electronics, and stationery in the desk organizers. An empty desk devoid of clutter improves focus and productivity. Make use of desk lamps that have storage areas where one can place pens and other supplies, and cable organizers will help to keep the cords in order.
16. Implement a Paperless System
Apart from helping to keep vital data handy, all important documents make less clutter of paper if digitally stored and scanned. Use Evernote for note management and reminder magnets, along with other cloud-based storage solutions like Google Drive and Dropbox.
17. Use Vacuum-Sealed Bags
They save a tonne of space and are ideal for storing bulkier items like blankets and off-season clothing. Items are compressed in vacuum-sealed bags, which makes storing them in closets or beneath beds easier. They protect your belongings from moisture and dust as well.
18. Have a Catch-All Tray
Also, place a tray close to the entrance of your room. This will be the best way to avoid losing keys, wallets, and other important finds you use every day. This way, you are going to keep your surfaces clutter-free, and it will ease the process of getting what you need quickly on your way out the door.
19. Rotate Seasonal Items
Organize your space by keeping things like seasonal goods, clothing, and decorations in different bins and just bringing out what’s in season. This keeps on hand only what you will need and helps keep your current outfit under control.
20. Stay Disciplined
It requires discipline to keep a room clean. Keep your space neat by sticking to your habits and organizing techniques. Assign some minutes of each day, and at the end of it, give yourself a treat for staying on track.
It’s wartime against clutter if you are living in a PG. Cheer up! Bring about a change in your tiny room and make it an organized haven with these 20 ingenious hacks. Right from clever storage and space-saving furniture to adding a dash of you, here you go!
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