With finals out of the way and spring fast approaching, many students have found themselves relocated — whether to a new apartment of back to the coziness of their home.
Arielle Harrison, a student at BYU, is one of the many students making the switch, and struggling to reorganize her new bedroom.
“It’s definitely time consuming and all the piles of clutter make it more overwhelming,” she said. “It’s hard to keep myself motivated to just finish.”
For those students in a similar situation, Interior designer Joyce Holt established five simple steps to guide busy students through organizing their room.
1. Clean it out spotless.
Before moving all your stuff back into your new room, clean it out spotless. If you move clutter into more clutter you’ll experience more stress than you need to. Try to think in baby steps. This seemingly small step will help the whole operation to continue more smoothly.
2. The big stuff.
First find a place for things that take up the most space. Once you put all your big stuff away, like the hamper, suitcase, television and boxes of DVDs, you will have more space to walk and a better chance of remaining organized.
3. If the shoe fits…
Part of reorganizing is moving forward, and since shoes take up so much space, organizing them now will make you feel as if you’ve done a lot of work.
When it comes to shoes, whatever your space for them, start organizing them there.
Part of the reorganization process is moving forward. One is more likely stay motivated if one sees progress. Shoes take up a lot of space and normally there are more than we think. It helps to buy a shoe holder. It helps to get a shoe hamper. These are space efficient and fit many shoes.
4. The pile.
When you get to your clothes, as unorganized as this sounds, make a big pile on your bed or on the floor. You can complete this step two different ways. The first way is to start hanging/folding clothes of a specific color. Once you finish with that color, move on to the next. The second way to do it is by category (pants, shirts, dresses, sweaters). Once you finished hanging/folding all your pants, you can move on to your skirts or dresses, whichever one strikes your fancy.
5. School.
Last but not least, clean up your books and school things. By now your room should be clutter free of shoes, clothes, and any other clutter prone items. You’re almost there! It’s important to go through all your school materials and save the things you will be using in following semesters. If you decide your books are no longer needed, sell them! (A hassle free way to get rid of your books and make a few extra bucks is selling them on the BYU Book Exchange). If you want to keep that project that took you hours to complete, set a box aside for all other things like it. Who knows, maybe it will come in handy next semester!
Once you completed the steps, you can take a break. Congratulate yourself. You are now living in a clean room and can move on to those summer plans you’ve so anxiously been waiting for.
