It’s common knowledge that university rooms don’t have the best storage and as someone who normally takes two (reasonably large) toiletry bags everywhere with them, I expected the worst. I also hadn’t accounted for the endless boxes of Lemsip and Strepsils that relieved my freshers flu, yet cluttered my desk space! With images of my room quickly turning into a pigsty, I had to come up with a plan to organise.
In the preparation for moving to university, you may have invested in additional storage units, trolleys or boxes to ensure you had an aspect of organisation in your new room. However, if you have arrived at your accommodation without these things or without an idea of how to incorporate and maximise the potential of your additional storage… here are my top tips (as someone with an excessive amount of “stuff”!).
"Every accommodation at Newcastle university differs slightly in their storage options."
Every accommodation at Newcastle university differs slightly in their storage options. For example, Marris House has a shared bathroom between three people, with an individual sink in your room. In this instance, if you are short on storage, shower caddies are a perfect way to transport your products to the bathroom and average around £10-£15 on Amazon.
Meanwhile, Park View and Portland Green both have variations of shelving, under-bed storage and drawers. To utilise this space efficiently, I would recommend dividers and storage boxes. Finally, the Unite Students’ accommodation (such as Byron Central, Manor Bank, Quayside and Wellington St Plaza) have very long desks, a wardrobe and additional smaller drawers. In some circumstances, it would be best to keep make-up in makeup bags and to maybe use decorative pots for your brushes and hairbrushes. For all accommodations, I would recommend an over the door hanger for coats, bags, towels, etc.
"... I would highly recommend taking a trip to IKEA."
On a more general note, I would highly recommend taking a trip to IKEA. Lucky for you, you have just moved to a city where the nearest IKEA is only a fourteen-minute drive away and can be reached by train (or Uber if you need). They have a range of furniture which won’t take up a whole corner of your room, is cheap, easy to build, and gives you more space for your belongings. My personal favourite is a small storage trolley listed under the name Råskog. You can purchase this with or without a lid and they're around £19-£25 in a variety of colours. They are perfect for hair tools, medicines, and any other toiletry products that haven’t yet found a home in your room.
So, from one high maintenance person to another, I hope that with this advice your room begins to feel a tad more orderly!