Keeping a bedroom organized is key to a functional living space. If there isn't a specific place for certain items, the room will quickly become a jumbled pigsty full of odds and ends.
To avoid that problem, there are ways to organize that tailor to someone's lifestyle.
Grace Harrison, junior in interior design, said the functionality of a room depends on how it's organized.
"Interior design is combining function with form," Harrison said. "If a space doesn't have organization, you can't actually use it. Even the messiest person has some sort of system of where they throw things."
Organizing a room can take time and work, but there are a few ideas to make it easier.
Harrison said her roommates recently purchased an over-the-door pantry organizer. It has 5-inch-deep, adjustable wire shelves that can be used to store an assortment of items from makeup to food.
Harrison also said clear plastic stackable drawers could help store clothes, especially in a dorm, where one doesn't don't have much closet or dresser storage.
Hayley Hughes, sophomore in interior design, said being in interior design has made her more organized.
"Definitely labeling where you put things would be helpful, or keeping a list of where exactly you put things ... rather than searching for something everywhere, you can just refer to the list," Hughes said.
Many people have a desk in their room to do schoolwork, but usually it turns into a place piled high with junk.
To keep a desk neat, Hughes said she recommends using a shower caddy and hanging it on the wall space above the desk to store school supplies.
Trace Matthews, junior in biomedical sciences and dentistry, keeps his schoolwork organized in bins under his bed instead of at his desk.
"They're just really long, rectangular, thin boxes that slide out from under my bed, and I put everything in there and slide it back under," Matthews said. "That's one thing that's helped me."
Harrison said one of her friends used an extra shower rod toward the back of the shower to hang baskets that stored shower supplies. This way, everyone using the bathroom had their own space to put their soap without cluttering the sides of the bathtub.
Jewelry can get tangled up in a huge mess, but organizational trays in drawers can help fix the problem.
"Always think about how you're actually going to use something," Harrison said. "The basis of all successful design is functionality. The best design, in my opinion, is one that meets your functional needs and doesn't over-clutter."
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