17 Storage Solutions for Nearly Every Item in Your Dorm (From Dirty Laundry to Hair Tools!)

Similar to how you have a shower caddy, this IKEA find will be your laundry caddy! It’s wide enough to fit a decent-sized bottle of detergent and whatever else you need to make laundry day easy.

Choosing the right hamper can make or break your laundry experience. This pick gets automatic points because it comes on wheels for easy transportation to and from the laundry room. When it’s not laundry day, it’s the perfect size to tuck away in a corner or even collapse entirely until your laundry piles up again.

If you don’t want to carry around a laundry caddy, you can scale down even further with this detergent storage. Since it has stackable, interlocking containers, you can put what you need inside — like laundry pods and fabric softener — and carry it by the handle to the laundry room. You might have to refill every few loads, but it will definitely cut down on the bulk on laundry day.

These containers come with transparent lids so you can see exactly what you put inside, without the hassle of opening them. Plus, they’re on wheels for easy accessibility, and you can fit a couple of them under your bed for maximum storage.

During my freshman year, my bed sat so low to the ground that there was no room to store things underneath it. Dorm life requires a lot of creative trial and error, so my priority for my next dorm room was to figure out a way to change this. The best solution I came across were bed risers, which lift the bed to create tons of storage space.

I used the newfound space under my bed by sliding in these storage boxes to put away items that I didn’t need sitting out in my dorm room. If you’re unsure whether these (or any other storage solution) will fit under your bed with or without risers, you can contact your dorm’s residence life office to ask about the room’s specs! Being in the know about how much space you’re dealing with can help you plan ahead.

The lack of a bedside table is unfortunately pretty common in most dorm rooms, and while you may be tempted to bring one with you, they can be bulky and take up valuable space around your bedside area, in addition to becoming a breeding ground for clutter. Since I’m all about convenience without sacrificing organization and visual appeal, I love using this attachable bedside caddy as a cute way to keep all of my essentials in one easily accessible place.

If there’s one thing you can count on for dorm rooms, it’s their minuscule closets. These collapsible hangers basically make it so that six hangers take up the same amount of space as one. They also create the perfect opportunity to keep similar garments or colors together, making it easy to organize my clothes by season or occasion.

I’m a huge fan of using products for everything except for their intended purpose — especially when it comes to storage. For example, I didn’t bring enough shoes to college to warrant a large shoe rack, but I had a few hanging shoe organizers, and used them to store so many other items: school supplies, accessories, makeup, you name it! They hang right inside the closet, and the lack of bulkiness ensures that you can have more than one without sacrificing clothing space.

Because of its small size, I underestimated just how much this storage bin would come in handy, and for so many different things! I organized the drawers so that each one held different items, including pens, hair ties, and my AirPods. I even used a label maker to ensure that I knew what was in each drawer!

A cute storage solution is the best win-win you can come across in dorm life. Make your desk even more functional with this bookshelf that has two shelves and a grid panel along the back. The panel is great for pinning notes or photos or storing hooks for keys and cords. Use the shelves as extra storage for books, decor, or whatever you need out of your way.

This is just like the closet organizer listed above — only mini! It’s perfect for keeping school supplies in one place, and for all of those tiny things that have a tendency to get lost: erasers, staples, pencils, and more. And this one comes in a pack of two, which means double the small-space storage!

While I’m on the topic of mini organizers, these colorful bins are seriously too cute! You get to minimize clutter while also adding some pastels to your space — and if you want to go above and beyond, you can color-code your items so you know exactly where to find what you need.

I've used this rolling cart as a makeshift bedside table and way, way more. You might use it for office supplies, craft items, or beauty and skincare products. It's so versatile, it can be whatever small-space storage item you need it to be!

You can use this organizer for its original purpose of holding a blow-dryer and other hair tools, or you could store whatever might fit, like your favorite lotion or dry shampoo. However you use it, you’ll be happy when your belongings aren’t scattered on top of your dresser or strewn inside a cabinet.

Command hooks have been a lifesaver in both my communal and private bathrooms. When you’re using a shared bathroom, you need to keep your stuff in your room but have it ready whenever you need it; putting up Command hooks right by the door is an easy way to create a grab-and-go space for your towels, shower caddies, and those absolutely dreaded shower shoes. Once I got a place with my own private bathroom, I started using Command hooks as a renter-friendly solution to having towels, caddies, and my robe right next to the shower.

Much like my desk, my bathroom counter tends to get cluttered with items that typically lack a proper home, like makeup and skincare products. This rotating organizer ensures that I can see all of the products up close without making a mess of my bathroom.