The prospect of moving into university accommodation is exciting; new friends, new surroundings, and the freedom to make our space your own. But, with that excitement often comes the reality check. Far too often, the dream of a vast, luxury penthouse is squashed by the reality of messy flatmates, cramped bedrooms and far too little storage for all the clutter you’ve brought from home.
It's not all bad news, though. With smart storage solutions and some regular maintenance, your perfect university flat might not be out of reach. Whether you’re a first-year student, or returning for another academic year, this guide will help you manage clutter, maximise space and avoid flatmate fallouts.
Top Tips for Organising Your Student Flat:
- Avoid Bringing Clutter with You
- Plan Your Space in Advance
- Utilise Vertical Space
- Create More Desk Space
- Keep Up with Regular Maintenance
While space can be a significant drawback to student living, the real issue often stems back to a lack of time. Juggling a busy social life with studying can often mean that maintaining a tidy flat falls by the wayside. But clutter builds up quickly, and when it’s time to move out, the stress of sorting through a year’s worth of accumulated belongings can be overwhelming. Worse still, a messy environment could mean you have to wave goodbye to your security deposit…
Want to avoid this chaos? The real task actually begins before you even move in. The best way to reduce the amount of initial clutter in your accommodation is to never bring it at all! Most university accommodations will provide basic amenities, and your flatmates may be willing to share the cost of communal items. Plus, while we love the optimism, the chances of you needing 17 pots and pans to chef up your culinary masterpieces are quite slim – stick to the basics!
Additionally, once you know your room dimensions and layout, it’s wise to start planning out how to arrange your space – pay particular attention to what storage is already present, and where there’s an opportunity to add more.
At Rhino, we offer a wide range of racking units in various sizes, all with fully adjustable height and shelf configurations. Whether you need compact shelving for your bedroom, or heavy-duty solutions for communal areas, we can supply a solution that fits. These racking units can be a game changer when it comes to maximising space, even in compact rooms.
If you’re already raring to go, we’ve compiled some of our most crucial tips for maximising your university storage space, to help you get the most out of your experience.
Don’t Neglect Vertical Wall Space:
The walls of your student accommodation are usually the first thing to be coated in decorations, and while make the space your own is a big part of settling in – don’t neglect its practical uses.
By mounting pinboards or whiteboards to your wall space, you can still add a burst of personality to your room, whilst simultaneously keeping your schedule close to hand, without wasting precious desk space.
Be careful though, damaging the walls of your student accommodation is a sure-fire way to lose your rental deposit – make sure you get your accommodation providers permission, and only use removable adhesives to make sure you don’t cause any damage when it comes to their removal.
Create More Desk Space:
It’s hard to fulfil your true academic potential when you can’t find your laptop under the mountain of paperwork sprawled over your desk – and the limited space you’ve generally got to work with in student accommodation can make studying from home less than convenient.
If you’re looking for more space, a whole additional desk is often an ideal, but unrealistic, option. Instead, opting for some shelving units can provide a practical solution to the issue of surface space, without breaking the bank.
If you’re looking to add a splash of style to your storage solutions, look no further than our wire storage systems. Sturdy, stylish and available in sizes that can mould to even the smallest of accommodations. Plus, with a 200kg load capacity per shelf, you can store all of your essentials, without worrying about sagging or instability.
Keep On Top of It All:
You might find that after the dust settles on fresher’s week; your flat has become a dumping ground of fresher’s fair freebies, empty bottles and discarded outfits – you’ll be amazed how clutter can creep back in. To mitigate this chaos, it’s important to keep on top of your organisation before it spirals out of control – even 10 minutes a day is enough to keep your room from descending into chaos.
Your communal spaces, however, might be more difficult to manage. Everybody uses them, but not everybody feels equally responsible for them. When everyone’s responsibility becomes nobody’s – clutter can build fast.
The best way to prevent your shared spaces from descending into chaos too quickly is by working with your flatmates to establish a schedule that will help keep your shared spaces clean and prevent flatmate rivalries.
One of the best ways to support this shared effort is by investing in communal storage solutions – providing extra surface space that can help the place to appear tidier can eliminate the kitchen cupboard space politics.
This is why it can be important to consider a shared storage unit within your communal spaces, ideal for extra kitchen space or to clear up some of the clutter you can’t quite convince your flatmates to discard. These systems help the place to appear tidier can eliminate the kitchen cupboard space politics.
Not confident in your flatmates DIY skills? By choosing a Rhino Racking unit for your communal spaces, you’re choosing long-lasting, durable storage that is constructed using a quality, boltless design – no tools or DIY experience required! Now the only disagreement you’ll have will be over who gets to take it home with them…
Now you’ve got organising down to a fine art, you may still be wondering – why does it even matter? Organising your accommodation can be stressful, especially on top of entering such a pivotal stage of your life, but having a calm sanctuary to return to after a long day of studying may actually be the key to reliving those feelings of freshers' fear. 99.1% of people in a 2022 survey stated that they feel, mentally, a lot calmer having decluttered their space. Plus, keeping on top of organisation will prevent the possibility of a mad rush to eliminate rubbish from the property when it’s time to move out, keeping your security deposit out of harms way.
At Rhino, we understand the unique challenges of student living. That’s why we want to make this new chapter as easy as possible. By following some of the tips and tricks outlined above, it’s possible to transform your university house into the perfect university home.
That’s also why we strive to keep our racking quality high, and our prices low – so you can find the perfect, durable racking system without sacrificing your student loan.
Ready to get organised? Start your university experience on the right foot with smart, practical storage solutions from Rhino. Shop now to invest in racking that’s built for student life, and beyond.