As if making the grades to get into the University weren’t enough, living in a UT dorm tests our ingenuity by forcing us to find innovative ways to live comfortably in a cramped space. Thankfully, some useful inventions exist to help students find solutions to the struggles of dorm life. Here are 10 items to help you survive your first year of dorm living:

Cascading clothing hangers

Many incoming dorm dwellers come to find closets with barely enough room for their entire wardrobe. Instead of sending your extra garments back home, purchase a durable set of cascading clothing hangers! These innovative hangers usually come with five notches to suspend your clothes from. With these lifesavers in your possession, you’ll be able to store all of your favorite outfits in half the amount of space.

Hanging clothing shelves

To save even more space in your closet, consider using hanging clothing shelves to create even more room to store bulkier, non-hangable items into your cramped closet. Use one of these bad boys with cascading clothing hangers for the ultimate life hack and plenty of
closet space.

Desk fan

Is the Texas heat killing you? Just come back from an intense workout? A desk fan will help in either of these unfortunate situations, assisting the residence hall AC in blowing some crisp, cool air to your weary figure.

Hand vacuum

Sometimes, a simple broom and dustpan aren’t enough to pick up dirt, hair and other questionable items lounging on your dorm floor. Make up for your broom’s shortcomings with a hand vacuum. It’ll reach those tight corners that a broom can’t get to, and it won’t occupy too much of your limited dorm space.

Clothes iron

A clothes iron will definitely come in handy for career fairs, job interviews and other professional events. It may be tempting to purchase time-saving items like wrinkle release spray, but these substitutes aren’t as effective. Each residence hall provides ironing boards, so that won’t be a worry!

Filtered water pitcher

Plastic bottled water costs pile up quickly, and the closest and cleanest water fountain might be more than a few steps from your room. For an accessible, around-the-clock water source, invest in a water filter pitcher. All you will have to do is refill it and replace the filter every month or so.

Bedside storage caddy

As unproductive as it may be, we all love bundling under the covers to complete our homework. But we all hate disturbing our comfortable position to grab our materials off the desk. To avoid this inconvenience, purchase a bedside storage caddy. The most work you’ll need to do with this necessity is stretch over the bedside to grab your items.

Laptop locks

A college student’s worst nightmare is their laptop getting stolen. You can lessen your chances of becoming a victim of theft with a laptop lock. Just tie the cable around an immovable object and insert the lock into your laptop’s lock slot. Because tugging the lock free damages the laptop, laptops locks scare most thieves away.

Over-the-door shoe rack

Your shoe collection may seem nice and tidy on the closet floor now, but it’s likely to soon become a disorganized heap. An over-the-door shoe rack delegates each pair of shoes their own space, preventing those tedious footwear mix-ups.

Drawer dividers

Drawer dividers allow you to see every single item in the drawer, cutting the time you’ll need to dig and find what you’re looking for. Love yourself this semester by staying organized!