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Whether they're moving into dorms or sharing off-campus housing, students living away from home are facing an additional challenge beyond juggling the books: how to cram all their clothes, furniture, gadgets and other home comforts into smaller surroundings.
It's a dilemma familiar to the growing number of condo dwellers as well as empty nesters and retirees looking to downsize from larger homes.
But living within tighter confines doesn't need to feel suffocating. Experts say little extras from storage to shelving and even a new paint job are among the ways to spruce up and get settled in less spacious surroundings.
But before moving anything in, small space dwellers have an obvious but important task: assessing the dimensions of their digs.
Pieces such as the Vinstra high-gloss white dresser and wardrobe, along with mirrors from the Melbu mirror series from Ikea, can provide much-needed storage in small spaces (The Canadian Press)
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Susan Brown, owner of Vancouver-based Blue Skies Organizing, says people often have a hard time letting go of their belongings. As a result, they make the mistake of trying to keep most or all of their current items.
"It prevents them from being able to live in a new space really functionally and have it aesthetically pleasing as well," she says.
"What you have to do is just look at it from the other tack and say, 'What will this space hold?'" she adds. "Then from that, you go into your own home and you start shopping your home."
For example, Ms. Brown says if you have a dinner service for eight but don't have storage space or the room to host a large number of guests, downsize your dishes by half. Same goes for pots, pans and books, she says.
After you've earmarked the items you want to keep, purge the rest. Ms. Brown suggests donating them to charity or holding a garage sale and giving the cash to a good cause or using it to buy a downsized piece of furniture.
"If you look at it that way, it's sort of an opportunity to help others, to perhaps buy yourself new things with the sale of your old and to start living in your new smaller space with just the right amount of things in it so that it's a pleasant place to come home to."
Ms. Brown says individuals should think of every inch of their space as real estate and how to best maximize it.
For kitchens, there are all kinds of organizational tools, such as a rubber covered wire rack that slides into cupboards, allowing dual storage for plates on top and cups below.
"It prevents you from having to stack things on top of each other — that way everything is very easily accessible."
Sandi Gerrard, president of the Canadian ReDesigners Association, suggests avoiding overstuffed pieces when looking at sofas and chairs and instead opting for items that are small-scale, streamlined and multipurpose such as a daybed, futon or fold-out bed.
She also recommends doing what you can to maximize vertical space.
"Anything that you can put on the wall to free up floor space will help make your room feel bigger whether it's open shelving or hooks on the wall," says Ms. Gerrard, owner of Feel at Home Interior ReDesign in Toronto.
Open shelving gives individuals lots of flexibility because they can get baskets and bins on the shelves to store various items such as belts, scarves and hats, Ms. Gerrard says. Floating shelves can easily be bolted to the walls with blocks in between.
Hanging lights or wall mounted lights that direct lighting onto the wall surface will also give the illusion of larger surroundings while freeing up more floor space, she says.
Ms. Brown says the seldom-used space between the top of a door and ceiling could be a spot to install a shelf to place a couple of books, a vase or other display items.
Wall-mounted tables with fold down leaves or wall-mounted laptop stations are also a great way to create eating and study spaces that can be tucked away when not in use, says Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick of Ikea Canada.
Underbed storage or box springs with built-in storage are good ways of using typically unusable space, she adds.
Mirrors can also help to visually amplify the area of a room, Ms. Gerrard says.
"If they're positioned in such a way that they reflect light from a window or that they reflect something beautiful to make the room look like it's larger than it is, that will help."
As for colour, Ms. Lowenborg-Frick says light hues for walls and furniture are always best as dark colours absorb light and can close in a space.
Large pieces such as desks, beds, bookcases or wall units are best if they are primarily white or blond wood to keep the space feeling airy and open, she says.
Reflective surfaces on furniture can also add to the feeling of brightness and give the illusion of a larger space, much like a mirror, she adds.
Keeping paint colour light doesn't necessarily have to mean "boring and beige," Ms. Gerrard says.
"It can be a nice cream shade, pale yellows, pale blues, pale greens," she says. "Sometimes painting the ceiling in the same tone as the wall can help, too, because [with] a stark white ceiling, your eye is drawn to it and it immediately shows that there's just the small space."
Ms. Gerrard advises steering clear of a lot of accessories, which can sometimes look like clutter. For example, she suggests opting for one large area rug instead of many different small rugs which can chop up floor space.
She also recommends investing in quality comfort furniture in classic styling that can be used for long periods as opposed to trendy pieces.
"Rather than buying a bright red sofa that you'll tire of in two years, get a neutral colour and red accent cushions, and you can change your accent cushions whenever the mood strikes you, seasonally or every couple of years."
