How To Survive Your Dorm Room - Bathroom

Last week I posted on How To Survive Your Dorm Room Closet, and it's gotten some great feedback!(Off topic, but you can always email me if you have any questions about dorm living! See my Get To Know Me Page for my email!) One of the things I was slightly worried about was the bathroom situation in my dorm. Luckily, my dorm was a suite-style dorm, where two room shared one bathroom. I am a germaphobe so there is no way I would be able to sure a community bathroom! (Will you be in a community bathroom? Check out this post from A Peaker's Survival Guid to College and How To Survive the Residence Hall Community Bathrooms post from HerCampus!) I shared a bathroom (one shower, one toilet, and two vanity areas) with 3 other girls, so it wasn't too bad. (Again, I was bad at taking pictures of my actual bathroom, so there aren't many pictures. But don't worry! I have lots of pictures of the living area of my dorm room for that post!)

Here are the things I learned:

1. Keep it CLEAN!
This seems like a no brainer, but with busy schedules it is hard to remember to clean the bathroom until one day you realize it is DISGUSTING! Also, clean it before you even move your stuff in. Most colleges use the dorm areas to house students over the summer for various camps and orientation sessions, so chances are a lot of people have been using your bathroom. The maintenance and cleaning staff have a lot of rooms to clean, so sometimes it doesn't get cleaned very well.
You and your roommates can also try a cleaning schedule. We tried this second semester, but no one really followed it. It's kind of just a hit or miss thing.

2. Get a new shower curtain
Find out what kind of shower your bathroom will have, and get a new shower curtain. Be sure to keep the old one stored away so you can put it back up when you move out. The shower in our dorm room is a teeny-tiny little box, with a very small opening. I had originally bought a chevron fabric shower curtain, but I couldn't use it. (Keep reading to see what I did with it!) I couldn't find a plastic shower curtain that was small enough to fit when I got a great idea! I was at Bed Bath & Beyond (if you haven't figured out by now, it's one of my go-to dorm shopping places) when I saw an employee hanging the shower curtain samples (ya know, the little curtains that hang around to give you an example of what it looks like). So, naturally, I asked how they were able to order curtains so small, but she told me they take the curtains and fold them in halves or fourths to hang as displays. So long story short…I bought a cute plastic curtain in the smallest size the offered and folded it in half. It fit perfectly!
If you have a small shower like me, it's best just to get a vinyl/plastic curtain. Make sure it's not see through though! If you have a normal tub/shower combo, any curtain/liner combo will do!

Please excuse the face I'm making.

I love this adorable shower curtain! Find it here!

3. Get a shower caddy or rack

My roommate picked us up a 3-tier shower caddy, and it was a life saver! We didn't have to carry all of our stuff in and out of the shower or leave it on the floor. If something like this doesn't work for your shower, another great option is a shower caddy that hangs on the shower head.

Find it here!

4. If you have a window, get a curtain

Our bathroom had a very large window that faced directly across from an all-boys dorm (great planning, right…not.). It had blinds, but we didn't have very good lighting in the bathroom so we liked to keep the blinds cracked. Remember that shower curtain that I wasn't actually able to use on my curtain? Ta-Da! With a tension rod and some shower rings, I now had a super cute curtain for our window! Because it was light blues and white, it still let in a good amount of natural light while it covered the open blinds, and no one could see inside, either.

This made a perfect window curtain! Find it here! (PS it's on sale!!)

I'm sorry for the mirror selfie, but you can see how we had it hung up! (PS the balloons and Disney princess tattoos are part of how my roommates decorated for my birthday!)

5. STORAGE STORAGE STORAGE!

Storage is one thing you need a lot of! You'll need a place to keep your towels, washcloths, extra shower stuff, and girl stuff. We found this great idea on this Pinterest post with storage cubes, and we had a perfect spot in our bathroom to put it! We each had two cubes; in one I kept towels and washcloths. In the other I kept things like my blowdryer, curling iron, flat iron, hair products, facial cleansers, make up wipes, etc. Another great storage solution is to use small storage bins to keep all of your stuff organized in your bathroom cabinets. 

This was our "Pinspiration" 

We got these stackable cubes and cubby drawers from Target! We made a 2x3 tower. 

Great basket for keeping your stuff organized in the bathroom cabinet!

For things like feminine products, I made a "girl box" that I kept in my bathroom cabinet. I put my monogram on it so my roommates would remember that it was my stuff. 

6. Don't forget…

A rug for outside of your shower

Toothbrush holder

Soap dispenser

First aid kit

Towels/washcloths

Command hooks (to hang on the doors or walls if there are no towel racks)

Toilet paper/paper towels
Rubbing alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide (something you don't think about until you actually need it)

Have any more great ideas for a dorm bathroom or see anything that I forgot?! Leave a comment or email me!