The Ultimate Room Layout Guide for Roommates Who Share Small Spaces (Perfect for Dorms!)

Once you arrive on campus, your dorm, and specifically your dorm room, is your new home. It’s where you’ll sleep, study, make new friends — basically, it’s the center of your life as a college student. So when you share this new home away from home with a roommate, it’s essential to make sure the space works for both of you. 

To help you furnish your dream dorm, Benedetto Rebecca, a recent college graduate and interior designer and architectural photographer at Studio Benedetto, shared his expert advice on four ways to set up a double dorm room. For context, we designed these layouts based on a double that’s just over 13 feet wide by 11 feet long. We also used standard twin XL mattress dimensions to account for the area the beds take up.

Whether you choose to loft beds, bunk them, or keep them on the floor, here are four dorm room layout ideas you can use to make this space everything you and your roommate need it to be.

In a standard double dorm, you can flank the beds against opposite walls and place the desks at the ends of the beds to divide your study area and where you sleep. Even though your beds will be on the ground, you can eke out a little more storage space by either requesting bed risers from your dorm (if your housing has them) or buying a set that works for your bed. 

You’ll have enough space between the beds to add a mini fridge and two small nightstands, which also double as storage. Put floor pillows on your area rug to make a secondary lounge area when you want to chill somewhere other than your bed. They’re also great seating options for friends hanging out in your room. 

When you’re craving more floor space but one roommate wants their bed to remain firmly on the ground, you can loft only one of the beds (if your dorm and beds allow for it). At first glance, it might seem like an odd setup, but look at it as an opportunity to make your space extra adorable — especially under the lofted bed. It’s a spot for a cute little nook with a workspace and a place to chill. 

A desk goes under one end of the lofted bed, leaving plenty of room for a comfy chair with a small, cozy rug at the other end. Since you could also have a larger area rug (complete with fluffy floor pillows) in the room, make sure you choose a complementary color/pattern for the rug under the lofted bed. You can also try to find a longer rug that could seamlessly flow from the common area to under the lofted bed for more cohesion.

You can put two nightstands under the window, but you may also need a bedside caddy for the lofted bed for easy access to your phone or a book. Place the second desk at the end of the non-lofted bed, and in the space opposite that, at the end of the lofted bed, sit a mini fridge and a small storage piece, like a rolling cart.

Lofted beds (again, if you’ve got the option) give you plenty of floor space. With both of you sleeping up top, you can place each of your desks under each of the lofted beds and then turn the rest of your respective nooks into whatever you want: a reading spot, a glam station, or just even more storage.

You can try to find an area rug long enough to cover the common area and go under both lofted spaces, but if you’re having trouble, there’s another option: Put down an area rug in the middle of the room and add a rug under each or either of the lofted spaces — you’ll want to coordinate to get the same smaller rugs or something in the same color family to mesh with the rest of your room. A storage unit can double as a nightstand between the beds (but again, you might also want bedside caddies for easy access to some items when you’re high up).

You can use the space at the end of one bed for a mini fridge and some more storage. And the really fun part about this design is that you have that same free space at the end of the other bed — the perfect spot for a coffee station! 

Another great option your dorm may allow for more floor space, especially in a teeny double, is bunk beds. You can have totally separate sleep and work areas with your beds doubled up on one side of the room and your desks side by side on the opposite wall. If you’ve got the space, you can add some coziness with a small armchair and storage ottoman next to the desks. It’s the ideal place to read or just hang out. 

The window serves as a middle ground for shared storage and a nightstand, while the mini fridge by the foot of the bunk beds means you’ve got a separate area for drinks and snacks. 

We didn’t diagram where your lamps or lighting could go in these rooms, but you have lots of options for table and floor lamps wherever you have available outlets. And if you want to save space on your nightstand or desk, skip a table lamp in favor of a battery-operated sconce you can stick on the wall next to your bed — they’re great for a little extra *ambience*. 

This post originally appeared on Dorm Therapy. See it there: The Ultimate Dorm Room Layout Guide for Roommates (You’ll Both Love It!)