If you’re headed back to college or moving into a college dorm room, you’re going to want a mini fridge. From storing dining hall leftovers, takeout, drinks, and stashing yummy snacks for your late-night study sessions, a dorm room fridge is a must. These are the best dorm fridge ideas every college freshman should use!
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This post is all about the best dorm fridge ideas
Why should you get a mini fridge for your college dorm room?
Mini fridges are one of the most convenient and essential dorm room items. The first reason to get a mini fridge for your dorm room and to copy one of these best dorm fridge ideas, is to store leftovers and snacks. Unless you pay for unlimited meal plan swipes at the dining hall, you’ll likely get 14 weekly meals. This means you can go to the dining hall 14 times, swipe your card, and retrieve a meal.
However, most of us do eat three meals a day and often snacks too which the 14 meal swipes doesn’t account for. So what do you do? This is where your mini fridge will come in handy.
You can easily bring leftover snacks and food for a third meal back from the dining hall. Your mini fridge will help keep your leftovers fresh so you don’t have to worry about spending money on takeout for your third meal each day.
It’s also the perfect way to store drinks and snacks for nights out or for your late-night study sessions. Having one won’t take up a ton of room and you can often share it with your roommate. This means splitting the cost, a major bonus! Overall, it’s an incredibly convenient and essential dorm room item to add to your college packing list if you want to make dorm room living way easier.
20 Best Dorm Fridge Ideas for College
#1 Keep Your Dorm Fridge in Your Nightstand
This is one of the best dorm fridge ideas I’ve seen, which is why it deserves to be at the top of this list. If you want to make your dorm aesthetic and cute, keep your dorm fridge in your nightstand cabinet.
This will make everything look more put together and is an easy dorm storage hack to maximize your space, while making your dorm room look stylish and cute. For the cabinet linked below on Amazon, you’ll just have to leave out the center shelf when assembling it to fit your fridge inside.
Recreate this dorm room idea:
#2 Tall Mini Fridge with Microwave on Top
Another easy way to maximize your dorm room storage is by getting a simple mini fridge and putting your microwave on top. This will keep things organized and won’t take up added room.
You’ll have your food and kitchen essentials all in one place, making it a great dorm storage solution for every college student.
Recreate this dorm fridge idea:
#3 Keep Your Fridge in Between Storage Shelves
This is one of the best dorm fridge ideas to make the most of your small living space. Putting your fridge between storage shelves will help maximize space and won’t make your mini fridge stand out as much.
It’ll keep your dorm look aesthetic, while still ensuring you have all you need to store snacks and leftovers.
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#4 Get a Vintage Looking Mini Fridge
A white vintage dorm mini fridge like the one below is such an aesthetic dorm decorating option. If you want to keep your college dorm room looking cute and stylish, this is the dorm fridge to go for.
It can easily fit in between shelving and storage organizers. It will do the trick to keep all your snacks in one place. I’m obsessed with this option since it’s one of the cutest-looking fridges that’ll suit pretty much any style dorm.
Recreate this dorm room idea:
#5 Set Up a Coffee Station on Top of Your Dorm Fridge
This is hands down one of the best dorm fridge ideas for coffee lovers. Grab a Keurig and whatever coffee essentials you love to put in your morning coffee. Then keep them all on top of your fridge.
That way, you don’t have to make a dining hall or coffee shop run on your way to class in the morning, which will save you both time and money. It’s also a cute way to decorate and make your dorm room feel more like home.
Recreate this dorm coffee station idea:
#6 Use a Portable Cabinet to Store Your Fridge
A portable cabinet is a great dorm room idea to conceal your fridge. It’ll keep your dorm looking cute and aesthetic. This cabinet has wheels, making it easy to move around your dorm when you need to clean or rearrange things. If you leave out the center shelf on the left, your mini fridge will fit right in it.
#7 Hang a Tea Rack Above Your Fridge
If you’re not a coffee drinker, no worries. This is one of the best dorm fridge ideas for tea lovers. You can hang a tea rack above your fridge and keep your tea kettle on top of it for easy organization.
It’s a convenient and smart way to organize by keeping all your drink and food essentials in a similar area in your dorm room. Also, it’ll make your dorm kitchen area look cute and put together.
Recreate this dorm kitchen station idea:
#8 Keep Your Fridge Under Your Bed
If you want a simple and easy way to maximize dorm storage space, keep your dorm fridge under your bed. You’ll need to loft your bed if it isn’t already lifted for this idea to work.
Once you do this, a mini fridge can easily slide underneath to keep it hidden, yet easily accessible. This way, you won’t take up any extra storage space in your dorm for your fridge.
Hide your fridge under your bed with a bed skirt:
#9 Portable Mini Fridge Organizer
Another great idea to organize your dorm kitchen is with a portable mini fridge organizer. An organization rack is a simple way to store your fridge and makes it easy to move around. This way you can easily rearrange your dorm furniture while keeping your dorm kitchen essentials all setup and intact.
#10 Add Shelving Above Your Dorm Fridge
Next on the list of best dorm fridge ideas is to add shelving above your fridge. If you have the space in your dorm room for this, it is a cute way to designate space solely for food, drinks, and dorm kitchen essentials.
It’s also a great way to maximize storage space and decorate your dorm to fit your unique style. You can keep glasses, Tupperware, coffee or tea essentials, and any other trinkets on the shelves above your dorm room mini fridge.
Recreate this dorm fridge idea:
Simply take out the bottom three shelves to fit your fridge underneath.
#11 Create a Fridge Collage
Let me tell you, this is one of my absolute favorite dorm room fridge ideas to recreate. You can purchase fun magnets and pictures to assemble a fridge collage.
This is an easy way to decorate a bland dorm fridge. It’ll keep your fridge from turning into an eye sore, especially when you’re going for a unique and aesthetic dorm room look.
Copy this dorm room idea:
#12 Put Your TV Over Your Fridge
One of the easiest ways to maximize storage space and make room for your TV is by placing adjustable shelving over your fridge. Finding a place for your TV can sometimes be difficult in a small dorm room. This creates a simple setup and will give you a spot to put your television and your fridge.
#13 Keep a Storage Cart Next to Your Fridge
One of the simplest ways to stay organized and keep all your dorm kitchen essentials and food in one place is by keeping a storage cart next to your fridge.
This will be great for keeping any utensils, Tupperware, or snacks that don’t need to be refrigerated nearby each other. You can easily grab them to go with your refrigerated meals. It’ll be nice to have everything in one place, especially when you’re tired and hungry after long days of class.
This way, you don’t have to go searching under your bed or rummaging in your closet for snacks and kitchen utensils. They’ll stay easily accessible for when you want your refrigerated meals. It’ll all be in one place.
#14 Get a Cute and Colorful Fridge
A cute and colorful dorm room fridge is an easy way to help your fridge blend in and match your dorm room aesthetic. I bet you didn’t even spot this colorful dorm fridge at first since it matches the rest of the decor so well. A cute and colorful mini fridge will tie into your dorm decorations and won’t negatively draw your eye.
Copy this dorm fridge idea:
#15 Get a Mini Fridge for Drinks
Your fridge can fill up fast, especially if you’re sharing it with your college roommate. A good way keep your fridge from getting overcrowded, is to keep drinks in a separate mini fridge.
These small compact fridges can sit on your desk or nightstand to keep drinks, makeup, or even medication cool. It’ll help save a lot of space in your main dorm fridge and they look cute too.
#16 Get a Fridge Caddy
A fridge caddy organizer is a simple way to store miscellaneous items, including snacks and drinks. This caddy hangs over both sides of your fridge, making it a great storage solution for your dorm. That way you can keep all your dorm kitchen essentials in one place for easy access when you’re hungry.
#17 Pastel Colored Fridge and Microwave
A pastel-colored fridge and microwave are perfect for a girly dorm room or preppy dorm aesthetic. It’ll draw attention in all the right ways and compliment the rest of your decorations. Definitely great for the girls who want to make their dorm look cohesive and stylish.
Copy this dorm fridge idea:
#18 Sleek White Fridge
Another way to draw as little attention as possible to your fridge and to help it match your other dorm decor, is to opt for a sleek white fridge. A white fridge will go with any style dorm and decorations. Also, it won’t stand out amongst your other dorm room art or decor.
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#19 Use Mini Fridge Organizers
Another way to make organizing your items in your fridge easy as a college student living in the dorms, is to use mini fridge organizers.
This will make restocking your fridge easier. It’ll help keep all your food, drinks, and other fridge items from getting jumbled together. It’ll also prevent things from just being shoved in random spots which can get annoying.
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#20 Decorate Your Fridge with Cute Magnets
Last on the list of best dorm fridge ideas is to decorate your fridge with cute magnets. There are tons and tons of magnets to choose from. You can hang photos of friends or family with them. They’re a fun way to tie in your dorm fridge with the rest of your decor. This way, it’ll draw attention in all the right ways.
Create this dorm fridge decorating idea:
If you’re headed back to college or going into your freshman year of college, don’t forget to get a dorm fridge. It’s safe to say, it’s an absolute must to make dorm room living easier. You can use these dorm fridge ideas to make your college dorm room cute and inviting. However you choose to decorate, remember to relax and enjoy the process of creating your dream dorm room.
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