Handy Stuff For Your Dorm Room
Useful College Student Items for a Freshman Year Dormitory
Apr 16, 2007
Aside from dorm room necessities, what should a college student bring to school? Here are some handy items that will make your dormitory seem more like a home.
Freshman year on a college campus is plenty stressful, so your dorm room should feel like a home! The room itself is going to be pretty bland, so you'll want to do some cheap and simple dorm room decorating and find some handy things to make your room more cozy and comfortable. Aside from dorm room necessities, though, what should you bring? Here are some useful items that are not necessities for college life, but that are convenient and will brighten up your room.
- A small refrigerator. You can purchase these at discount stores or rent them from the university. It’s kind of homey to know there’s a carton of orange juice or something waiting for you after a long day of classes. Just talk to your roommate before the semester starts so that you both don’t show up with one. (Here's what to look for in a dorm refrigerator.)
- Stuff for the walls. No need for fancy art work. Just buy some posters and slap them on the walls. Just don’t use tape, or you’ll wreck the paint; instead, get some poster sticking material, which is available at every college bookstore.
- Mementos from home. Anything to fight homesickness—photos, yearbooks, Poochie the Teddy Bear, whatever.
- Milk crates. These are the ultimate college staple. Students use them as bookshelves, end tables, makeshift chairs, laundry baskets, and for anything else you can imagine. They’re also good for moving things in and out. Unless you live on a dairy farm, real milk crates are hard to find, but sturdy plastic ones are available at discount stores. Other kinds of storage bins are useful as well, especially ones that fit under your bed.
- Electronic entertainment (TV, DVD players, PlayStation, etc.) All of this stuff can be a dangerous opportunity for procrastination, so if you have no willpower, consider leaving it at home. However, your life at college is going to be stressful, and there’s worse ways to relax than with a movie or a game of Super Mario. And watching TV now and then is a good way to keep in touch with the World Outside College, which students tend to forget about. Watch the news once in a while (or better yet, read a newspaper). If you’re lucky, your dorm will provide free cable.
- An area rug. The dorm floor is probably tile, and nothing makes things more homey than a colorful rug. Just don’t spend a lot of money on it, because it’s likely to be skanky by the end of the year.
- A big reading pillow. Just be warned, reading in bed often leads to sleep, so don’t read anything too important or too boring!
- A dry erase message board with a pen. This is a great low-tech way for friends who stop by to leave notes. Make sure you attach the pen to your door or it will grow legs.
- A full length mirror. Cheap ones are for sale at discount stores, which you can nail to a wall.
- Reference books, like a dictionary, thesaurus, or language books. The info in these books is probably available on-line, but sometimes it's nice to look things up the old-fashioned way.
Related articles:
Stuff Not to Bring to a Dorm Room
Green Tips for College Students
College Roommate Etiquette Tips
The copyright of the article Handy Stuff For Your Dorm Room in Student Housing is owned by Naomi Rockler-Gladen. Permission to republish Handy Stuff For Your Dorm Room in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
