When it comes to decorating your college dorm, you can forget the simple magazine shelves, plush couches, stacked lofts, and simple framed prints on the walls. Dorm rooms look like nothing you see in IKEA. Dorm rooms will usually be small and enough for you to be able to go wild with outfitting your room. Extra furniture? Leave that at home. We will give you the list of the ten items to buy for spring 2011.
1. Comfy Bedding
Dorms already come with extra-long twin beds, so you will need to buy extra-long twin sheets, pillows, blanket, and a foam pad to add softness to the industrial-strength mattress. To save a few dollars, consider buying a regular length foam or egg-crate pad for the best padding.
2. Towels and Toiletries
You will need to buy several bath towels and flip flops for the shower. Of course, what comes along with his is soap, shampoo, and other toiletries. Your best essential with this is a plastic basket to tote it back and forth between your dorm and the bathroom. You could double the basket as a place to hold onto all your toiletries in your dorm.
3. Laundry Supplies
When it's time to go drop off that laundry load, you will need detergent, fabric softener, a laundry bag/hamper, and a jar full of quarters. There might be a chance that your campus may have a Laundromat that uses debit cards, but keeping a jar of quarters is a good idea.
4. School Tools
If your a freshmen, these apply to you. It is highly recommended that you buy a desk lamp and bulbs, school supplies (ie: notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers), extension cords and a power strip with a surge protector (for your computer).
5. Mini-Fridges and Appliances
The best appliance to buy for college is a mini-fridge, electric fan (Some dorms have no air-conditioning), TV, and DVD player for your dorm room. Landlines are not needed for dorms, so using your cellphone is fine and you're more likely be available.
6. Storage Bins and Hangers
Storage bins and hangers are the most marketed off-to-college essentials for school. While some storage gears are cute and tiny, they are not enough to actually fit everything in the bins. Buying hangers for the closet and storage bins for under the bed is your best bet. Some of the popular choices are squat Rubbermaid-style tubs that can hold stacked towels or clothing. A hanging storage unit for your shoes will eliminate clutter in the closet as well.
7. Other Important Supplies
Sometimes dorms supply bulletin boards, bookshelves and waste baskets. All you need to buy to keep your dorm room clean is thumbtacks and plastic trash bags to line the waste basket. To also maintain cleanliness in your dorm, consider buying paper towels and cleaning sprays.
8. Dorm Decor and Photos
To make you feel more at home, bring family and friends photos, posers, soft pillows and maybe your favorite item to help personalize your dorm and soften the dorm-iness. Soft throw fleece is an easy decorative touch. You may not be able to to use nails to hang your photos and posters, but thumbtacks and/or tape can work fine.
9. Easy to Use Furniture
Adding a soft, colorful area rug helps make a dirty floor look more appealing. Easy collapsible seating or floor pillows help make guests feel right at home. The best part is if you don't need your seating, you can collapse it and put it right in your closet to keep out of your way.
10. Listening and Reading Essentials
What is very nice to have is an iPod docking station, speakers and headphones. They are considered noise-reducing for the times you need to just relax.
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