Welcome, fresh faces! You’re more than likely excited to start college, a new chapter in your life, and feel more like a grown-up, invigorated with freedom and responsibility. One thing that is unforgettable your freshman year is living in the dorms. It’s chaotic, wonderful, and you’ll have stories to tell years later. For some of you, the dorm experience will happen once in your life, so make it count.
Being away from home, it is important to make your dorm feel like your dream bedroom. It may be a tiny room that you share with another person; however, it is the place where you do your homework, take essential afternoon naps, suffer the freshman blues or pig out on late night snacks. Might as well make it your happy place to be at any moment!
The necessities of dorm life:
• A hamper to truck laundry, with a coin purse in tow. Make it an easy hamper to carry because elevators in some dorms may give out, which means you might have to take your laundry down stairs.
• Always bring slippers to the communal showers. Have a shower caddy and a towel for that shower caddy. The water those things retain could replenish a Saharan nomad for months.
• Invest in a printer. It is more convenient and timely than hauling across campus to print an essay you could have sworn was due Friday. It is also a surefire way to bond with your roommate and your entire floor.
What you should avoid:
• Candles. Dorm rules are heavy and unforgivable towards lit candles.
• Winter clothes. Chances are you’ll be home for winter break, so there is no need to bring your entire wardrobe to a cramped dorm room closet.
• Landline telephone. This should be self-explanatory, since this isn’t the 1980s. There were a few people who had a telephone installed. It is unclear if said people were hipsters.
For the budding homemakers, there are endless opportunities to show off your crafting skills besides the Walmart inventory. For starters, you can go to the website dormify.com which will offer you customizable deals to create your dream room, whether the décor ideas are zebra stripes with pink fringes or simple, beachy, reversible covers and a conch pillow. It also offers curtains for you to install on your bleak blind-covered windows for a more homey feeling. Also, invest in a dust buster to hide the cluttered boxes and suitcases under your bed.
For bookworms or those who fear pitch-black rooms, you can install soft Christmas lights all around your bedposts and windows. Also, look into getting a floor lamp. It’ll make the dorm room look softer and less harsh than with the overhead light.
Purchase a bulletin board to tack a calendar and some fun photos to look at and instantly cheer up. You can find double-sided tape at Walmart that will put up the board, but be careful when applying it because it may be too strong and tear up either your board or the wall.
If you feel uncomfortable with a surplus of pillows or hanging curtains, hang up posters. Plus, dorm RAs easily forgive the amount of tacks put in the wall so go ahead and stock up! However, you are responsible for any lasting damage that is larger than a thumbtack hole.
These are simply ideas to make your dorm life as cozy as possible to prepare for the roller coaster that will be your college freshman year. Remember to make the most of the dorm experience!
