1. A nice mattress topper will save your life.
If anyone has ever been to any sort of camp on a college campus during which they spent a week sleeping on that blue plastic surface, they know that those dorm mattresses are the worst. My recommendation would be to get on Amazon and buy a three to four-inch memory foam mattress topper as soon as possible, and honestly, the higher-end ones are well worth the splurge.
2. Bring a vacuum
If you're anything like me, you probably laughed at your mom when she suggested bringing a vacuum to college. You thought to yourself, "where on earth would I even put that?" Well, two weeks in and the amount of granola ground into my shag carpet made me think differently. There are so many compact vacuum options on the market that having one in your room really takes up no space at all, and no, a dust buster is not the same as a vacuum.
3. Have extra seating
Chances are there are going to be a lot of people coming in and out of your room and you really don't want them plopping down on your bed all the time. In order to prevent this, consider buying a small storage ottoman, a bean bag, or even some decorative pillows that could double as floor seats.
4. Read the weight limits when buying command hooks
A lot of freshmen come into college with their adorable high school pictures and artsy posters all nicely displayed on some apparatus they built using Pinterest instructions. Well, in the first week, my roommate's charming elephant poster fell off the wall and shattered glass across the general floor area. Long story short — make sure you wipe the wall with some alcohol before sticking on the strips or the stick on the hooks will only last a couple of weeks.
5. Stay away from white decor at all costs
You walk into Bed Bath & Beyond in early August thinking to yourself, "I am going to be classy and buy a white comforter. All of the girls on my floor will envy my sophistication." Well, little did you know that your roommate likes to eat meatball subs at 10 p.m. every night and by now that marinara sauce is kind of starting to cloud your class factor. Do yourself a favor and buy a nice gray instead.
6. Buy a rug to cover the floor
Not only are most dorms covered in cold, gross linoleum flooring, but also you want the space to feel like your home and an area rug is one way to express yourself and tie in your color scheme. Once again, I would side with a nice gray or beige instead of white, but regardless a rug makes a big difference in making your room feel like home.
7. You'll want a lamp
That fluorescent lighting in the room won't be doing you any favors so I would opt for a lamp or two to dim the harshness of the overhead lighting. It makes the room feel more serene and if you choose to put it next to your bed, you never even have to get up to turn out the lights.
8. Have an easy breakfast appliance available to you
As much as we all like to think that we will be prepared and wake up in time to hit the cafeteria, that never happens and you are often left scrambling to find whatever scraps are left in your mini-fridge at 7:30 a.m. My advice would be to invest in a Keurig, toaster or even just some Tupperware for yogurt in order to make breakfast you can take on the go. Also, the Keurig can double as a coffee/tea maker as well as dispensing hot water for instant oatmeal. Throw in a little cinnamon and you're good to go.
9. Utilize under bed storage
I have to say the best decision I made when I moved into my dorm was using risers to get an extra six inches of space under my bed. I have drawers upon drawers of shelving space and my roommate and I also keep our ottoman under there when we don't have guests. I know that some people favor lofting to achieve maximum storage but I would say just buy the risers and get the best of both worlds.
10. Remember to bring pictures of family and friends
As much as I joke about those little Pinterest projects, I too have a massive board covered in pictures of my family and friends. It's a necessity that we all like to look at when we get those little pangs of homesickness. So do yourself a favor, swallow your pride, and go on Pinterest for some genius project ideas.
