Dorm Rules

There are a few essentials when it comes to outfitting a dorm room. This space that will be your home away from home is just a few square feet, consisting of a bed, a desk and a place to stash your clothes. You really have room only for the barest essentials, and yet you want to make sure this small corner of the universe feels warm, cozy, halfway home-y and conducive to resting and studying. Bringing a well-edited supply of bedding, necessary appliances and clothing, as well as a few key items that will make it feel like home is a great start.

Bedding

The most important thing to remember when purchasing dorm room bedding is that pretty much all dorm room beds are twin-sized and extra long. Retailers such as Target carry lines like this, labeled 'Twin XL' or 'Twin Extra-long.' 

     Sheet sets, 2 sets - Sheet sets contain a fitted sheet, a flat sheet and a pillowcase. Invest in a good quality set, preferably 300 thread count 100% cotton or higher. They are softer and not scratchy, and will hold up longer than cheaper ones.

     Pillows, at least 2 - Down and feather-filled pillows are always a better buy. They are washable, and last forever, unlike polyester-filled ones that lose their cushiness after a few months. Down and feather filled pillows regain their shape after each fluffing and maintain it indefinitely.

      Extra pillowcases, at least 4 - Since a twin sheet set only contains ONE pillowcase, you will need extra ones. Since this is the surface you rest your face one, it collects dirt and oil faster than any surface on your bed, so you might want to change them more often.

      A quilt or light comforter - This comes in handy on cold nights as well as make for quick bed making in the morning. All you need to do is throw a quilt or comforter over the bed and you've got it made during rushed mornings. 

Above, l-r, top to bottom: Palms Organic Twin-XL sheet set, $24-59, Oceanside Patchwork Quilt and Sham, $35-$199, www.pbteen.com, Room Essentials Southwest Ikat Bedding, $50-$60, www.target.com

    

Desk Items

     Desk lamp 

     Standing file organizers

     Cork board or magnetic white board

     Chair - Bring an ergonomic, study-conducive desk chair if not provided.

Above, l-r, top to bottom: Task chair, $90, www.target.com, Shine-on Task Lamp, $59, Madison Desk Organzers, $9-$29, www.pbteen.com

Bath Items

     Flip-flops for the shower

     Portable shower caddy

Organizing

     Hanging closet organizers - Maximizes closet space. Use for folded items, shoes, etc.

     Rolling drawers - for school supplies or small items such as underwear.

     Laundry basket or bag

     Laundry tablets - are easier to take to the laundry room than cartons or jugs of detergent

     Full length mirror - to hang behind a door or closet door

Electronics

     Laptop

     Small fridge - If you can stock a fridge with healthy food options such as fruit, you just may avoid gaining the freshman 15!

     Small coffeemaker - Save money on your caffeine fix and brew your own java.

Above: Emerson Compact Fridge with Dry-erase door, $89, www.target.com

Decorative Items

Make your space feel like home by bringing items that personalize your space such as:

     Framed photos

     Wall art or wall mural

     Bookends

     Small throw pillows

     A small area rug 

 Above: Wire Wall Loop, $9, Nouveau Wall Decal, $49, www.pbteen.com

Where to buy

The first stop is your home and your garage. Look for spare items that you can bring so you don't have to buy a new one. For bargains, head to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target and IKEA, but do check out stores such as TJ Maxx, Ross and Marshalls for great deals on better quality items. If you have more budget to spare, you may want to browse online and get a few items from Pottery Barn Teen or PBTeen and CB2 by Crate and Barrel.

Links:

www.target.com

www.bedbathandbeyond.com

www.ikea.com

www.cb2.com

www.pbteen.com

 

    

Take Your Toys To College (Or wherever it is you're going).

Finally moving out of my parents' house was one of the most emotionally-charged moments in my life. My move (across the Pacific to the other side of the world), involved a lot of tears, drama and considerable sadness. Even now, when I look back on those last few days, those unreal moments when you knew that the change was upon you, and that nothing was ever going to be the same; the memories repeat in my head in just the same melodramatic script. It was not a college move, one in which I could just come back on some random weekend, or on the major holidays. If I got into deep trouble, ran out of money or just missed the hell out of my family, it was not as if I could hop on a bus or a plane and go home. It was the final move, I was never coming back to live there again, and since I was moving nearly halfway across the globe, there would never be any of those impromptu things like a lunch here and there, or stopping by for dinner. 

Photo credit: www.images.veer.com

My sister was to immediately take over my bedroom as soon as I was gone. I had brought nearly everything with me except for the furniture. I filled my suitcases with every little thing that I possessed, cassette tapes, books, stuffed animals, everything. The room looked pretty sad once I was done, as all rooms and houses do before a move when everything is packed away. It's funny how the life and soul of its inhabitant is attached to the things we use to fill a room; my dad refused to enter it on those last few days because it was just too dreadfully sad. He asked me why I had to bring everything, and I didn't have a logical answer. Half of the things I brought I was never going to use again, but back then I felt like I just had to. Maybe it helped my resolve; bringing everything brought the move a finality, a complete break. Or maybe I had to bring everything that would fit in my suitcase, because everything else that really mattered--my family, and all my closest friends--I had to leave behind.

Well, it was not all sad. It was terribly romantic too, because I flew across the seas to be with the guy I loved. Also, it was not like I never saw them again. To this day, hardly a year goes by when one of them does not come to visit, or when my husband and I bring the kids there to visit. About all the 'stuff' I brought with me, it did not take me long to shed most of them, maybe because in America the first thing you discover is how easy it is to buy 'new stuff', or maybe simply because I did not need them anymore, in an emotional sort of way. The few things I chose to keep though, acquire more meaning as the years go by. Every time I pick it up, or use it, it's like an instant psychic connection to that other part of my life, to 'long ago.' It's like looking at old photographs, or chatting with my brother or my mom about times gone by. 

My son and my daughter each have a stuffed animal that they take with them wherever they go. Those toys have been wherever my kids have been. If it's just a long drive somewhere, they sit in the car. If we have to spend the night somewhere, or go on vacation, they come too. They are real-life 'Velveteen Rabbits.' My daughter's stuffed rabbit, which she calls 'Bunny' is so love-worn. Her fur is flat and matted, her button eyes long gone. Her ears are limp and her once-white face is gray. I asked my daughter once if she would consider giving it to me when she moves out, and she flat-out said, "No!" I asked her and my son if they were taking them if they had to live in a dorm for college, and as expected they said, "Yes."

Last week we saw Toy Story 3, the sequel where the main character, Andy, goes off to college. His room is emptied (to be taken over by his little sister); clothes and toys are either donated or sent off to the attic. His famous toys, Woody and Buzz Lightyear, reflect on the impending change, and devise ways to avoid being donated to charity. Andy was grown and didn't need them anymore. He was moving on to the new and bigger adventures of college life, where childhood toys and imagination did not have a place. The movie was filled with precious and funny moments, but most of all (to me at least), many wistful ones. For the most part, I thought the movie is about that time when the props and vestiges of another life are no longer needed and therefore shed. That time when one has to take stock of the 'stuff' and decide which ones to discard and which ones to keep.

One part of the movie that I could never figure out though is why Andy's mom had to totally empty his room out (aside from the fact that his little sister wanted to take over it). Maybe it's just my age, or my children's age, but I kept wondering, "Was he never going to come visit?" What about Thanksgiving and Christmas? Hmmm. I don't know yet what I'm going to do when that time comes for me, but for now I can see myself keeping my kids' room pretty much the same even after they leave, like a shrine to their childhood that I can visit whenever I miss them. When they are off and gone conquering the world, and I am old, I can just take a peek, or even go back inside and take myself back to that time, when they were little and so easy to take into my arms.

College. My son is going to junior high in the fall and so that train is coming fast. Then it will be my daughter's turn, and from there I hear that it just goes by so fast you won't know what hit you. I wonder if I will be ready by then. When they're on their own, I wonder how often they'd visit. Would they be excited or trepidated? I wonder if we've made our home life so that it will be something they'll long to come back to again and again. Just for the heck of it. I wonder if they'll miss their dad and I. The thing about being a parent is you're always steps ahead of your children. So when that time comes, all the excitement and emotion that it brings, you've already felt and relived hundreds of times over. When there's that sort of a good letting-go, it happens because you've done that move yourself, you've been to that place where they're going, and you know, you just know, that somehow just like you, they're gonna be okay.

Next: Off to college? Dorm room style.