10 Dorm Room Necessities

If you are anything like I was when I graduated high school, then you are beyond excited about heading off to college and picking out new décor and necessities for your dorm room.  I’m probably a special case considering I started watching dorm hauls the summer of my senior year, but after a year of dorming, I have found that those tend to leave out the things that you really need to survive. So here are the 10 items that I truly needed in my dorm room.

1. Fan

Ok, dorm rooms get HOT and stuffy. Whether it's January or early September it seems like they all get gross and sticky. I liked to have a fan clipped on to the top of my desk hutch that I could point at me when I was in bed or when I was studying at my desk. It was a lifesaver.

2. Medicine

Sharing a communal bathroom that doesn’t get cleaned as often as it should, living with a roommate that never throws their food away, bringing in the germs from class, living in close quarters, with all the germs that go around in college, if you don’t get sick in the dorms then you are blessed. Having a decent supply of anti-allergy, Advil, and cold medication is a must. You never know when a bad headache will come along or in my case the flu that leaves you immobilized for a week.

3.Snacks

You will get hungry and will not want to deal with the masses of rowdy students in the dining hall and will need something to tide you over until you get a chance to make it to the hall.

4. Soft Blanket

If you ask my fiancé or my mom you would get the same answer from them both. I am obsessed with blankets. It’s bad. But they are great to have in your dorm. I would put down a blanket and study on that when I didn’t want to sit at my desk. I also would sleep with one and it just makes that hard, uncomfortable bed more tolerable.

5. Mattress Topper

The beds are hard, thin and uncomfortable. I know it’s easy to buy the 15-dollar mattress topper from Target but take it from me I ended up buying four so I could sleep on the mattress without hurting my back (and I like my mattress to be on the firmer side). With how many I bought I could have gotten a more expensive one that worked better for less money.

6.       Two Trash Cans

Well, my 1^st roommate was gross, so bad I switched roommates at the beginning of the spring semester. Going into college I only brought 1 trashcan but by the end of the first week, I had another because my roommate didn’t think it was important to bring her own. I know dumb right. after I ended up moving into my new room I found I loved having two. I kept one under my desk and the other at the end of my bed. It was much easier to make sure trash made it where it needed to be.

7.       Extra storage

Dorm rooms are tiny and the storage is basically nonexistent, so the use of three drawer organizer was a life saver. I ended up lofting my bed and had a large one and 2 tall skinny ones. In the large one, I would keep my snacks and extra school supplies. In the 2 smaller ones, I had my extra toiletries and underwear/socks. These made it easier to get ready in the morning.

8.       Slippers 

Ok dorm floors are gross, and bathrooms are gross. I was constantly wearing my moccasin slippers around. Nothing is worse than your feet feeling nasty.

9.       Lamps

I don’t know about you but if it is dark in my room I can’t function. With multiple lamps, it is easier for me to get what I needed to do each day. They also were a lifesaver because my 2^nd roommate hated to have the normal lights on because she thought they were ugly.

10.   Calendar

On top of my planner, I had a calendar that stayed on my desk to keep track of assignments and when my fiance would be up to visit me. I loved to have a calendar on my desk so I could just check what I had to do that day between classes without taking out my planner.

Do you have any items that you couldn’t survive dorming without?

Stay Sassy!