Dorm Rooms Tips for Moms!

After having two girls go off to college, 11 and 8 years before my last one, you would think that I would have been well versed in dorm room efficiency. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the last child, make her room like home vortex. I did way better with my first daughter. DORM ROOMS ARE SMALL! Now maybe your son or daughter will be fortunate enough to attend a college or university with a biggish dorm room but my girls did not. I will share with you all of the fun and clever things I thought she needed, but mostly didn’t, along with Abbey’s top choices on necessities.

Just an FYI my oldest attended the University of the Pacific. My middle attended AMDA, and even though she lived in apartment style living, one room with two bunkbeds and a kitchenette, storage space was very limited. My youngest is at SDSU and was in Zura Hall this past year. The rooms in Zura are small and most have 3 – 4 students in them. Abbey had two room mates but two of the beds were lofts so they both lost their storage under the bed as well as the storage on top of their armoires. It’s really amazing how adaptable they are when they know everyone is in the same boat. So without further ado…

1.Command strips. I would recommend bringing a clean microfiber cloth to wipe down walls and furniture where you plan to put them other wise the chances of them coming off is great. I was just at target and they had some new and very cool products as of June 2019. It’s so easy to go overboard on these, there is so much to choose from and unless you really know your students needs and dorm specifics, you can waste your money on things that can’t or won’t be used. Below are the ones Abbey used the most.
Velcro — Framed pictures, dry erase boards, magnetic boards, wall mirrors, posters that you plan on tossing afterwards. Target has a pack with a variety of sizes in it (June 2, 2019.)
Clear small hooks — These work great for string lights, hanging string to clip pictures onto as well light weight decorations.
Large hooks — keys, robes, towels.
They make these for different weights so if you know what you’ll be using them for you can buy accordingly.

2. Over the Cabinet door hooks. Make sure they are not over the door hooks or they will be too big to accommodate the smaller thickness of the cabinet door fronts. These also work great for robes, towels, jackets, purses, backpacks, necklaces, baseball caps.

3. Desk top shelving. This is a must have, Abbey’s desk was 40″ wide and about 2′ deep. Having shelves above to store things like books, printer, notebooks, make-up, etc. was critical. We bought a black metal shelve that worked great. I found a few accessories for it at Do It Center but they were for 1″ post and the shelving used 3/4″ post. We bought a pack of extra 3/4″ plastic clamps and used adhesive backed felt on the inside of the 1″ clamps to make them fit snug over the 3/4″ clamps, it worked great. She used the one that swiveled and had hooks on it the most. She hung, hats, keys, purse and necklaces on it and she could just swivel it out of her way.
Note: We bought Abbey’s shelf early so we could set it up and play with the shelve heights for books, and binders as well as being able to know how much space we would have from the top of the desk to the bottom of the lowest shelf. This helped us plan for the desk lamp, the magnetic board and some small stackable drawers. The one thing we didn’t account for, mostly because it was an unknown, was how much space there would be between the top shelf and the bottom of the bed. In Abbey’s case it was about the height of an unopened pack of printer paper. It worked for storing things like her computer case when not in her backpack.

When I asked Abbey what things she took to school helped her the most one of them was the simple large metal “S” hooks that were made for the metal shelving at Do It Center. She hooked them at the end of her bed on the bed slates for her towels, bath caddy and anything else she didn’t know where to put. The towels might hang to low if you don’t have a bunk bed though.

4. Collapsable ottoman. There was enough room at the foot of her bed for this and it worked really well for shoes, laundry and cleaning supplies. This was another of Abbey’s favorite. The link is the one we bought and it worked great. It also provided extra seating for visitors.

5. Hand held rechargeable vacuum and wet-jet. I’m pretty sure the floors never get cleaned. All three of my daughters dorm room floors were filthy on move-in day. They won’t spend much time cleaning after that, but if you want to start off with clean floors you’ll have to do it yourself. My daughter highly recommends having a hand held vacuum. Her advise is that there really isn’t enough floor space for a stick vacuum that needs to be plugged-in and the same was true for a broom and dust pan. I personally recommend a broom on move-out-day it speeds up the process and the pile of dirt can be sucked up with hand-held.

6. Dry Erase and Magnetic Boards — Abbey’s room had a dry erase board both on the inside as well as out side the door. I don’t know if that is standard these days, but having one on the inside is a great way for room mates to communicate with each other. It provides a place for them to post their schedules, trips home, late nights out, etc. so they each can plan accordingly and be respectful. We put a magnetic board on the wall behind her desk under the shelving. Places like Home Goods, Marshalls and Ross carry a variety of inexpensive magnetic office supplies. This declutter the limited desk top space and help keep things organized. We used the velcro command strips to hang her magnetic board. Tutorial for making a magnetic board here.

7.Bunkbed related — Abbey said it was probably obvious but a bed caddy is a must, as is the below mentioned extension cord with outlets and USB ports. She decided on a basic one that got tossed on move out day because it was falling apart. The lesson here is if you don’t want to replace it every year spending a little more money up front might be worth it. But, then again the possibility of them having the top bunk or loft every year is small. This year Abbey will be living in a on campus apartment with thee other girls and will share a room with two full beds in it.

8. Misc — things that depending on if you have a son or daughter might come in handy. I have three girls so I’m more versed in their needs but here goes.

• Manicure kit
• Thin hangers — the velvet ones work great and keep the clothes on better than the plastic.
• Small trash bags — Office size work great.
• Extension cord with outlets and usb ports — a necessity for top bunks but really helpful for desk area as well. They make desk lamps with outlets and USB port built into them too. The options are pretty extensive so choosing one that works well for your student is personal. Items to take into consideration when looking at them are: charging bluetooth speakers, hand held vacuum, printer, desk lamp, hair dryer, vanity mirror, phone. Talking though with your student what their needs will be will save you money, and them frustration.
• Extra storage — Abbey’s desk had no drawers so we bought small plastic stackable drawers for the top of her desk. This company makes a multitude of designs, the link is just the ones Abbey chose. She stored her stapler, tape, paper clips, scissors, Command supplies, small jewelry and make-up. They can be used for corralling any small items like ear buds and adapters. When stacking them something to consider is if they are going under any type of desk shelving is how high you can stack them.

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