1. Coffee Maker a.k.a a Keurig: You can obviously buy coffee on campus every morning, but sometimes it’s nice to have a cup of coffee in your room to start your morning, or a cup of tea to help you wind down before bed. I brew coffee in my room almost every morning and my roommate makes tea with the hot water from our Keurig almost every night. It is a must have for sure!
2. Printer: Buying a printer literally changed my life! Of course you can go to the library to print assignments and papers but it is so much more convenient to be able to print from your room! Especially if printing in the library costs you money, it is more cost effective to invest in a printer and not pay for every single page you have to print.
3. Command Shelves: My roommate and I have two of these on the wall near our sink, mostly because we ran out of room in our medicine cabinet. These shelves are so convenient for putting your hand soap, dish soap, deodorant, or anything else you might use on a daily basis that you want easy access to!
4. Curtains: Two words. Extra privacy! My roommate and I live on the third floor of our building but we still love having curtains over our windows. You don’t need to blackout your room with grandma curtains, but just put up some sheer curtains that provide both some natural light and some extra privacy!
5. Steamer: Obviously you aren’t going to have an ironing board in your dorm, or the space to even put one if you wanted to! But how do you get wrinkles out of your clothes? This is where a hand-held steamer comes in! My roommate and I use it all the time to de-wrinkle our clothes; it is so fast and convenient!
6. Medicine Box: When I came to college, my mom sent me with a box of medicine for every sickness I could possibly come down with at school. While it seemed useless at the time, I have gotten lots of use out of this year! Ibuprofen can’t solve all your problems so make yourself a little medicine kit to keep yourself healthy in college!
7. Cot / Air Mattress: This is a necessity for any dorm room that has lots of guests! I bought a cot for my dorm room about a month ago and it has already gotten four uses out of it. My sister visited me this past weekend and that’s where she slept but I have also had three other friends borrow it for their own rooms. Having a cot, or an air mattress, makes it lots easier for friends to come visit you on weekends!
Clearly, you could survive without having any of these items in your dorm room. However, these are just some of the things that have made dorm life easier for me and my roommate! I encourage you to invest in these items if you haven’t yet because they really do make a difference!