What makes a dorm feel more like home?
After living in a dorm for a month, I have decided that it’s much better than what I first thought it would be. Living with two other girls has been an adjustment but not a bad one by any means. I have quickly learned to love my little dorm room with the funky-smelling hallways and hair-covered showers. Here are my favorite aspects of my dorm and what should be expected in the first weeks of college in the new space.
I 100% recommend having a little cubby to hang off your bed if you are top bunk/lofted bed. As silly as it sounds, it is much nicer to slip my water bottle in there at night or put my AirPods in there when I’m too lazy to crawl down. Even if you don’t think you move in your sleep, I promise you you do. Nothing is worse than waking up and half your stuff is on the floor (from personal experience). Get the cubby, it will make your lofted bed life significantly easier. Going with the same theme of the lofted bed must-haves, please get a long charger. You will want your phone right by your side at night, and it will only reach up there with a comically long charger.
I love the carpet in my dorm, as well. Despite the fact that the hair of three girls also calls the carpet home, it makes the room feel much better. It’s also a nice spot to have everyone gather together when hanging out. The carpet makes the space feel happier, and it makes the room feel more like a place I want to be. My roommates and I call it “carpet time,” and it has become a near-daily necessity. Alongside the carpet, we have a grey beanbag chair in the room which is honestly a much-needed addition. (Special shout out to the stuffed animal ghost named Sebastian, who calls the chair home and is held by whoever sits down on the chair.)
I love the pictures on the wall, too. I am a huge picture girl; I even have some in the drawers of my desk awaiting their turn to be displayed on the wall. Between my pictures and my roommates’ pictures, I feel like the room feels much more complete. It’s like a snapshot of our lives before moving here, and I find that really sweet. We have pictures of our childhood friends, pets, and families, and something about it makes the dorm feel like home. I would strongly recommend people who are not in a dorm yet invest in either a corkboard or picture frames for the wall because you will want to add personality to the cinder block cube you’re about to call home.
There are fewer and fewer things I find myself disliking about my dorm because truthfully it has become comfortable. Everything about college is an adjustment. However, just because something is a change doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, it might be a much-needed change.