<p>Fendergirl: Do the command strips mar the walls?</p>
<p>What an archaic system. Yelled, threatened and bared teeth at son to go to the Boston(Fenway) store so he and husband can pick up order in Cleveland.
Amazing there is no centralized system to put order together. If Cleveland store is out of an item, it gets shipped from Boston!!!
At anyrate, people in BB&B at Fenway were so helpful, even turned out to be
an enjoyable experience for son. Guided us thru figuring out what is essential, what isn't and what can wait. They had amazing patience. Now that is all about to change. Told us Fenway is the busiest BB&B location for college shopping and the line Labor Day weekend should snake around the store even with supplemental workforce. They have two trailers on location filling up with Pack and Hold orders, the store ran out of room. I suspect the Staples and Best Buy next door will be equally as crazy.
And the Red Sox will be playing a couple of blocks away.....</p>
<p>If you still have time before you need to pick up a BB&B order, you can buy coupons on Ebay. I bought a bunch for around $7. Even if I can only use a couple I should save $30 or so. I will use them on big tickets items like the down comforter I bought.</p>
<p>You also gotta check out their "Survival 101" site under Shopping for College. They address so may issues for college students and parents including Health Guides-Financial Guides- and have articles on how to do laundry and dealing with roommates. This really is a special kind of store.</p>
<p>For hanging things on the wall-- my alltime favorite, most recommended tip is to use the 3m Poster tape. It comes in a roll and is slightly thicker (and more heavy duty) than your average double stick tape. It works like an absolute dream. My second favorite thing to use, especially for larger, heavier posters, is velcro which can be found at BBB, L&T, etc. The sticky tack tends to stain walls and has only worked for me when used with other things.</p>
<p>Honestly, I see no harm in nailing things to your walls. No one is ever allowed to do it, yet people always seem to. MY RA simply told me to cover my nail holes with white toothpaste at the end of the year, and then I'd be fine (and I was! I nailed things and got no end of year fine). Also, I've seen groups of friends, or RA groups on hallway invest in a small jar of patching plaster at the end of the year to fill in nail holes. Freshman year I had hung a framed picture with plastic hooks which a) looked tacky and b) left a stain so I wound up with a small fine, last year was so much easier with the nails.</p>
<p>Is it just me or is BB&B the full price store? :)</p>
<p>Yes, they have just about everything under the sun, but in my location their prices seem pretty high compared to others (I'm not a Walmarter either..shame on them) even when you factor in a 20% off coupon for a single item.</p>
<p>It is more expensive than going to Ross or TJ Maxx, but you can find everything in one place which is handy.</p>
<p>I found them to be equal to many of those similar stores-Linens and Things etc, K-Mart, Target. And the 20% of coupons help, but be careful-they won't take it on some items-like if your comforter is Nautica or other well known brands. And don't throw them out if they are expired-they will take them if they are many years old. I have about 40 of them and intend to use them in Providence when we drop off our son next week. They called me to tell me my order was complete and would I like to have an appt so I can avoid the lines-I made one, and they said I could come in and go over the order and not have to wait in line. I will let you know next week!</p>
<p>domestications.com has wonderful, inexpensive cotton knit XL sheets.
Flannel comforters and also oversize reversible colored cotton comforters
that hold up wash after washing. Great color selection and prices.</p>
<p>My son had bricks on two of his dorms walls and found that of everything he tried, a good wad of Sticky-Tac was the best. He had one heavier, art print poster, and it even worked for that. Didn't seem to be a problem "staining" the walls--guess because they were brick. The tape he had didn't work on the brick. This was not painted brick, by the way.</p>
<p>The Command strips do not mess up the walls. You can even use them on drywall and they don't mark up the walls. I had 10 picture frames hanging in my room on the drywall with them and i recently took them all down - hooks and all, and not one mark anywhere. They are great.</p>
<p>The sticky tack never stained my walls at school, it stained my posters... however blue sticky tack stained my sisters wall at home, but that's drywall and purple paint.</p>