So we are moving our daughter in this September and have no idea how much “cargo” space we will need and how much storage there is in the room. The info about under bed space (for storage containers etc) is pretty vague. Anyone have any answers/suggestions? If I buy plastic storage boxes that are way too tall they won’t work, and too shallow are wasting valuable space. Many thanks for any help
Unfortunately, dorm rooms do vary. Once you get the room assignment, you can come back here and we can give you more specific advice.
Somewhere on the Brown website used to be the height of the bed frames. Plus, you can always buy bed risers to gain more inches. I know my daughter used standard “under the bed” storage bins in all her rooms. Do a google image search for Brown dorms, some photos do come up.
Every student gets a dresser – 3 drawers is typical, I think. And a small bookcase and a desk. The closet sizes do vary. The rule of thumb is – pack less.
My daughter got a small plastic 3-bin cart (very easy to find at Target and BBB in August/Sep.) that she used as a bedside table and for toiletries and misc. items.
They replaced the beds in many of the dorms a few years ago - I believe they can now be lofted a few feet off the floor, on top of the dresser, etc. I’d suggest waiting to buy storage stuff until you actually get to Providence and start moving her in - there are plenty of places around here to go.
@bruno14 are there “big box” stores like Target or Walmart nearby?
Yes.
In Providence (<10 minutes away): Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond
In Seekonk (~15 min drive): Target, Walmart, BBB, Pier 1, HomeGoods, Best Buy, BJ’s, etc. I’d recommend heading to Seekonk, if for nothing else than to beat the crowds at the BBB at the Providence mall.
Thanks, that’s helpful. And it looks like IKEA is about 45 minutes away. But for the basics, Seekonk it is!
My daughter just graduated. I think that every year she had beds with multiple height slots for the mattress, plus as noted, bed risers can get you another 6" or so. She had a small closet, as well, in Andrews, and then was in Tech House and had a little bit bigger closets with built in dressers. You can also bring Fall clothes and then do some shipping/swapping of clothes for the winter months. But between the beds and the closets, I think that most any room will offer a reasonable amount of storage for whatever would normally be brought. If you think your daughter’s amount of ‘cargo’ is more than normal, it might be more of a problem. The ‘move-in’ day runs the gamut from the kids who arrive with one suitcase, to the ones like Elle Woods who bring lots of stuff.
I once made the mistake of going to the Stoughton IKEA on Labor Day weekend. It’s a zoo. Parents and students from every college within an hour’s radius seemed to be there, and the stock was low.
Yah, I wouldn’t go on Labor Day weekend. But I have a baby shower to go to in Medford, MA the weekend after and thought that might be a good time for a visit… plus it’s a week into the term, when there’s a better idea of what there is room for and what is needed.
Isn’t move in during Labor Day weekend this year?
Move in is always Labor Day weekend. First years move in on Saturday and upperclassmen on Sunday.
Yes, the comment was that going to IKEA during the big college move-in weekend was contraindicated.
Thanks for clarifying. I guess we will just cope with the crowds.
I’ve had two first years at Brown - in two different dorms. We had no problem fitting all their stuff. We ordered at our local BB&B and picked up the stuff with our 20% off coupons in providence downtown. So easy. They are good about returns so we ordered too much stuff and then just bought what we needed. Some stackable drawers are useful, some under the bed boxes were useful. A full legnth mirror, a good fan, some hooks, hangers, laundry hamper, desk lamp.
The beds raise up pretty high. We saw some girls rooms with their beds raised all the way up and 12-15 stackable boxes underneath. I think they had more stuff under their beds than I have in my whole house! my daughter had a huge walk in closet in her dorm room, so she had extra space.
Have kids heard about roommates yet? Mine is overseas…
Mine’s asked me to check her email while she’s at a wifi-free summer program. No emails yet. Soon, I believe.
Roommates should be announced next Tuesday
Thanks, @MiscTroll — I thought I’d recalled the 2nd week of August in one of the many correspondences…
@whatthewhat We have not heard about a roommate, just an address. And we leave on the 17th so S can start a workshop/class on the 20th. I was hoping he would have heard by now.
I heard roommates were being announced today as well. I’m also doing the computer science preorientation starting on the 20th, so I’d really like to know my roommate and dorm assignment soon…