<p>Well flat screens aren't that expensive any more, and they really fit well in a dorm room. DS's roommate brought one, but if he rooms with someone else next year I think he may buy one. Almost every room has a game system as well, either XBox, PS2 or PS3.</p>
<p>What surprised me was the number of kids who bring nice, cushioned, rolling desk chairs. DS stuck with the hard wooden one that the college provided though. If you don't have the college-issued chair in the room at the end of the year it's a huge fine, and he couldn't figure out where he would put the chair if he brought in a nice desk chair. If he moved the chair out of the room to the lounge he'd probably never get it back.</p>
<p>Wii is the system of choice for the girls at D1's school. Yeah...that 42 inch plasma in her room is great to play games on or watch shows that they've tivoed. Same at her school with the nice chairs,too. In fact some of the kids have their parents store the chair and mattress and they bring their own mattress. We just added a feather bed on top and she was good to go.</p>
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What surprised me was the number of kids who bring nice, cushioned, rolling desk chairs. DS stuck with the hard wooden one that the college provided though. If you don't have the college-issued chair in the room at the end of the year it's a huge fine, and he couldn't figure out where he would put the chair if he brought in a nice desk chair. If he moved the chair out of the room to the lounge he'd probably never get it back.
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<p>Many schools will accept the chair if you ask them to lay it away somewhere. Since my room was usually the entertainment one for friends (I was the only one with a Playstation and TV) my roommate and I decided to keep our crappy wooden chairs and just shoved them up against various walls or used them as tables for stuff when people weren't around. If you're in a major that has a lot of computer work or long problem sets and you don't like working in a library, a comfortable desk chair is one of the best investments possible (the $100 I spent on my new chair is plenty more useful than the $100 textbook which gets referenced once the entire semester).</p>
<p>Best Bed Ever
My D bought 2 sets of bamboo/rayon knit sheets at BB&B last year. We sewed a duvet cover from the top sheets and filled it with a down comforter. Starting from the school mattress - 2 inch Target memory foam mattress pad, a really high thread count nice regular mattress pad, the matching bamboo cool-feeling soft bottom sheet, puffy down duvet, three nice down pillows and what do you get? Study-buddies of your room-mate drooling on your pillow while you aren't home! THere is NO advantage to getting the reputation of having the nicest bed in the dorm!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Contact paper should just peel off. At least it used to when I was young - guess we'll find out in May! I do know it can be lifted and repositioned without harm when first putting it on. Possibly the older it is and/or the longer it's on, the harder it is to get the glue off. I have read that using a hair dryer can help. I have an old dresser that I covered in Contact Paper many many years ago - a few years ago I was able to peel it off easily. Now the three coats of paint underneath...that was a little more work!</p>
<p>S investigated and found that there was a thrift/re-sale shop that the students went to fairly near campus for old couches, lamps, chairs etc. Also, Home Depot had inexpensive area rugs and dorm-sized futon couch/bed.</p>
<p>DD had favorite pictures printed on soft gloss paper, and then laminated. She then put those on the walls. I can vouch for overstock.com. They had a down comforter for only $39-shipped it to school-DD loves it! BBB has a program where you can shop your local store-they put order into their system, and then you pick up and pay for them at the store nearest the college. Saved oodles of $$. We actually were able to use more than six cards-we used a whole stack of them!-saved 20% on our order!</p>
<p>Mom's closet works well. So does the garage. You can find a lot of cool office supplies and artsy stuff at stores like Barnes and Noble. Many of my friends got cooking supplies at a local grocery store. Target's my favorite by far because it has such a huge supply and variety.</p>
<p>Really, though, I found last year (my first season of dorm shopping, yay!) that a lot of the best stuff comes from home. I'm not even that far away but it's still fun to have stuff with me that I've had for a long time. For example, the old trunk I had from summer camp has become our end table/storage box, my sister's 5th grade comforter is a great weight for this time of year, and old backpacks are great places to store books. I have lots of clothes from home too.</p>
<p>Organization is key. I'd say start with a good daily planner--the kind that's big enough to be left open on the edge of the desk so it's actually used. Then get a dry-erase wall calendar for monthly stuff, and a big blotter calendar for longer term stuff. I like hanging file folders for each of my classes and taking notes on my laptop. When it comes to closets, I like those hanging shelves for shirts and shorts and then hang up the rest of my other stuff. I have a small hanging shelf for little stuff and shoes. I have multiple bins for excess toiletries and laundry supplies. I also have a big flexible laundry basket on the floor for shoes. I have 2 big hampers but only use one (I stack the other below it) for dirty clothes so that it's easier to sort my laundry later. Bathroom-wise, shower caddies and shoes are crucial!</p>
<p>Dorm shopping is SO MUCH FUN as long as you don't wait too long or get stressed out. Enjoy it and do it a little at a time and you'll end up having a great time.</p>