<p>So, for next year, I am planning on lofting my bed. Because my sister will most likely visit very often, and because I have a few friends that will want to come visit, I was thinking about putting a futon underneath, and just putting my desk elsewhere. Logisitically, would that work in a Maryland dorm (I'm not in honors)?</p>
<p>I need to ask did you take a dorm tour?</p>
<p>First realize that you need your dorm assignment. LY there were doubles turned into triples, triples turned into quads.</p>
<p>If you get a double you should be able to do this, but realize that the dorms are only 10 X 12 and so it will be tight. </p>
<p>Also, don’t bring the futon for move in day, unless you plan to be there as soon as the doors open are at the end. Move in is horrendous. The chances of being able to park the car in front of the dorm is slim to none, and then to drag in a futon into an elevator (if it even fits) will be even harder. Wait until a couple of weeks later.</p>
<p>Realistically the dorms hold 700+ students, and have 3-4 elevators, it is a very slow process. It took us @ 3 hrs LY to move in DS into Centreville, add in the rain, and having to park in the garage, plus the avg student has at least 2 other people to help stopping on multiple floors and no AC on top of the fact that the hallways are littered with boxes from fridges and fans, it would be very hard to navigate a futon.</p>
<p>Then of course you have to hope that the loft is in the drom, astro’s daughter LY ordered one and did not have it for move in. You could find that the futon you brought can’t get in the room!</p>
<p>You may want your sister and friends to visit often, but I think you should also realize that you will have a dorm mate and that you are sharing a room with them and this may become an issue with them. Let’s say DS visits 1 x a month for 2 days and a friend visits 1x every 6 weeks, that means on the average you are putting another person in a 10 X 12 room every 3 weeks. Now if your roommate has the same amount of visitors, the two of you will basically be living in a triple Friday through Sunday. EVen in a double with 2 lofts, going to Frat parties on Friday night, football games on Sat., DC on Sunday, you will very quickly become tired of tripping over luggage. Do yourself a favor, measure your room at home right now, add in 2 twins beds, 2 desks, and 2 dressers, see how it would fit, especially since the futon would take up the base of the loft plus some.</p>
<p>REALITY CHECK
The avg dorm room has 2 desks, 2 dressers, a twin beds. If you keep it in their design. beds on one wall, desk between(no room), other wall has two dressers and desk, fridge fits against the wall. You could lie in you bed outstretch your arm to the left or right and hit the wall or the closet. Sit at the foot of your bed and touch the dresser. These rooms are SMALL. So small that I sent an area carpet 5 X 8 to cover the linoleum floor and couldn’t put it down. Now add in your sister or friends luggage and the futon
and you will all be jumping around things!</p>
<p>I know my last posts about dorms make me sound negative, but in reality I am just trying to be realistic.</p>
<p>I agree that having sister/friends visit very often might become an issue with the roommate. The rooms are small…it can be annoying to be in a “triple” you didn’t ask for…</p>
<p>Then again, I am personally perfectly fine with people staying over (as long as they’re quiet). So who knows.</p>
<p>Secondly, you may get a bed that is already bunked. Therefore, you wouldn’t have the option of simply lofting your bed and putting something under it, as it may already be lofted or bunked to conserve space (i.e. in forced triple - there is NO WAY anything extra fits in there haha).</p>
<p>Third: even a futon in a regular sized double is a squeeze. For instance. Normally your desk, dresser, and bed take up an entire side of the wall. There is no space between any of them. If you loft your bed and your futon takes up the entire space under it…how will you get into your bed?! You’ll need to climb on your desk to get in every night. That would get old. Now, you could possibly get a small enough futon so that both futon and dresser fit under your bed, giving you extra room to climb up the ladder on the side. But you need to measure the space under the bed to see if that would work.</p>
<p>Fourth: The only way I’ve seen a futon fit comfortable in a room is if BOTH roommates loft their beds. One roommate puts both dressers under the bed, plus a fridge and small tv on top of the fridge or something. The other roommate puts the couch under hers. They share the spaces (i.e. if your gonna put stuff under your roomies bed, better let her use the couch).</p>
<p>Fifth: lofts are SO ANNOYING. I had a loft freshmen yr and I never lofted again. It was hard to make my bed. It was annoying to climb up every night. It was a mood killer every time I wanted to get laid (oh wait…let’s climb the ladder…oh ok…don’t hit your head on the cieling…). It didn’t save that much space (my roommate just took up the extra space with his mess). So there is no telling whether you or your roommate would want a loft, and even harder to predict if you would both want to loft.</p>
<p>Conclusion: wait till you move in to see the size and layout of the room and talk to your roommate about it. Too many variables ><</p>
<p>I suggest getting an air mattress or something instead.</p>
<p>umcp11,</p>
<p>You are HILARIOUS!! Your fifth reason to wait made me gasp first (mom in me), then laugh out loud!!</p>
<p>haha, re: #5, even more reason I want to encourage D2 to get a loft!!! She’s had a loft bed at home for 5 years, so she’s used to it, and will likely have way more stuff than can reasonably fit into a dorm room, so could use the extra space underneath. (she swears that she’ll keep everything put away and tidy when she’s someone’s roommate. hasn’t been able to do it for the past 18 yrs…)</p>
<p>re: guests…the few times that D2 has spent the night (as a high schooler) with her sis, she just took a sleeping bag.</p>