<p>ive been looking through the dorm room pictures and i've noticed that a lot of the rooms seem to have futons or little couches in them for watching tv and stuff.. i guess i assumed there wouldn't be enough room for stuff like that in the rooms.. is there really only room for them in quads and suites and stuff? ive never seen the dorm rooms so i was jw. im a girl by the way, in case that matters since i don't know if the girl rooms are generally bigger or what.</p>
<p>Did you notice where the beds were? They're probably lofted. I think a futon/couch would be great for visiting friends staying for a weekend.</p>
<p>me too, i couldnt see the beds but im assuming they were lofted. can you do this with all the beds? i thought i read somewhere it wasnt allowed</p>
<p>It depends a bit on the dorm. Overall, it is better to have a quad, but you may be able to work out something if you loft your beds. I personally just had a La-Z-Boy chair and that worked well and actually could sleep someone if we needed. The rooms are smaller than at most other colleges though so I wouldn't buy anything until you are out there!</p>
<p>In Alumni Hall, which happens to have some of the smallest rooms on campus, they were most often feasible. But don't order anything until you get to physically see your room.</p>
<p>I'll second that, but I can tell you that many people I knew had futons with either lofts or bunked beds. Some futons are actually more comfortable than the beds...</p>
<p>thanks for all the responses, i know everyone says wait till you're out there to go to target and figure out what you need, but wont target sell out of all the popular stuff if everyone does that?</p>
<p>what the hell is a loft (i feel really dumb)</p>
<p>im not even sure, i just said that to look like i knew what i was talking about. i think it's when you stack the beds on top of each other?</p>
<p>If you're in a dorm with modular furniture, your loft will be your bed on top of your desk and wardrobe. You'll have a ladder to climb up there every night. If you're in a dorm w/o modular funiture, it'll be trickier. I've never lived in the latter so i'm not experienced with your options in this case, but many people will use wood to build a loft. Basically a loft is an elevated bed and they're great because they maximize the available floor space.</p>
<p>maggiejeter--I don't think target will sell out of stuff. However, supplies will become very limited! Esp. with regard to fans, rugs, storage stuff, lamps. No problems with tvs, printers, other electronics or linens. Also, as I recall, there is a wal-mart and maybe a k-mart as well as a store by the name of Meijer, which is a lot like target. There are a lot of stores for such a small town.</p>
<p>Isn't there also the Fall Mall at ND for stuff</p>
<p>If you want to know about lofts go to the ND housing page and look at Sorin...20 foot ceilings=two story dorm rooms :)</p>
<p>i'll second the recommendation not to buy anything until you get to see your room. sometimes depending on your set up, you might have a common "living" room in which you can put couches and other sitting furniture. in morrissey, for example, a commmon room would be the same size as the two double rooms and placed between the two rooms along the hallway.</p>
<p>i also have found that while futon is a chic word to say and a chic thing to buy, a lot of them are made of really poor quality and they break really easily. in theory it's nice to have the extra sleeping space but honestly most people can sleep just as well on a comfortable couch. i'd recommend an actual couch if you can find a good deal. </p>
<p>the 99% of time you don't have overnight guests you will sit and relax more happily.</p>
<p>A loft is built from a wooden frame that holds the mattress about 7 or 8 feet in the air (depends on ceiling height though). I may be building one this August with my roomates, so I'll be or more help then.</p>
<p>You definitely want a loft, jvon. It really maximizes the space. A lot of rooms have modular furniture, which means the bed, desk and storage hutch are designed to stack, leaving more floor space for a futon (also a must in my book.) Once you find out your dorm, you can look on the ND website to find out more info on the dorm, including if it has modular furniture. Most of the girls dorms have it; a lot of the guys dorms do. If not, it's worth the extra trips to the lumberyard and the extra time to build a loft. My son built a loft for his single in Fisher his soph year--it was a great bonding time between father and son, as construction projects always are ;</p>
<p>Fall Mall is NDspeak for Captive Market High Markup</p>
<p>haha well the father and son over here aren't exactly carpenters... hence the "bonding time" may go a little long and turn into "i want to kill you because we will never finish building this thing" time lol</p>
<p>The fact that "bonding time" turns into "I want to kill you because we will never finish buidling this thing" is pretty much a given... Perhaps more amusing was when spring rolled around, and the loft had to be disassembled a few weeks before school ended. Then it was a number of cell phone calls, characterized by the same "loving bonding" as apparently had taken place at the beginning of the yearwhen the loft was originally built. </p>
<p>If you are lucky, you'll have modular furniture in your dorm, or have a three-room quad type setup where you won't need a loft. Modular furniture is so easy to stack, my husband and I were able to do it--and I'm virtually worthless in the lifting department. </p>
<p>Regardless, a loft almost doubles your livable floor space. ND dorm rooms are s-m-a-l-l, so you'll want to do it. </p>
<p>As per the bonding thing, just figure that it will make it that much easier for your parents to be able to let you go after Frosh O week :)</p>
<p>Just curious--do most people loft if they are in a quad? Son will be in a quad this year and I suspect he and Dad will have to consider the lifting. Last year as a freshman, he lofted, but the older kids that helped him move in since he was new, helped with the lofting. Just wondering if Dad should be "working out" for the lofting event!</p>