HoJo room question(s)

<p>Hoping Jambaby or another HoJo resident can answer this: I saw the model room in Craige & was told HoJo is set up the same. But the girl who let us in said the rooms in back of the suites by the bathroom are configured differently. I know it's a bit larger but I think she said the closets were along the back wall instead of the side...did I understand her correctly? Trying to collect storage stuff & furniture for my kid. Although I have room dimensions, it still matters where the "fixed" furniture exists. Also curious how wide the closet opening is (I didn't measure since I don't know if the back rooms' closet area is the same (my kid is back by the bathroom). Wondering if he needs one curtain panel or 2, & what width (to use as a closet door). I assume you can't drill holes for a curtain rod & suspect students use the adjustable tension rods(?)...is it the same for the window curtains? And lastly.....do students actually use the kitchens on each floor? If so, what appliances are present? If a stove/range, is it gas or electric? I've heard they do not stock the kitchens & really not sure if mine will use it or not....thinking about whether to buy him a cookset (pots/pans) or not....I know storage space is nil! Thanks in advance to anyone who can share answers!</p>

<p>Hi mommydeerest!</p>

<p>About the rooms flanking the bathroom in the suite - if you’re entering the room to the right of the bathroom, the closets are on the wall on your right (the wall that the two rooms on the right side of the suite share, if that makes sense). If you’re entering the room to the left of the bathroom, the closets are on the wall on your left. Can’t remember exactly where the “fixed” desks are, but I know there is always at least one along the closet wall.</p>

<p>When I lived in HoJo we actually had really crummy closet doors, but I know people have to use curtains and whatnot now. The closets aren’t incredibly wide (maybe 3ish feet?), and I think most people try to rig up a shower curtain or something along those lines with a tension rod (I would probably have attempted that). You’re right - drilling holes is frowned upon, ha ha. ; -) It’s funny you ask about window curtains because my roommate and I had many struggles with that - in the end we bought some kind of big curtain (like one big sheet) from Target that had ties all along the top, and we rigged it up with an adjustable rod.</p>

<p>Some people use the kitchens on the floors a lot - you have a sink/disposal, an electric stove/oven, and a microwave (and sometimes there will be a toaster). You’re not supposed to leave anything in the kitchen (housekeeping will have a fit), so I wouldn’t take a ton of pots or pans. I would say most people have at least one pot to boil water and cookie sheets and/or a pan for cookies and brownies. That is usually the extent of it…</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any more questions! : -)</p>

<p>Hi Jambaby! I was hoping youdstop NY! Hope you’re having a great Summer! Yeah, I think I get it. My son’s room is “D” so his is the room on the right if you’re in the hall looking towards the bathroom. The “model room” in Craige was the “front” room on the right & when you enter it, the closets are on the Left, so I’m thinking the closets for the front & back rooms on the right side are back to back? I probably made that way too complicated!</p>

<p>Good grief…sorry…my phone froze, then posted…
All by itself! My"smart" phone…isn’t! I was hoping you’d STOP BY! OH, and as always…THANK YOU, Jambaby! You’re an invaluable source of info!!! Really do appreciate you & your generous information!</p>

<p>No problem!! Yes, you’re exactly right - the closets in the rooms are back to back. I hope your son is getting excited! : -)</p>

<p>Yes, he is, but apprehensive at the same time…lots of mixed feelings. He’s looking forward to college but at the same time, he’s not wishing away his Summer. I think because his closest circle of friends will all be going in different directions, he’s mourning the end of their HS days.</p>

<p>Back rooms by the bathroom list larger dimensions on Housing website, but actually look smaller as the bathroom seems to take some space from each of the 2 back rooms…so can someone (Jambaby, I know you’re out there! :)) elaborate? Again, I’m trying to ascertain how much furniture we can squeeze in & how many of those ugly plastic carts to buy. Frig, m’wave, TV/stand are musts, I imagine but will need a place to store food, paper plates, etc. Plus books, clothes, “toys,” …wish I had a scaled diagram!</p>

<p>Here I am! ; -)</p>

<p>Yes, the rooms flanking the bathroom actually seem smaller than the rooms at the front of the suite. The rooms at the front of the suite seem more square-like (i.e. bigger) because the bathroom does sort of cut into the back rooms (the back rooms seem more rectangular). You do have quite a bit of additional storage space above the dressers and closets, so you can utilize that. You probably have the most room if you bunk or loft the beds (not everyone is a fan of that, though). The suitemates I had in the bathroom rooms all kept their beds on the floor so it did seem really crowded.</p>

<p>My roommate and I lived in one of the front rooms, and it had its fair share of issues too - I honestly don’t think it matters which room you get. We bunked the beds and then had our fridge, microwave (we put it on top of the fridge), TV, and food shelves, and it somehow all fit in there with a little creativity. I remember our room had really awkward desk placement (the desks are built into the walls), so that was always kind of an issue.</p>

<p>Thanks, again, Jambaby! I can only gather that the extra sq. footage on the back rooms is misleading because. it is “spent” on the bathroom, although the girl who showed us the model room told us that the back rooms were indeed a little bigger & slightly more versatile than a front room because she said there was actually room to put one of the beds against the wall parallel to the suite hall wall & you can’t do that in a front room. Stressing over buying a rug/ carpet thru the Res Hall. Prices aren’t too bad but the description is lacking…don’t know if they require on of those slip free pads underneath. The letter we got shows tiny pics & best I can tell, the pile is just like normal carpet iinstead of the shag like one we saw in the model room. They recommended sizes for each dorm but still seems awkward if you compare room dimensions w/ available rug/carpet sizes offered. A 10 x 12 rug in a 13x15 or 12x13 room just seems off. I’d think you either cover the entire floor OR opt for a smaller area rug in the middle. What did you do?</p>

<p>Yes, she’s right about putting one of the beds along the wall parallel to the suite wall - we couldn’t do that in the front room because of an awkward desk! Ha. I’ve heard in the past that the rugs you can buy through the Residence Hall aren’t the greatest - my roommate and I bought a rug at BJ’s (like CostCo, Sam’s Club, etc) for $50ish that was about 8 x 11. It was super sturdy and heavy and a great beige-y color that hid everything, lol. It held up all 4 years. We tried to position it so it covered most of our open floor in the HoJo room. If you get a big rug like that, just make sure that it’s the first thing you take up to the room and put down because everything will go on top of it.</p>

<p>Another thing I thought of - suites are pretty noisy in general, so it sometimes helps if you buy a fan or a sound machine and listen to the white noise at night to help you sleep. Just something I remembered about our time in HoJo… : -)</p>

<p>Oh, great… 8x11…we were looking at smaller…like 5x8, so this helps! White noise is great idea, too! Thnx! Btw… r u still @ UNC but different dorm now? Curious to know if you migrated to North & what dorms r good there for future reference!</p>

<p>I lived in a back room in Craige last year. We got our rug from the RHA mainly because we were both coming from OOS and it was easier that it was there when we arrived. It is a low pile and covered pretty much the whole room. We did not use a rug pad. We threw it away at the end of the year because we had no where to store it, but could’ve used it another year. We also had both of our beds lofted. I was on the wall next to the bathroom (the door wall) and the bed was between the door and the bulit in desk. My roommate was on the opposite wall, against the wall and almost perpendicular with the wall the window is on. Her desk was built in to the wall where the dressers are. The biggest surprise was there are only 4 dresser drawers for 2 people to share, so we both bought plastic drawers at BB and B and put those under the lofted beds. We had shelves (5) in front of the window that we kept the TV on and used for storage. We both also had a chair and laundry hamper under the lofted bed. The over the closet storage is really roomy and you can get a lot of stuff up there.</p>

<p>Thanks, Cookie! My son insists on having his bed lifted w/a futon under the bed, so he’ll have to travel light from a clothes perspective. We only live 25 minutes from CH so maybe that will help…he can be home every weekend, theoretically, so coming home to trade out summer for winter clothes should be easy. It’s all the other stuff I’m concerned with. I bought them a frig that is very narrow, but tall to help preserve wall space & just a small m’wave. Curious to know if one bed is on the door/desk wall & the other perpendicular on the window wall— will that leave the other wall that is perpendicular to the closet & across/ adjacent to the door wall completely free?</p>

<p>I think you could do one bed along the door wall and the other along the window wall… if my memory serves me correctly, ha ha! I graduated in May but did move up to North Campus after freshman year and lived there for three years. I never regretted living on campus all four years - you just cannot beat the location! So many of my friends had to deal with car/crappy apartment issues when they moved off campus. Any of the North Campus dorms will look amazing after making the hike from HoJo everyday for a year, lol! The Kenan community and Old East/Old West are probably the nicest dorms up North.</p>

<p>I think the only way you could put a bed on the window wall would be if it were low to the ground. If the bed were lofted it would cover the window and /or the AC or the AC would be blowing on you. Also it would have blocked the desk on the door wall. We put the fridge at the foot of my roommates bed (wall opposite the door). There is a bulletin board that is affixed to the wall there, so we put it between the board and the end of the bed.The only way to have free walls would be to bunk the beds and then your futon could be on a free wall. I don’t think clothes storage will be a problem for you. We are OOS girls and seemed to have plenty of room. I did get an extra closet rod that hung from the existing one and had 6 of those plastic drawers from BB and B. I used those for t-shirts, shorts pj’s etc and used the 2 drawers for sweaters and heavier clothing. The over the top storage goes back pretty deep - I kept 2 carry on roller bags in one of them (also could store stuff in the luggage). My mom was dreading the room all summer, but actually was surprised how much stuff we had in there by the end of the year. Since we didn’t know any better we just made it work. The people next to us had 2 coaches and a tall dresser in their room and it was fine. Your son will make great friends there. I can’t wait to get back to Chapel Hill!!!</p>

<p>Because I’m trying to think of EVERYTHING…can someone elaborate about the washing machines in HoJo…are they designed to use liquid or powder detergent?</p>

<p>Those Purex sheets work pretty good - detergent and fabric softener all in one and takes up little storage room.</p>

<p>I made my mom go look at the washing machines in HoJo with me on Move-In Day, so I can definitely answer this question… LOL. (Yes, I’m that person).</p>

<p>You can use either liquid or powder detergent but most people I’ve seen use liquid. It is pretty hard to mess your laundry up because you only end up hitting one button in the end, ha ha. You pick a washer, put all your dirty clothes in it, and then go over to the little machine where you swipe your One Card card to pay (laundry money comes out of your expense account, so make sure to have a little bit of $ on there - I would go by the One Card office every couple of weeks and add another $10 or whatever). Then you select a cycle on the washer - I would always dump my detergent into the washer after the water started going (there are openings on the tops of the washers) so it would mix in better. Simple! ; -)</p>

<p>Thanks! I take it that these are not “he” washers & don’t require special detergents(?)</p>

<p>Haha…new question: We seem to have conflicting info about TV channels. Basic cable vs. Basic + 9 HD channels. Anyone know if service is decent? Any sports (ESPN), movie, weather channel?</p>