<p>i love this post.</p>
<p>first, in terms of coordinating, i bought all the stuff that was personally mine before housing assignments came out, just to get it out of the way and start getting the stuff i knew i would want, like the comforter, sheets, desk lamp, etc that are used for my part of the bedroom.
once housing assignments came out, my suitemates and i all friended each other and created a little group on facebook that was just us so we could all figure out whose bringing what. since i live in florida and wasn’t able to bring some of the bigger stuff, i volunteered to bring little things, like some kitchen utensils and supplies and as many plates and silverware as i could bring, while my suitemates that lived in the area brought the tv, microwave, etc.</p>
<p>everytime any of us bought anything for the dorm that was to be shared communally we would post it on the group so that everyone else knew either not to buy it or if they thought we would need more to bring more themselves. it worked out well, and we ended up with most of the stuff we needed by move in.
one thing that you can never have too much of is toilet paper and paper towels! we had all of our closets so stocked with paper towels from move in that we never actually had to buy any all year, but toilet paper went quick (especially in a dorm of 8 girls!) and it was always a hardship figuring out who should buy it this time, so be sure to stock up on that.</p>
<p>for the bathroom, it depended on personal preference. we had 5 girls in one bathroom, and 3 in another, so in the bathroom with less girls they all kept their stuff in there pretty easily, and some of them used those shower caddy things that have pockets for all your stuff and hang on the wall. for my bathroom, some of us left the esssentials in the bathroom (like the shampoo/conditioner/soap in the shower, etc) and kept some things in the room so we could easily switch bathrooms if one was being taken up in the morning and we were rushing to class (it definitely made my life easier to keep my toothbrush and toothpaste out of the bathroom, let me tell you!).</p>
<p>in terms of cleaning supplies, we came in with very little. my roommate brought a swiffer, but that was about it. you can always sign out a vacuum from the RA on duty, which we did every so often. for actual cleaning, you get to a certain point where you just can’t stand it any more and it just happens. every so often we would all just reach a breaking point and clean out the common room of all our stuff, and about once or twice a semester my roommate and i would go on a cleaning rampage of the entire apartment, at which point we would make a trip to duane reade to buy any cleaning supplies we felt we needed. but, every room is different and had a different system for that.</p>
<p>in terms of sharing food stuff, like i said i brought most of the cooking things, like baking sheets, utensils, etc, while someone else brought pots and pans, etc. it was typically bring what you think you might use, so the girl in our dorm that cooked the most brought the most stuff, since she knew exactly what she would need more than us.
for sharing condiments, that is something the boys need to work out themselves. in my room we had a system where unless our name was on it, it’s fair game as long as your considerate about it, and we also had a sharing bowl of stuff that anyone could have without asking.
one thing we used A LOT- dish soap, a drying rack for plates, and towels. also, be sure that there’s enough trashcans in his apartment, there should be three in the kitchen alone! (one for trash, one for plastic recycling, and one for glass recycling). also, don’t forget stuff for laundry, like laundry detergent or dryer sheets.</p>
<p>one thing to remember is that there will typically be very little elaborate meals prepared in the kitchen, unless your son or any of his roommates are gourmet chefs, so don’t worry about anything extravagant, like spices or oils or any of that. we bought aluminum foil and saran wrap we didn’t touch once. a lot of the times, you just don’t have the time to really cook, so we ate a lot of easy mac and frozen dinners, as well as takeout and the caf, all of which don’t require a lot of work in the kitchen.</p>
<p>also, don’t worry about not bringing enough stuff- you can always buy whatever you need in the city! there’s a bed bath and beyond just six blocks up the street, and during orientation there’s a night where the kids can go with their roomies to buy whatever they need and get a 10% discount or something like that for it. although it can seem overwhelming now, everything falls into place once you move in and see exactly what is needed and what isn’t very quickly.</p>