<p>D loves to read in bed so a lamp is important. But what looks good as a nightstand and is strong enough?</p>
<p>Most rooms we visited used the bureau or desk as a nightstand.</p>
<p>Most rooms won’t have room for a nightstand. Usually the other pieces of furniture (desk, dresser) are within easy reach of the bed. 
Sometimes clip on lamps work. Some rooms have large window sills too that some things can go on.</p>
<p>My D had a top bunk and used a clip-on tray. It clips onto the bed frame and allows for a light and a place to put a drink, etc. A clip-on light can be useful also if your kid’s in a top or raised bunk. Even with a couple of single beds the students often raise them up so there’s storage room underneath and the nightstand would be too low for a reading light. It’s handy for the alarm clock also.</p>
<p>Here’s an example: <a href=“http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14318313&RN=433&BTSMode=true[/url]”>http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14318313&RN=433&BTSMode=true</a></p>
<p>Both my kids had trouble with this as freshmen because their beds were partially lofted and none of the in-room furniture went up high enough.</p>
<p>In S’s case, he basically did without, but wasn’t happy about it. As a sophomore, we found a 4-drawer plastic roll-around that was cheap but quite effective.</p>
<p>For D, who HAD to have her nightstand, we were able to find at the very-picked-over Target store a cheap tall bookshelf that only was about 1 foot wide but tall enough. She and roommate had a very tiny room, so finding something workable was a challenge. (Their room became one for Singles only the very next year!)</p>
<p>Her roommate’s parents sent an assemble-it-yourself tall nightstand a couple weeks later that actually was just perfect, but I don’t know where they got it.</p>
<p>The key is to find out if the beds are/can be lofted. Worth it for the extra space but somewhat challenging to figure out the nightstand issue.</p>
<p>Get a clip on lamp or a torchiere style lamp that bends down toward the reading surface. If you REALLY want to get decadent (and we have this in one of our bedrooms and it’s really nice…) get a sliding dimmer switch and stick it on the headboard. Yeah, baby.</p>
<p>One of my kids used the folding crate that we bought for storage at Bed Bath – upside down as a nightstand!</p>
<p>You can also get an inexpensive floor lamp (we bought one at Home Depot and one at Christmas Tree Shops - each about $20) that might fit next to a bed.</p>
<p>You could get something like this…it would serve as task lighting as well as ambient lighting.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=872140[/url]”>http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=872140</a></p>
<p>HINT: We have gone over to CFL lightbulbs in our house as well as for the kids when they go to school. They cost more, but you never have to worry about replacing them (for a long, long, long time)</p>
<p>there was a geat thread on this a year or so ago, but I can’t find it! Many suggested a lockable 2 drawer filing cabinet.</p>
<p>^That is what my d uses and it works great.^</p>
<p>IKEA had some small tables that don’t take up much room. Also, D used cheap little plastic table they sell at cvs or eckerds or everywhere, about 12 " square, white.</p>
<p>Sounds like you are describing a parsons table, Atlmom. When I was in college, I used 2 transfile drawers (cardboard file drawers) stacked on top of each other and attached together and covered with a small tablecloth. It gave me more storage and the drawers were not in plain sight. Worked great (but didnt lock, though didn’t seem to need that, way back when)</p>
<p>Clip on Lamp…check re: torchiere lamps as they are not permitted at some schools. DS and DD had clip on lamps. DS also put a “bedside lamp” on his fridge.</p>
<p>book case + floor lamp.</p>
<p>We got a clip on light from Target for S’s lofted bed.</p>
<p>Good point above - a lot of college dorms don’t allow halogen lamps due to the fire hazard. A lot of clip on and desk lamps are halogen so be sure to check.</p>
<p>Two milk crates, turned on their sides and stacked on top of each other. Becomes a nightstand with a shelf.</p>
<p>My son also has a floor lamp, and it’s NOT a halogen lamp. Target has some cool-looking ones.</p>
<p>Son and roommate put the fridge between their beds and it also functioned as a “nightstand.”</p>
<p>The tough part about all of this is that you really don’t know what you need or what will work until you get there on move-in day.</p>
<p>You really have to wait to see how your furniture will be arranged, as well as how much light is available from existing light fixtures.</p>