Ultimate Guide to Essential Dorm Room and First Apartment Must-Haves for Students

We have been a Longhorns family for a few years now, and I'm still loving all of the burnt orange, baby! We know a lot of you are preparing for your kids to leave the nest in the next two months, so today I'm highlighting a few things that I have discovered are essential in this new stage of college life for a parent's piece of mind (and adulting for them)!

Don't worry, I've linked a bunch of things at the end of this post, and most of the things I've selected for my guys also come in multiple colors and various school colors besides burnt orange and UT, ha!

Essential Dorm Room and First Apartment Must-Haves

Here's a look back into my concept boards and shopping lists, including dorm room ideas and essentials to get my sons ready for dorm life at UT in Austin (they were obviously thrilled to have their mom get super excited about designing their dorm room space, she says sarcastically...) but you can tweak yours according to your kids' school colors or mascots.

Designer Tip: A dorm room is such a small space so pick one of the two largest focal points, either the bedding or the area rug, as your jumping off point. Using the UT mascot Bevo stuffed longhorn as my inspiration, I ran with pops of orange amid a more neutral palette of grays in their room.

Dark Rugs

Yes, light color rugs can be so beautiful. But trust me, dark rugs and dark bath mats will last a lot longer, especially if your kids aren't the laundry once a week type. I'd like to believe that we've trained them to be, and they were reminded of this until we drove away at drop off (and beyond)! The one you see above is indoor/outdoor and low pile, so it's easy to clean and vacuum. We were able to use a 5 x 7 in their room and ended up donating it at the end of the school year since it was still in great shape but this size didn't work at their new apartment.

Also on the list is a stick vacuum that separates to become a "dust buster" handheld vac. They both reported that it came in handy during the school year and they still use it at their new digs.

Pillow Headboards

I didn't know until a fellow Mom-friend told me that these "pillow headboards" existed or that we needed them (in my defense, I always lived off campus at UGA and never in the dorms). Dorm room bed frames have the bare minimum, and that means no headboard of any sort these days. The triangular cushions ( bottom left above and linked below) give the illusion of a headboard, but also create a supportive place to sit up in bed and study or eat, or even to put under their feet, a bonus since space is at a premium.

Fans

Y'all know this Texas weather can be nuts - small-scale fans are a must! My peep April gifted a set of these fans to our boys for graduation. Having sent her two boys off already, I leaned on her tremendously as to what they might need. As usual, she knows her stuff...these are remote-controlled and rotating. I may have "borrowed" one to use until they leave, you know - just to test it out. Bottom line: they're genius! Order one for yourself and your student!

Organization with the Space You Have

Cloth organizers will be the unsung heroes of any dorm room, I'll go ahead and predict. We purchased a few for each bed to act like hanging nightstands so they don't have to climb out of their bunks to get things off their desks, or off the floor. I found another cloth organizer you can drape over the mini fridge that is great for dry condiments, snacks, flatware, and anything else food-related.

You might hold off buying under-bed storage items until you actually see the space and decide if you can or even want to loft the beds in the room. When our guys moved into their dorm, the beds were already lofted so we left them in place, moved their small existing dressers (included with their room) underneath as side tables of sorts, and then purchased small foldable papasan chairs (linked below) to make a secondary study area underneath. These actually made it over to the new apartment as well and are on track to make it through all four years of undergrad living.

Two Sets for Textiles

They will have no excuse not to have clean towels and sheets - one set on the bed and in the bathroom, and one on standby when that set is being washed. I even ordered two shower curtains...one to cover the plain liner that comes with the room, and the other in a different colorway that will cover the doorway of their long open closet area that's directly across from their shared private bath.

However, the second shower curtain didn't quite cover it, so scratch that recommendation for that purpose. My boys both agreed it was more for me than them, and they didn't see themselves ever closing off the curtain once I left the building. I get their point, but personally I thrive on hiding visual clutter, so if you really want to cover an open closet area, you might instead opt for inexpensive long curtain panels with grommet tops and use either a long tension rod or pole using command strip hooks.

Command Strips + Suction Cups

Dorms are very strict about no holes in the walls, so command strips and suction cup hooks will come in VERY handy. You can use these to hang curtain rods or makeshift tension rods to cover up the closet (if yours also don't have doors to contain the chaos like theirs). I found organizers that hang using suction for their shower and sink areas, plus a rolling shelving bin that we ended up using to hold cleaning supplies and TP. Lucky for them they had a couple of built in shelves around their room (yep, while they chose to go to the same school, I insisted on the same dorm room for their first year away...at least they know the habits of their roommate after all) and the plastic storage bins you see above top left helped keep their clutter contained and organized.

Designer tip: bring your label maker for those bins!

IKEA-esque Bags

These bags are such a great size, and we were able to carry a few at a time per person as they moved in since they have both handles on the top and straps along the bottom to convert them like a backpack. I can see them even using these for laundry when the pile gets particularly tall. I do like these a bit better than the standard IKEA bag because they are able to be closed as well, plus they come in a variety of colors and patterns. #winwin You could also use these to store out-of-season clothes under their beds.

Note: I've since bought multiple packs of these for styling days and general organization around the office. They're NLI favs for sure.

Hanging Closet Organizers

These are great for maximizing space, and you can fold shirts, jeans, and sweaters in the cubbies if your dressers are full. The one I linked to below is the same one I used in my own closet refresh a while back, where I also used fabric "drawers" inside the organizers for out-of-season clothes, like sweaters, or in a dorm room, you could organize socks, undies, or other smalls. The choice is yours.

Here's a handy printable checklist for you, but definitely do your own research and see if your kids' dorm or apartment comes with any of the items below, and also ask about measurements of the room and the bed before you start adding to your shopping cart. Their dorm at UT comes with its own fridge and microwave, along with XL mattresses and the furniture itself (twin XL bed, desk and chair, and small dresser).

Apartment Living

Most of the items from their first year door room moved right on in to their first apartment. The cloth closet organizers, fans, two sets of soft goods, organizers for bed and bathrooms are all going strong in their new space.

What didn't work? Well, as mentioned above, we donated their twin XL bedding and the small area rug we used between their bunks. They decided to rent furniture from their apartment complex (I know, I can't even) so we upgraded to full size bedding.

I did do an emergency e-design plan for them in hopes they'd reconsider the rental furniture but alas they stuck with the commitment out of deference to their other roommates. I did buy them a larger area rug for their living room and a new shoe organizer since their old dorm one gotten accidentally left behind on move out day.

One of the main reasons they wanted out of the dorm and into apartment living was the lure of having their own kitchen. It's true, both of our older sons love to cook so we upgraded their kitchen accoutrement including a new set of dishware and utensils, plus cookware, and gadgets galore.

I've had this question before in DM's so I'll mention it here. We've run the numbers and for our guys, its about the same price to live in a dorm with a full meal plan versus living off campus in an apartment. What we spent on meal plans their first year now goes to their monthly budget for groceries. It's a tradeoff really and while at the end of their first year, I admit that I begged them to stay in their dorm, they had plans of their own. My mom heart wanted them closer to campus and what I thought was easier for them to maneuver but they were telling me loud and clear with their actions that they were ready for more and I just needed to get out of their way.

Now as they soon begin their third year off at school, I will tell you that I am super proud of them living on their own and how they handle a budget and daily adulting skills like grocery shopping and paying bills. Bottom line: you know your kid(s) better than anyone else so listen to your gut but also listen to your kids when y'all are trying to decide the best way to forge ahead into adulting while living away from home during college. It's hard but as a wise person reminded me, it's my job to grow them in my nest but also to let them go fly on their own.

I hope this list helps you prepare if you've got peeps leaving the nest like me! Two down and one more to go soon. We'll all hug virtually as we make it through this transition time as parents - reach out if you need to commiserate with someone else who knows what you're going through :) You got this!

More of Our Favorite Essential Dorm Room and First Apartment Must-Haves

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