Back To School, The Non-Essentials That Are Sweet to Have Anyway

My last post was about all the stuff you'd probably like to have for your dorm room. It's all stuff I have for my own. They're pretty much the basics that any incoming freshman would be shopping for. This post, instead of being about what you probably need is about what you probably would like to have. It's basically all about the decoration aspect, which to me is the most fun. These are just some tips and ideas to make your room fun, comfortable, and overall just nice to be in.

We're going to do this bullet-ed list style just for simplicity's sake.

• Scented oils. I like to walk into a nice smelling room after class or a workout everyday. Considering the amount of running/hiking/rollerskiing/skiing I do during the school year I tend to have a lot of dirty clothes in the pile at any given time. I used a Yankee Candle Reed Diffuser to make sure that my room smelled nice (vanilla lime to be exact) at all times. (You can also go with something like a Glade Plug-In or Febreze)

• Lights. A lot of people like to have a string of Christmas lights around the room just for decoration. I have a string of paper lanterns that I put along the wall my bed. Freshman year my bed was lofted and I wasn't anywhere near the light switch. At night I'd turn on my lanterns, turn off the light, get into bed, and unplug the lanterns so that I didn't kill myself climbing up when my roommate wasn't around to turn off the overhead light.

• Posters. Show off what you love while filling in white space on your wall. Websites like allposters.com have all kinds of posters. You'll be able to find pretty much anything you're looking for.

• Power Strips. While most rooms have a decent amount of outlets most people find that there aren't enough or the placement of the outlets isn't exactly helpful. Having a power strip or two can solve this problem.

• Pictures. Some people have a couple of pictures on their desks or by their beds. Others completely cover the walls in them. As a first year it's nice to have a reminder of home in the room. One idea I used in my room was to put a poster board on my wall. As the year went on I took more pictures from time spent with friends. Every so often I'd develop the pictures and add to the poster. At the end of the year I had a collage from my entire sophomore year. Also, when I transferred to SMC I found a big picture frame at a craft store and made a collage from my ex-school. When my friends came to visit they all counted how many pictures of themselves I had included and bragged when they happened to have more than someone else.

• Chalk. Last year the suite across from mine had a big mural on their wall that they had all drawn together in colorful sidewalk chalk. I thought it was a really cool idea. Make sure chalk will wash off of your walls easily before you start anything major though.

• Curtains. Curtains to cover boring blinds make the room more happy. I also saw one person hang them in the corner of the room and hang Christmas lights down behind them to make the room brighter.

• Crates. I use stack-able plastic crates to move into my room and then stack them one on top of the other on top of my desk for shelves for my books and snacks.

• Nintendo 64. This is mostly for my friend Adam (I'm sure any guy who would consider bringing this or any other system does not need me to remind them to bring it) who commented on my last post saying this would be an essential. You would not believe the amount of Mario Kart I watched my freshman year. Boys.

I can't believe I only have three weeks left at the Tyler Place. I'm excited for pre-season and to be back at SMC, but at the same time I don't want summer to end. It's insane that it's August already, but I'm definitely going to enjoy what's left of summer!