Back-to-School-Week -- Dream Dorm

For most of the folks I know around here and for me as well, school starts one week from today. I'll be joining the ranks of intrepid adjuncts at Dallas Baptist University, and since I teach freshmen, the air is bound to be filled with all the excitement of those first few days away from home. I had a lovely college experience, and my wonderful roommate and I maximized our tiny dorm space as much as we could. But if I were shopping for dorm supplies right now (and I could afford to splurge on some things), here are a few items that might be on my list:

1. Decorate those blah dorm walls with temporary, peel-and-stick removable wallpaper, like this one from Target.

2. Keep your coffee creamer and sodas cold with this affordable and adorable Igloo mini-fridge. It comes in seven different colors! Here it is at Wal-Mart.

3. Log those college memories with this Q&A a day for college journal, from modcloth.

4. World Market makes my favorite string lights, and I especially love these multi-colored tiny paper lanterns.

5. Here's a little secret: I loved my plastic milk crates so much that I had a hard time not incorporating them into my current decor, even though they're ugly. They are solid, versatile, make great bookshelves in a pinch, and at the end of the semester, they make carting your stuff away a snap. If I had to do it again, I might get these more flexible (but just as inexpensive) wooden crates, from wal-mart.

6. I want one of these crosley vintage alarm clock radios now. (You can plug your mp3 player into it, too).

7. One of the unexpected realities of dorm life was how useful those whiteboards on the outside of the dorm door were. I guess we weren't texting much back then. Anyway, this pretty chalkboard from Target is a nice upgrade.

8. Pillowcases that say meow on them -- because you can take the girl away from her cats, but you can't take the cat out of the girl. From modcloth.

9. This Bella single serve coffee maker is a super inexpensive coffee option if you can't stand to walk to the dining hall for your morning joe. Also, I'm pretty sure this would pass the "no-exposed-heating-elements" rule that my dorm had for appliances. Plus, it's cute, it comes in multiple colors, and the attractive mug is included.

10. I'll admit, this particular terry cloth robe, from Nordstrom, is a splurge. I mean, it costs about as much as the mini-fridge, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't actually buy it. That said, a quality terry cloth robe that will do the job of a towel and a sturdy cover-up is a MUST if you have communal bathrooms, especially if you ever find yourself, post-shower, locked out of your dorm room. (Not that such a thing has ever happened to me...)

And the most important dorm essential you can have? A wonderful roommate! (Love you, Karice! :))

All week long, I'll be featuring various "back-to-school" themed posts, so be sure to come back tomorrow.