I’ve spent
the majority of my college years in a single room – a dorm room. I like living
in Residence at my school because it’s just across the parking lot, so I never
have to go very far or long to get to class, and it has essentially everything
I need within in reach. As much as I like exploring, when I’m at school I’m
very busy pretty much all the time so being able to get things quickly and
easily is very important.
But living in a dorm can come with
drawbacks too. First thing’s the lack of room: I get my own room as well as a kitchenette
and a bathroom, so I’m actually lucky. I’ve had friends who’ve had much less.
My parent’s house is also far away, which means that when I come to school
every year I can’t pack much, only the necessities. My first year, I spent the
entire summer worrying about what to bring, what I would need and what would
take up too much room and just be useless. Now that I’ve had some experience, I
think I finally got it right, and found that balance between what I need and
what makes the place I have to live in for 8 months feel like home.
So, here’s a mini tour of my dorm!
We’ll start with the wardrobe side
of my room. Storage space is very limited in dorms, you most likely won’t get
shelves or dressers, and there probably won’t be much room to put any extra
furniture. I get two drawers with my desk, which I use to put things like
sweaters in, big things that take up a lot of room. For little things like
socks I have these storage cubes. Though I kind of wish I had pink ones now to
match my colour scheme… If you’re that kind of person, picking a colour scheme
or ‘theme’ for your dorm can help a lot in making things look put together. I
obviously like pink. Even my luggage matches – unintentional, I swear! I use my
luggage as extra storage space and impromptu furniture.
As you can see, I was given a TV with my dorm, which is very
nice but I’m not a TV person, so I had my dad get it off my desk and out of the
way for me. I also have this fuzzy rug that I love. Very nice in those cold
mornings rolling out of bed and going to class. I could write a whole post on
my wardrobe alone, and I probably will, so I’ll leave the details of that for
some other time.
Let’s talk about my bed. Blankets and sheets and stuff can be
expensive, but it’s worth it to buy yourself some nice stuff when you go to
school. Leave the old worn blankie you’ve used forever at home. And always buy
an extra set of sheets and pillowcases, and an extra warm blanket. I have one
my grandma knitted for me, but it’s not in this picture because it’s not cold
enough for it yet. My sheets and pillow cases are actually an amalgam of
different sets I’ve owned over the years. Oh and I have a fuzzy blanket to
match my rug. I never bring stuffed animals, so I have to make up for the
fuzziness somehow. I don’t recommend bringing stuffed animals or figures or
anything either, but I know not everyone has the willpower I do…
Here’s the desk side of my room. The desk came with my room,
as did the lamp and the phone on the left corner. Being a writer and a drawer,
I need a lot of desk space as well as places to put my materials and whatnot. I’ve
tried to divide my desk up into two sections, one for personal stuff and one
for work stuff, with open space in the middle for my computer and for my note/sketchbooks.
If you’re lucky enough to get a lamp from your dorm, it will
not be enough. At least not for reading, writing, or studying. Get another desk
lamp that gives really good light. And get some organizational things, because
if you’re like me, you’ll try to organize on your own and in a week everything
will be in a giant pile. Right now, all my school stuff is in the middle, and
all my comics stuff is in the two standee things on the sides. I also brought
some books from home – every year I try not to because my teachers usually give
me enough to read, but this year I didn’t have any fiction courses so I brought
my own. And there are some pictures of my family.
On the other side is the personal side of my desk. That’s my jewellery
box, makeup bag, and my hair stuff. Underneath my desk I keep my printer and my
art kit, with all my drawing materials and extra notebooks. There’s my Zombies calendar above them – let’s see
what else is on my walls.
Above my desk is my “inspiration board.” Over course every
wall is an inspiration board to me, but since I do all my writing and drawing
at my desk, these are all images relating to that. As you can see, I’m working
on something relating to churches. And I’m not working on anything relating to
Nirvana. I also have a flyer I found on the ground for a show featuring a band
I like (but didn’t get to go to, sadly,) and my autographed Adventure Time poster. The cross-shaped
bunch of pics is on the wall at the end of my bed. I have another fashion
related inspiration board beside my closet, featuring some of my style icons,
so I always have ideas for what to wear. And finally, above my bed, I have glow
in the dark stars I got at the dollar store. I love them so much.
I didn’t take any pictures of the kitchen or the bathroom
because they’re both pretty boring; I mostly just try to keep my stuff out of
the way instead of making it look “stylish,” hahaha. But, I will show you my
fancy mug collection. I believe everyone should have a huge collection of
drinking apparatuses. This is mine so far – and you can tell I took it after
doing the dishes because my Toxic Boy
mug is on the shelf – in the other pics I was drinking tea out of it! My
grandma gave me the pink one on the right, it has cats all over it and it was
my favourite one to drink out of when I was little. And in front are my dinosaur
salt and pepper shakers.
Well, that’s the tour! Now I can go back to living in the
mess this place usually looks like.
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