This is a Homz Product sponsored post. Homz provided many of the items listed here. The opinions shared are my own.
My oldest child is a High School Senior and that means College in the Fall!! I am not sure which one of us is more shocked by this but in an attempt to keep everyone’s emotions in check, make sure my Baby Girl is comfortable and because I enjoy having a project to obsess about I am helping her plan her first dorm room. And, by “helping” I should probably admit I got a color scheme from her, and I have taken it and ran, fast! Trust me, she is thrilled not to think about it and embracing all of my ideas, and yes, she does have a say! The colors she chose are Blush Pink, Grey, Black & White, and it is going to be SO cute; I cannot wait to see it all come together.
She is the slightly more trepidacious of our two kids, she fears change and likes her creature comforts, so I knew to make this transition easier I should make sure her dorm is as comfy and homey as a cinder block room 72 miles away from home can be. She has met her future roommate on one of our visits, and they have talked and are both excited to room together, so that took a LOT of the anxiety away for her. I don’t know if it’ll match entirely or their room will coordinate, but they have shared their Dorm Pinterest Boards and love the same looks, phew!
This is an example of the traditional dorm room at Carthage College. They get a bed, three drawer dresser, small nightstand, desk and closet for each student. The fun is to make it your own, and I have enjoyed looking around online at lots of dorm inspiration photos.
I can design a room, think of smart ideas, research obsessively on Pinterest and Amazon and even do it on a budget but I cannot draw so, please, be gentle with me and my lack of artistic ability! I wanted to show you what I envision for her room, but they look like 4th-grade drawings (no offense to 4th graders!).
During one of our trips to Carthage College, we were able to see a Sample Dorm Room, and I could measure to my hearts’ content. The beds do not loft completely, but they do rise up to about waist height, so I knew under bed storage would be super helpful. I ordered a tall grey bed skirt so anything that does get stored under the bed will be hidden, making the room look less cluttered. Thanks to my collaboration with Homz Products, I was able to get several useful items to organize and store things in a tiny space.
One item from Homz that I think will come in really helpful is their Triple Laundry Sorter. We have a laundry sorter in the laundry room at home so I know my kids know how to use it (when prompted, ahem) and it’s a huge help; each bag holds a load worth of clothes, and I even have them embroidered with “whites”, “brights” and “darks” to make it really easy!
Then, when a sorter bag is filled, she can transfer it to the Homz Laundry Bag to take it down to the communal Laundry Room at the dorm. The bag also will hold a load of laundry and hang on her shoulder, so she doesn’t have to wrestle with a full laundry basket and detergent going up and down stairs.
The triple laundry sorter is on wheels and will easily roll under her bed so it will be tucked out of sight most of the time. The laundry bag can also store under the three sorter bags, so she knows right where it is. If she has items she doesn’t want to put in the dryer I got her a great Folding Drying Rack from Homz, and it’ll be perfect! It folds down to fit easily under her bed, and she can pull it out and set it up in front of her closet overnight so clothes can dry.
Now that laundry is addressed. Let’s talk storage! I got the Homz Three Drawer Wide Cart with Casters, and this will also reside under her bed. This will hold clothes because the wooden dresser that comes in the dorm is tiny. The dresser will also go under the bed. I know it sounds like a lot will be under the bed, but because the tall bed skirt will cover it all you’ll hardly notice, but she can store a ton and get to it easily. I couldn’t figure out how to show the under bed storage plan and add the grey bed skirt in my drawing so please imagine a cute grey bed skirt covering all of the stuff under there.
Here are my ideas for the closet:
The closet is small, and there are no doors so we bought a pair of white sheers from Ikea that will serve as “doors” by covering the clothes and still look pretty! Above the hanging bar is a shelf so we are going to get 3 Ikea storage baskets that can hold smaller items. These will look cute above the sheer curtains and contain lots of random things that would otherwise look messy. I got a cheap tension rod to hang the sheers, and I’ll be hemming them because they are too long, but an easy fix and it’ll look great. Also in the closet, she’ll have a Homz 5 Shelf Organizer that hangs from the closet bar. This will be perfect for holding folded sweaters and sweatshirts that would take up too much drawer space.
We also got a rod doubler from a friend, and I think this will be an awesome thing to have. It’s a small “closet rod” that hangs from the existing rod so you can hang two tiers of clothes, perfect to add more hanging space.
I also have a clever idea for the space between the beds, in front of the windows, that will double as their makeshift “kitchen” and nightstands, and I am really excited to see it come together. I found three cube storage pieces online at Walmart, and there will be one on each side, with a small dorm fridge between, and hopefully, a small microwave on top of the fridge.
I also found a simple white “tabletop” from Ikea that will go across both cube towers and make almost a little storage unit. Here we will again have a few of the same matching baskets from Ikea, and these can hold teabags, Easy Mac, snack bars, etc. They’ll want an occasional snack without wandering to the cafeteria so it’ll be nice to have a small pantry.
I don’t know yet if the girls will have a TV (I added one in the drawing just to show what it would look like), but I did get a pair of matching lamps somewhere online, and they were a total steal. They are mercury glass and will tie in the grey color plus add a bit of sparkle.
Let’s now talk about decorations because they are fun! I found a nice big rug also from Ikea that is only $99 and will make the floor cozier in Wisconsin Winters. We’ll put the rug centered in the room, and it’ll connect the two girls’ halves of the room. Madeleine wanted Pinks, Greys, Black & White for her colors, so I had a lot of fun pulling that all together. The jumping off point was this Euro Sham I found on Pottery Barn Teen and loved it. I then ordered a BIG Charcoal Grey monogram we’ll hang with Command Strips above her bed.
I then added a fuzzy grey lounger pillow, a super soft Minky Fabric body pillow cover from Etsy and a white nubby pillow from Ikea. I got the two feather inserts for the Euro shams at Ikea because they are really reasonable and the body pillow insert from Amazon. This cool grey storage cube will hold items out of sight as well as act as a footstool to help Madeleine get up onto her bed and an extra seat for friends. It collapses down into its own lid for easy transportation. We plan to get a down comforter and white Duvet cover from Ikea so her bed will be mostly white with throw pillows of various sizes in her colors of Pink, Grey & Black.
I know many will think I am nutty for putting so much thought into my daughter’s dormroom, but she and I are totally enjoying this bittersweet process. I am doing it for myself as much as for her. I cannot fathom her not being home with me all the time and can hardly talk about it but knowing she loves her school & her dorm, her home away from home, will help me feel a bit better. I have a bunch of other ideas for decorations, and we have a great collection of stuff in our Office to prove it, but I love looking at it and imagining it all coming together. We will be moving her on Labor Day weekend so watch for the official After photos, and you can see all of our ideas come together. I cannot wait to see it all set up.
It’ll be cozy, comfy & fabulous, just like home!! How are you preparing for college drop off? Let me know in the comments.