Decorate the Dorm Part 2!

Moving away for college is a huge life change, none of us know what to expect when we get there.  That is why we thought we would give you guys a few tips from our own experiences for things every dorm room needs!  We had so many ideas and suggestions from people in the office that we couldn't contain them all to one entry.  Check out Decorate the Dorm Part 1 here, and check out Part 2 below!

Coffee: The Most Important Meal of the Day
A Keurig Coffee System
Just Hook It To My Veins!
You are going to need coffee this year.  No one makes it through college without coffee.  Even with NO social life you'd be sleep deprived… and let's face it, you're going to have a healthy social life.  The problem is, buying coffee can be expensive.  Even if you buy just five small coffees a week (one a day on school days) from a coffee shop, you're going to spend hundreds of dollars a year on coffee alone.  Enter Keurig.

Keurig is IDEAL for college life for the following reasons: 

• It's small and compact (again, that whole "saving space" thing).
• You can get K-Cups (the little cups that magically turn water into delicious life-giving fresh brewed coffee) for 50 cents or less apiece.
• You don't have to deal with the dripping messy used filters filled with smelly coffee grounds that you get from a traditional coffee maker.  Do you really think you're going to want to walk down the hall to the garbage chute every morning with a soggy mass of brown sludge in your hands?  No.  So you're going to throw them in your dorm wastebasket, and within a few days you're going to be the guy with the mouldy stinky dorm.
• It's fresh brewed coffee, not instant.  Instant coffee is terrible.  It tastes gross, it has a fraction of the caffeine that brewed coffee has, and it has a chemical that is known to cause cancer in animals.  Stay away from instant coffee!
• Being the person with the Keurig machine is instantly going to make you the most popular person on the floor.  Instant way to make new friends.
• It comes in a variety of models to fit budgets and room sizes.  We prefer this one, it is definitely the best (people in Canada can find it here).  But the mini might be better for you if your room is really small (Again, Canadians can find the mini here).

Amazon always has the best deals for Keurig machines.  Especially because of the free shipping.
In the USA you can find Keurig here.
In Canada you can find Keurig here.


With How Popular You'll Be, You're Gonna Need This
A Way To Get/Receive Messages
This one is similar to the dry erase board from Part 1, but  with a different purpose!

What if that cutie on the floor above you drops by and you're in class?  If you don't have one of these on your door, you'll have missed your chance to get their number!

We like this one because it comes in assorted sizes you can cut out and put wherever you want (or leave it all in one sheet if that's what you prefer, we're not the boss of you!)



Stick one on the outside of your door for people to leave you messages.

Stick one on the inside of your door to remind yourself not to forget your laptop charger this time!
Stick one on the fridge to tell your roommate to keep their hands off your yogurt.
Stick one on your ceiling to give yourself something to fall asleep thinking about or a daily affirmation to wake up to.
Stick 'em anywhere and write anything you want!


Captain Hook
Self-Adhesive Hooks
Be A Hooker In College
The number one thing we can't live without in our office.  In our space, much like it will be in your dorm, we are not allowed to drill into the drywall to hang things, which left us with a lot of jackets thrown over chairs and the like.  Then we discovered these little guys.  Honestly, they're amazing.  You can stick them on any surface and instantly have a place to hang things.

Looking around the office right now, we have them on the back of every door, on walls, on the backs of chairs, and we have three stuck side by side next to our wall calendar to hold pens.

A quick poll of the office shows that people here use them:

• In bathrooms to hang towels
• In bedrooms to hang clothes
• By doors to hang coats
• In closets to hang scarves
• In hallways to hang picture frames
• In kitchens to hang dish towels
• On doors to hang full-length mirrors

Honestly, these hooks are a godsend for those of us who can't (or don't want to) drill into their walls:

In USA you can find hooks here.

In Canada you can find hooks here.

BACKDOOR HOOKER
Over Door Hooks
Or Try Being a Backdoor Hooker Instead
These little guys are going to save your life.  They hook over the top of your door, giving you 6 hooks to hang your stuff on (while still allowing the door to close & lock as normal).  When space is as limited as it is in a dorm, 6 hooks out of nowhere is going to change your world.  These can be an alternative to the self-adhesive hooks mentioned above, but we prefer to use them in addition to the self-adhesive hooks.  You might be noticing a theme in these articles:  Space is at a premium!

In USA, look at back door hooks here.
In Canada, look at back door hooks here.


From Captain Hook to Captain America

Marvel Fathead
Avengers Assemble!  
There is nothing bigger than superhero movies right now.  And, by extension, there is nothing bigger than comic books right now.  Similar to the Yoda mural mentioned in Part 1, it's hip to be into comic books these days.

Are you DC or are you Marvel?
Who is stronger, Thor or Hulk?
Who wins in a fight, Batman or Superman?

Proudly display your allegiance for the whole dorm to see (and  catch the eye of the adorable nerd next door).

How crazy is this?  We had so many ideas for ways to prepare your dorm for college that it's spilled over into three entries.  Part 1 is here.  You just read Part 2.  And this will be edited into a link for Part 3 once Part 3 is finished!

In the meantime, we'd love it if you guys would head over to Twitter and let us know how you think we're doing.  Also, please give us ideas for future entries, or ask whatever questions you like about college and university life!

Hey guys.  Just a heads up, in order for us to use the image of the Keurig & hooks we have linked up there we became Amazon.com and Amazon.ca affiliates.  This means if you buy from them through that link, we get a very small commission.  This is a good thing for us (and for you because Keurigs rock), but we wanted to be sure we were totally up front with you about it!