Friday, August 15, 2008

OMG my room is naked!

A few tips to dress up your space.

An old comforter, temperamental alarm clock, and beaded curtains that proved far more trouble than they were worth: basically, my freshman year dorm decorating scheme.
I laughed all-knowingly as peers raced to Target and online sites like rhl.org for things they had obviously lived without just fine up until college season.
But now I find myself entering junior year with the insatiable need to purge myself of all my old crap and figure out how to create a comfortable living space like everyone else did freshman year.

So, to freshman, and all other ambitious redecorators, some suggestions:

1. Good bedding


My roommate came to college with the most comfortable down comforter I’ve ever had the fortune to come in contact with and now, after two years of active envying, I’m getting one too!

After a lot of research, I’ve learned you can get high-quality down comforters for $30-$50 on eBay and Overstock.com.


*Get a duvet cover (pillowcase for your comforter) if you are prone to spilling things.

Pick up a comfortable body pillow or arm chair, and you’ll honestly never want to get out of bed (which may or may not be a good thing).

2. iHome Alarm Clock/Radio


It’s worth it, if only to hear something other than that hideous default alarm beep on your cell phone.
Get it for $60 from Office Max (I know it’s weird, but who can complain about half price?)

It’s great to have background noise on when your friends are over and the sound quality is so much better than your laptop speakers.

Sometimes you can score a good deal on eBay too. I’d give you a link, but eBay tells me I’m “currently the highest bidder” and I’m feeling a bit territorial :).

3. IKEA


I just spent the last half hour browsing through my 2009 catalog. By far the best place to for really cheap (but good quality) brightly-colored sheets, towels, organizers, and kitchen supplies.

Hope this helped! Feel free to leave questions/suggestions~!

11 comments:

stearsdfrlk said...

Ikea and "high quality" are phrases that should not be in the same sentence.

Emily Berger said...

Haha, had a bad experience maybe?

I know this guy who won a plastic chair from Ikea in a raffle. No one really liked anything about the chair other than the fact it was free.

Maybe you have a plastic chair, but unlike that guy, had to pay for it?

I, on the otherhand, am soon to be the proud owner of a 17 piece tupperware set. I'll let you know how it is.

Anonymous said...

high quality down comforter for $50? .... decent goose down comforters (350 thread count) start at $380

Anonymous said...

Eh, thats ok.. I got a cool neon sign for my dorm at collegepad.com

Emily Berger said...

retail, you're right anonymous. but you can (and SHOULD)be paying less than retail price.
i'd probably recommend overstock.com if you're looking for a high tc and goose down percentage.
but ebay should be pretty alright if you are like me and just excited by the prospect of something other than cotton.
Basically, you're paying 30-50 for a comforter regardless so may as well upgrade a little is my suggestion.

keschrad said...

I would fully agree with this list of must-haves. My down comforter (high quality fake down) with ikea duvet cover (they have more exciting patterns than target) is my favorite thing in my room, and I wake up every morning to my iHome, which makes getting up so much nicer.

Happy back to school season!

Emily Berger said...

Glad to hear it anonymous! That's exactly how I hope to wake up this year :).

Emily Berger said...

oops, that wasn't anonymous-- I'm glad to hear it Kristin :)

Anonymous said...

And while its not very "GW" - there's a bus that goes from the College Park Metro stop to the IKEA in MD. While its a bit tougher to get back bigger pieces of furniture, their household stuff is quite managable.

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