College Move-In, First Days, and Dorm Decoration

Two days ago, I moved into my dorm, so I thought I'd make a post about it.  I don't have a ton to say.  Move-in day was pretty seamless for me because I was moving in early because I am in a Fine Arts Living Learning Community, so I was already moving in early.  Not only that, but about half my floor had already moved in even a few days earlier because many of them are in marching band or were rushing.  We pulled up and unloaded everything into a shopping cart that they had available to use.  It took about two trips, but we got everything up to my room and then I started unpacking.  The most organizing you'll have to do is with clothing items and bathroom/sink stuff.  Once you get everything unloaded, then comes the fun part...making the space your own.  I'll just post some pictures and caption with what I did.

Bed space!  Bring stuffed animals if you want...lots of people do and no one cares one way or the other.  Pick a fun comforter.  And then personalize it.  I have artsy friends so I had some canvases to hang (with command strips!!!), but then I also hung some twine with command hooks and used clothespins to put up lots of fun pictures, which you can see here.

Desk.  My desk had drawers, so I put most of my school stuff in there so I could decorate.  I put up lots of pictures again, as you can see, and I used fun mugs like my Tonight Show mug and a New York cup to hold pencils.  I also decorated it with lots of knickknacks which made it feel more like home.  My desk lamp and alarm clock are top left. 

This is the side of my desk which I use as an example of how you can really personalize everything.  I used dorm tape (made by the "mavalous" brand) to attach pictures here, and while I don't have a picture of my wardrobe or the drawers under my bed, I plan to eventually put some pictures there too.

Picture that shows most of the room.

The first few days have been interesting, because there haven't been a ton of activities planned.  The first day was kind of rough because after my parents left, I just sat in my dorm and finished putting pictures up and read some of my summer reading.  I met a few of the girls on my hall, but, like I said, many of them are rushing or in marching band so there weren't a ton of people around, which was hard.  I have a couple of friends from high school that I've met up with.  We agree it's kind of hard to make friends.  But there was an ice cream social the first night where I really got to meet some people, and we had another event where we painted canvases last night.  Each day gets easier.  There was a group of five of us that ordered pizza and then we grabbed a couple other girls and went to a movie night on campus, so yesterday was a lot less lonely.  I don't have too much advice yet, except that it is a transition, which obviously I am still in the middle of.  But having lots of pictures and things from home decorating your new home definitely helps make things feel more comfortable and less unknown.