Cool For School

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, August, 2000 by Jane Bennett Clark

GEAR | The space may be minuscule, but when OUTFITTING A DORM ROOM, you needn't settle for Spartan stuff.

BEASTIE BOYS poster. Animal-print sheets. Translucent-green cordless phone. Collapsible crates. You didn't think a college freshman could get by with just a trunk and a desk lamp, did you?

In fact, decking out the dorm room with just the right stuff gives many kids their first shot at sanctuary and self-expression, a matter hardly confined to the basic necessities. Kristina Millhiser, a sophomore at Guilford College, in Greensboro, N.C., set the tone for her freshman year by swathing an alcove with bubble-wrap curtains (complete with sign saying, "In case of emergency, pop bubbles"), papering a wall with multicolored Post-its and putting up a white board for her daily to-do list: "It kept me so sane." Of the shoebox-size space she shared with a roommate, she says, "No matter what was going on outside my room, my room was me and where I could go. It was my home."

Yet college freshmen aren't the only ones who consider dorm decor serious business: Merchandisers such as Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond and the Container Store are vying for a piece of the $100-billion student market by pitching comfort and cool in everything from linens and lighting to storage and school supplies. A starter kit can easily top $500, including $200 for office and desk supplies (not counting a computer, of course) and $300 for sheets, storage, furnishings and small appliances.

Before checking out the best buys below, plan ahead: You'll spend more wisely if you check with the college first about room dimensions, fixed furniture and appliances that may already come with the room. And remember that roommates come with their own baggage. Says Karen Feldbaum, associate director of residence life at Pennsylvania State University: "You don't need to bring two TVs, two stereo systems, two beanbag chairs."

Sleeping upstairs

WITH FLEA-SIZE floor space the rule in most dorm rooms, many students consider loft beds a necessity. "It's pretty typical on opening day to hear saws and hammers--people constructing lofts throughout the residence halls," says Feldbaum. Loft kits, which cost $234 from TheDormStore.com (www .thedormstore.com) and maybe $140 (with lumber) at big-box home stores, raise beds up to five feet off the floor, freeing space for a desk or a futon.

But crashing uphill can be a pain after you've pulled an all-nighter, say upperclassmen, and that inconvenience seems to build over time. "Most freshmen have lofts, but eventually they get rid of them," says Dave Cavill, an incoming senior at Penn State. Before buying a new kit, check to see if you can recycle someone else's. An even cheaper alternative to squeeze out space: Set the bed on cinder blocks to gain a few extra inches.

Lying down with leopards

MANY--BUT NOT ALL--dorm beds require extra-long (80-inch) bedding, available in back-to-school sets in department and mass-merchandise stores. Duvets have it over blankets because they're easy to wash, an important feature if your bed will occupy a corner of party central. Animal-print bedding is "very trendy" this year, says Bari Fagin of Bed Bath & Beyond, which sells leopard-print extra-long twin sets for $40 and matching duvet covers for $40. As for towels, a set of five should suffice, with over-the-door hooks for hanging them from the Container Store ($10 for a six-hook rack).

You may want to try to match your bedding to a carpet remnant, which not only cushions the floor but also "warms up the room and has a sound-barrier quality," says Kevin Helmkamp of the University of Wisconsin housing office. Some student organizations sell remnants on campus and may be able to find you a rug that already fits the room. If not, check out carpet pieces at Wal-Mart, which will run about $20.

Improv is alive and well on some college campuses: "When I need extra seating, I sit on my hamper," says one Sarah Lawrence student. For a more formal arrangement, look for a lightweight butterfly chair ($40 at Target) or inflatable furniture, such as the chair-ottoman-pillow combination at Bed Bath & Beyond ($20). You might also want to substitute a comfortable desk chair for the standard-issue straight one. Get a chair with wheels, "and you can roll down the hall with it," says Millhiser.

Looking at lighting

THERE IS NO RULE against halogen lights at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., "but we do alert students that they've been known to cause fires," says William Tempelmeyer of the housing department. Other schools may prohibit the torchiers but allow halogen desk lamps.

Whatever the case, you'll need to supplement the bulb on the ceiling, especially for task lighting. A violet translucent desk lamp from Staples runs $20; Target sells a gooseneck lamp with a double neck for $50. For atmosphere, go with a feather-shaded table lamp from Target for $20, or try a 9-foot tube of lights from Bed Bath & Beyond ($15), which snakes around bedposts and up walls.