My daughter lofted her bed when she lived in the dorms. She used the space under the loft for a study area. She had a comfy butterfly chair, a couple of clip on lights that she clipped to the springs under the bed for lighting. She had a tray table that she could pull up to her for a work surface. She also had space for a night stand under there that she used to store supplies (pens, pencils, paper clips, printer paper, etc.).

I know other girls used that space to place a futon for people to sit on when they came to visit but my daughter preferred her cozy space to read and get work done.

I'm not sure if your daughter will have a roommate or how big her room is but my daughter had a roommate and there really wasn't much space for extras. But it was possible to make it homey with bedding, pillows, bulletin boards for pinning up photos, etc.

Ohhhh... you're making me wish I had a girl! I'm pretty sure my son is planning on decorating his dorm room with piles of dirty laundry and potato chip crumbs.

Too funny happyto. My son just finished his first year and couldn't have cared less about the decor- as long as it had a tv and speakers he was happy. The dirty laundry and food grunge was the icing on the cake.

ticker, I know that rate my space has a dorm section, but I don't know how active it is. wig

When DD went to college she planned everything out to the last detail and it looked great. When DS went to college he just wanted a frig for "drinks"!

I don't have any practical advice except to "go up". DD used a small metal shelving unit that was about 5 ft. tall to hold food and kitchen items. She also had a small shelving unit in the bathroom to share w/ roommate for necessary items.

I'll never forget when we moved DD into her first dorm room and just left everything in piled in the floor thinking she will never find a place for everything. Then we went back the next morning and she had put everything away, found a place for everything and even hung posters on the wall. She made it her home in less than 24 hours! Needless to say I cried all the way home!! That was 7 years ago and I still miss her.

If your daughter has a roomate, you may want to let them decide what they want to do with their furniture when they move in. I had all sorts of ideas, but my DD and her roomate freshman year and the roomate in sophomore year had their own ideas and it looked and worked great for them. Both my DD and her roomates color choices were just about the same- pink and green and were so fun for them.

Here you go. There's quite a few here to look at. Have fun Mom! You are so going to miss her!

Here is a link that might be useful: Rate My Space Dorm Rooms

Have you checked Pottery Barn Teen catalog for ideas? I think I saw some dorm stuff in their latest issue. It was wasted on DS though -- he's insisting on taking his Mickey Mouse comforter that he got for his first big boy bed at age 3.

~Find out about the dorm rooms, first. My son would have appreciated a loft bed, but their rooms were miniscule and they were required to use the single beds already in there. A loft bed is a great use of space, if she has the room, though. Just have her check with her roomie first.
~ one set of easy-to-wash sheets. Seriously, they take them off (occasionally) and like to wash them with their clothes and put them right back on their beds. Two or more sets are a waste of space they don't have!
~ most dorms require that students use only putty to hang up posters, etc.
~ many dorms won't allow any candles, hot plates or halogen lights.
~ most girls will use and appreciate the closet storage items; my son only cared about his dorm fridge, cell phone, computer and printer, his mw and his music!
~ DS used his dorm fridge as a nightstand, which worked out good for him. Another idea for a double-duty nightstand is a locking 2-drawer file cab. He used that starting his sophomore year when he moved with his buddies into a campus apartment. Locks can be a very good thing!
~ I love all of LemonPoppy's suggestions. The butterfly chair can close up and be stored under the bed or in the closet when not needed. Keep them on the small side, though.
~ a small sewing kit with extra buttons in a easy to store container. . . with pre-threaded AND knotted needles in white, navy and black if it's for a guy ;^P !!!!
~ don't forget an under bed storage box . . . if one will fit under the bed. Two smaller ones might work better, as DS liked to store his snacks in one.
~ a small microwave is great to have for late night studying (at least, that's what we all hope they're doing, don't we?!?) as well as quick breakfasts. DS brought one and I bought him a mug, bowl, plate and a spatter shield to use in it. I sent him monthly "care packages" filled with individual packets of mac & cheese, popcorn, soups, breakfast bars, turkey jerkey and cereals and he went thru a lot of them, event though he had his meal ticket, as well. They do like to eat a lot!
~ headphones for anything that'll keep herroomie up while she's listening. DS's first roommate watched movies all night, every night ~ without headphones~ that freshman year! Needless to say, that kid never made it thru college.
~ check out RMS for more ideas.

I just graduated one - and Lynn's advice is quite "right on".

*Find out if your college is like others and have gone to the "extra long" twin sized beds. BB&B and Target both carry those sheets, but Wal-Mart does NOT.

*Make sure that the rooms are allowed to have the refrig and microwave that they all want. Some older buildings can't handle the extra draw on the electricity required by that many extra appliances.

*My daughter SWORE by those "space bags".

*If you don't want to haul the stuff home every summer, start finding out NOW what the college/university's storage rules are. My DD1's college said she could store stuff in the basement of one of the dorms, but when it came down to it, they refused. (And we live 1800 miles away, so sending it home was not an option.)

*Speaking of shipping - if you have to ship, we had TERRIBLE luck with Brown. FedUp was a better option for us. YMMV.

*Don't get too excited about decorating. My daughter had 8 semesters in college, and 8 different (sets of) roommates. Provide what your kid needs and hopefully the roommates can work everything out themselves. Remind your student that the roommate they have first semester will probably NOT be their roommate for 4 years.

As for lofting the bed - some colleges have definite rules about that. My DD1 did that several times but always lived in hopes that the college would NOT come to inspect, as she would be told to TAKE IT OFF THE BLOCKS that lofted it!

DonnaR/CA

Thanks everyone for their input. Yep don't know which is more depressing the thought of her leaving me or the idea I'm heading out to shop for her dorm today - I hate shopping. Target had a wonderful mailer today which inspired me. Daughter was torn about how to decorate and whether to be matchy matchy with roommate. They chose potluck for roommate and I think they both decided to each have their own style vs. matching just to be on the safe side in case it doesn't work out. So one hurdle down. I can't begin to imagine how all this stuff is going to fit in that room. In my day we didn't have microwaves period..and no one had a frig in their dorm room. Thanks again for all the advice!

Similar to what Donnar has advised:

Before you start that shopping list, remember that everything you send with her and to her you will also have to shlep back home. Plus add in all the stuff she will get on her own through the course of the year (more clothes from shopping trips with her new friends, more CDs, all her books that she will THINK she needs to keep, the souvenirs from this party or that party, the 10 new caps and hoodies with her new college emblem on them, the extra school supplies...)

That piece of advice comes from someone who recently helped her nephew clear out his dorm room (and it was a very small room!). We had BOXES of stuff, extra suitcases filled with clothes...

Also: Make sure you wash new sheets before she takes them to school, to get the sizing and "package" smell out of them. (Trust me on that one)
And be sure that she has tried out the sleeping pillow she's taking. A brand-new one that she has trouble getting used to the first week in the dorm will not be a pleasant start for her.

Oh, and you should brush up on laptop safety with her. And room safety. She wants to make sure that she and her roommate are on the same page there unless they want their stuff to walk off.

One thing I really liked in college was the bolster reading pillow, for studying in bed. (I think my desk became just a storage thing; I never studied at it!)

Lofting is awesome. Both of my kids did this in their dorm rooms and it really changed the functionality of their spaces for the better (to echo the earlier posts, including a place for my son to hide all of his dirt, clutter and potato chips). We were also looking for new bedding for my daughter's room this year and just came across a really cool site: www.dormsuitedorm.com
There are a limited number of collections but they are all very trendy and have something for everyone. My daughter really liked Village Girl which is kind of an updated take on preppy pink and green. In this case the pink is a little more mauvey and the green a little more acid. Very cute! The stuff came in pretty quickly once we placed the order and looks like it will likely hold up better than what we picked up at a chain store last year.

Check the college your DD is going to. Some have very specific instructions for parents who want to build their own loft beds others will allow you to use theirs but for added money. Don't forget that most kids do not stay in the same room all four years. Each year you will have to dismantle and haul that loft bed out of the room and then store it all summer. MOST elevators in dorms are not made for big pieces to be hauled in and carrying stuff up and down stairs is not easy!

Bed risers are good option if you can't do the loft bed, with suitable roll out storage underneath.

My daughter was home this weekend and I asked her what she found most helpful to her that first year. Here's her advice:

Plastic shoeboxes...one to hold first aid type supplies (bandaids, tylenol, thermometer, OTC cold meds, neosporin, nail clippers, nail file, cotton balls, etc. all in small pkgs/bottles.

another box to hold a toolbox of sorts: pliers, hammer, nails (if they're permitted to use for hanging things or command strips if no nails allowed) screwdriver *both flat and phillips*, tape measurer (cloth is easiest to store) velcro strips for bundling cords etc)

another box with misc. such as: needles, thread (sm. spools of black, blue, brown, white),scissors, safety pins, batteries double A, triple A and 9v seem to be needed the most), chip clips, etc.

These boxes are easy to stack and won't take up much space on a closet shelf or under the bed.

Her college had micro-fridges in each room. It's a fridge on the bottom w/ a micro on top. Only one per room so she and the roomie had to share.

She also used stackable milk crates to put food items on. I purchased inexpensive plastic wear for her...she tossed it in favor of paper plates, bowls and plastic silverware. She didn't have the time or the want to wash dishes in the bathroom sink. She stored the paper products on these milk crates as well as cereals, snacks, campbells soup in microwaveable bowls, etc.

Whoever said locks are good...spot on. We bought her a footlocker that she could sit at the foot of her bed. She kept her towels and washcloths in there as well as a throw blanket and a small microfiber pillow incase someone slept over. She also kept all important papers, extra $, emergency credit card, checks and her jar of laundry $ locked inside. As much as I cautioned against it...the girls tended to go to class and leave their door unlocked. They ALL did. Amazing that there wasn't a lot of theft but there wasn't. We did have lo-jack installed on her laptap just incase. Thankfully we never had to use it.

We opened a Visa acct. for her so she would have access to funds should an emergency arise or she found herself in need of a book, umbrella, medication or some other misc. need. The rule was...call and get permission for the purchase before using the cc. Worked like a charm. We paid the bill but since the card was in her name it began a credit history for her. Also try to open a bank acct. for her in the city she'll be living in, preferably with a bank that has a branch in your home city. Makes getting cash to her so much easier if you can deposit into her acct. from where you are. Faster than mailing her a check.

Make sure your daughters cell works well in her new calling area. My daughter had to switch carriers due to spotty service.

There was wasted space between the bed and the wall (when bed was lofted) so hubby took a piece of wood and made a shelf, he wedged it between bedframe and wall. She used it to put her alarm clock on as well as her cell phone, small flashlight and other items.

She also picked up a few of those lights that you can hang up and turn on by pushing the centers, battery operated. These were perfect for sitting up in bed reading etc. and not bothering a sleeping roomie at night. Also helped light her way down if a potty run was necessary at night. They also put one just inside their door so whoever came in last could have light but not have to use the overhead.

Another thing she used when her bed was lofted was a clip on fan. It got a bit stuffy up there in the warmer months and she could clip that fan at the foot of the bed and stay comfy.

Egg crate mattress was a God send to DD. Dorm bed mattresses leave A LOT to be desired. The egg crate made the bed comfy. I agree one set of sheets because storage is a premium.

Since closet space is short she used the type of hangers that allowed for multiple items to be "hung". She could put multiple pairs of pants & skirts on one hanger. She also hung multiple dresses & tops with spaghetti straps on one hanger (the ones w/divets for straps). She had several internships that required her to wear business dress so she not only had to have every day casual clothing but a work wardrobe as well.

Gosh I know there are a ton of other things I could share but right now I'm drawing a blank. My daughter is now in her second year working toward her masters in psychology. She was only required to live in the dorms freshman and sophomore year. Moving them into an apt. and outfitting that was a whole new ball of wax!

You'll miss her but for me my greatest sense of accomplishment was watching my little girl blossom into a well rounded, confident woman. She and I are closer than ever and I'm so grateful for that.

If I think of anything else...I'll add to this post.