Freshmen in the know will heed these pieces of advice as they prepare for dormitory living: Shop early. Be selective. Place everything you plan to take to college in a big, open space and take a hard look at what you have.
Then cut back by half.
Students anticipating their first year of college life are planning, shopping, sorting and winnowing these days as they prepare to share a 12-by-14-foot (or smaller!) cube with someone who might very well be a perfect stranger.
As they decide how to outfit their new home away from home, they'll want to fulfill two requirements: Their choices must serve a purpose and reflect their personality. That's a tall order.
"Unlike a bedroom, a dorm room takes on many roles for students," says Lynette Cvikota, vice president of design/home for Kohl's Department Stores. "As a place for eating, studying, entertaining and sleeping, the room's décor needs to offer fashion and function."
These days, it often has to do all of that on a budget, too.
"When parents are helping to outfit their children's dorm room this year, many are keeping a close eye on the bottom line," says Rod Ghormley, Shopko's senior vice president and general merchandise manager for home. "The emphasis is much more practical this year, with a focus on things that are functional, not just nice to look at."
Spending on the decline
According to a comprehensive consumer survey on school and college shopping conducted for the National Retail Federation, overall back-to-school spending is expected to decline 7.7% from 2008.
Some 83% of Americans with students already in or planning to attend college say the economy is affecting back-to-college plans, with many families saying they'll spend less, shop for sales more often and comparison shop with ad circulars.
Families of incoming freshmen will spend the most on back-to-college purchases: $820.77 on average, according to the survey, which was released in July.
"The economy is forcing young adults to make hard decisions about . . . what's really a necessity for college," says Tracy Mullin, president and CEO for the National Retail Federation.
As students and their families shop, what are they finding?
"Color trends include pinks and turquoise blues, browns and grays," says Catherine Gentile, spokeswoman for the national chain Bed, Bath & Beyond.
"Everyone wants to make a personal statement and outfit their room in a way that reflects their own personality," Gentile says. "Bedding makes the biggest statement, and that's what people seem to have the most fun shopping for."
But practical items that increase storage space in small rooms also are popular this year. Bed, Bath & Beyond offers floor-to-ceiling storage towers; over-the-door racks for purses, shoes and caps; ottomans with storage compartments; and double-hung rods that increase closet space.
"Gadgets are big, too," Gentile says. "We have an interactive alarm clock that gives the time and temperature, a laptop lock that anchors your computer to the leg of your desk in your dorm or in the library, and a charging station that charges four devices at the same time."
Retailers stock options
At Kohl's, according to Cvikota, "tie-dye and pixilated patterns are big for back-to-school and are one of the easiest ways to personalize a small space. Students can easily incorporate these into their dorm design with bold bedding or more subtle desk accessories."
Kohl's Student Lounge brand offers a wide selection of affordable storage and organizational solutions. "They allow students to make the most out of small spaces, from desks to bedding and closets," Cvikota says.
At Shopko, neons and bright colors are popular, with bold iconic patterns and stripes, Ghormley says. "The main pattern can be found in the bedding or a rug, with solid accents in pillows, totes, rolling carts."
Ghormley says Shopko and its Dorm@edu Line worked closely with a panel of college students at Shopko's headquarters in Green Bay.
"College students are an important Shopko customer, and we wanted to talk with them about what they were looking for. They gave us some great feedback," he says.
"They told us, for example, that they preferred dorm rugs that were larger, to take up more of the dorm floor space. Our bedding featured lots of red before, but the guys told us they preferred red in smaller doses. So now we have darker colors with a touch of red in stripes or plaids," he says.
"Our panel of college students also said they didn't want a juvenile pattern that was changed for college students. They wanted something that was distinctively their own."
August is the heart of the back-to-college shopping season, Ghormley says. "We're very optimistic that sales will be strong because we listened to what real kids had to say, incorporated their ideas and also worked hard with our vendors to keep prices in line."
What do students say?
We also asked college students - more than two dozen former freshmen who lived in dorms- for some practical advice based on what they experienced last year.
Abby Gorman and her family packed up their van and drove 13 hours last fall to take her to school at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. Gorman, who graduated from Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, is on the rowing team there.
"We thought ahead, and I wound up using almost everything that I brought," she says. "There are things that I never would have thought of that my mom made sure I packed: cotton balls, a nail clipper, Q-tips, Neosporin. They all came in handy."
Carolyn Ball, a Wauwatosa resident who attends Oberlin College, flew with her parents to school and, as a result, did much of her dorm shopping near the college in Ohio right before school started.
"Our dorm room was on the third floor, and it was hot when we moved in," she says. "A fan was a necessity. It was sweltering, and we wound up using it all the time. We were one of the few rooms with a fan, and we became very popular because of it."
They also bought a full-length mirror at Target.
"It cost $10, I think," Ball says. "I wouldn't want to be without one. A clothes hamper was really important, too.
"My roommate and I also were one of the few people who had a coffee maker, and we used it all the time," she says. "Having a fresh pot of coffee brewing is a great way to meet people. As long as it had an automatic shutoff, the college said it was fine to have one in our room."
Mix, match with roommate
Ball didn't know until the end of July who her roommate would be.
"When we found out, we talked about who would bring what, like a fridge or heater for boiling water for Ramen noodles," she says. "That kind of stuff was important, but coordinating colors just wasn't that important to us.
"Her stuff was green and mine was pink, and that was fine," Ball says. "We had a rug that was kind of muted, and that helped pull the colors together."
Kelsey Gerdes, a Homestead High School graduate who attends St. Norbert College in De Pere, contacted her roommate before moving in and talked about how they would outfit their room.
"Her comforter was white and my stuff was striped, so it looked fine. Matching doesn't really seem to be too important. I think expressing your own style is more important."
The items she was most grateful to have?
"I love to clean, so I brought lots of things like disinfectant wipes, Febreze and other supplies. I was happy I had them. Other things came in handy, too, like Tide to Go pens.
"Who would have thought?"