College Hacks: Dorm Room Bedding Edition

Hey guys! We’re back with another week of guest posts, this time from Mandy over at Mandy J. Engelman. Dorm room bedding can be a huge source of stress for rising college freshman, but Mandy makes it easy to find exactly what you need so that you can make your dorm bed as comfy and cozy as possible! Mandy’s social media pages are linked at the bottom of the post, so make sure to check them out!

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Welcome to week one of my College Hacks series! Here I will be passing along my secrets to surviving college. Whether its navigating campus dining with food allergies or balancing an internship, I promise to share my two cents in hopes of preparing you for the best year of college yet! Have any questions or topics you’d like me to cover? Leave you ideas in the comments or send me an email at hello@mandyjengelman.com!

Bonus: Sign up for my email list and never miss an email!

So you want to be an overachiever and start shopping for your college dorm now, eh? Don’t worry, I had purchased everything I needed for my dorm before I even graduated from High School. The biggest issue I ran into was that I purchased too much for my bed! Especially pillows. What can I say, I have a pillow addiction! Learn from my mistakes, you don’t need everything you want.

In college your bed not only becomes your favorite site after a long day, but it becomes your desk, your dining room table and the home to your dirty clothes. Here is everything you need to ensure your bed becomes all of the above!

Beddings

I cannot tell you how many times I spilled coffee or smudged black ink from my doing my homework on my white quilt. My pillow cases ended up smeared with black mascara after one too many nights of falling asleep without removing my makeup. Save yourself the stress, purchase a cheap bedding that is machine washable. If you’re like me and you want a white bedding, get something that is solid white aka bleach-able.

For my room last summer (below) and last school year, I paired a simple white quilt with a fun comforter! I purchased the white quilt from Stein Mart for $20 (twin) & $25 (queen). The comforter is a reversible and came with an accent pillow and a sham for $34 from TJ Maxx!

Mattress pads

Chances are, the mattress provided for you by your university is not the cleanest or the comfiest. Like I said before, your bed becomes your everything. Getting a comfortable mattress pad is key for a good night’s sleep (or nap!). In order to not feel pain from your old mattress, you’re going to need a super thick mattress pad which can set you back hundreds.

Pillows

I have self diagnosed myself with an unnatural addiction to pillows. Nothing relaxes me quite like scrolling the internet or roaming the aisles of Target and TJ Maxx shopping for pillows. Not going to lie, my addiction is borderline strange. They have the power to make a room oh so warm and inviting! My biggest recommendation here to to limit the number of pillows your bring with you. The majority of my pillows ended up thrown on the floor at the end of the night. Here is what you really need:

For a twin sized bed

One pillow for sleeping

One pillow for sham

Maximum of two accent pillows

One body pillow

For a full/queen sized bed

Two pillows for sleeping

Two pillows for sham

Maximum of four accent pillows

One body pillow

My pillow addiction was in full bloom last year. Look at how crowded my little twin sized bed was! Like I said before, the majority of the time I had my pillows stacked under my desk.

Sheets

Get an extra pair!! As I mentioned before, I continuously spilled coffee in my bed (I am clumsy alright!) For my main sheets, I purchased a super nice pair. For my backup sheets, I paid $15 at TJ Maxx! It was nice to be able to change my sheets and not worry about doing laundry right away.

Blankets

Although I had heating and cooling in my dorm, the temperature was never perfect. Dorm rooms can get hot and they can be very, very cold. I purchased a super fuzzy blanket for my bed and an even cozier throw blanket to snuggle with. Sometimes I would take my throw blanket to the Library when I would study at night or over to my friends rooms. It’s important to have a throw blanket that you can easily wash, as you will literally take it everywhere.

Check out the following places for good deals!

WayFair

Bed Bath and Beyond (pro tip: do a quick google search for coupons!)

TJ Maxx

Stein Mart (This is where my white quilts are from!)