College Items

[iam4you2]

Before your son or daughter go off to college make sure everything on your list is bought for them. 

Vacuum
A bigger place requires a bigger vacuum than a dorm! Make sure you get one that works well because it is important for keeping your area clean, and you can bring it with you to use after college!

Cutting board
Now that there is a place to cook food other than microwavable meals, you are going to need many more kitchen items. After buying pots and pans I forgot to get one of the most important and often used kitchen items: a cutting board. Then after my roommates and I got one, we decided to get one more so that it isn't a problem if one is dirty!

Cleaning supplies
One down side about moving to an apartment is that now you have to do all the cleaning. There are many more cleaning supplies needed to keep my place clean than I thought there would be. It seems like every room requires something different to clean it!

A lot more decorations
A bigger place means a lot more space to decorate! It is fun and exciting to decorate a brand new space. My current place reflects the personalities of everyone who lives there. Make sure to fill the wall space and living space without making it look too cluttered.

Plants
When decorating I decided to incorporate plantsto give my place more of a home-like feel. They brighten a room up without costing too much. Just make sure you buy a plant that doesn't require too much maitinence for a busy college student.

[nuts4scouts]

There is a big difference between living in a dorm, and living on your own in an apartment.

If you are furnishing your first apartment you have to consider whether you are there permanently, or if it is just temporary, and you will be moving home in 6 months - 1 year. You also need to consider if you will have roommates.

If you will have roommates, it might be best to have every roommate contribute a set amount to be used to purchase stuff that will stay with the apartment in case roommates change. You can use it for some furniture, basic kitchen equipment, basic cleaning stuff, paper products, food that everyone eats, etc.

If you are signing a short term lease or plan to move home at the end of the school year, I suggest doing with the minimum in most areas. That way you will not have a lot to store, or sell of when you leave.

I recommend not shipping the contents of an apartment. Things should be purchased locally.