Design Your Dorm

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Ok, boys. This blog post is for the ladies, and featuring those chic college chicks of the web.

Being in college is an amazing opportunity to shape your personal style.  You’re exposed to new people and new places, and all sorts of inspiration. The challenge: you’re on a college student’s budget, and while you may be the next Martha Stewart of interior design, a dorm’s a pretty little space to reign.

Still, that’s what thrift stores and getting crafty are for, along with great blogs written by savvy ladies who will be there to help.  Here’s a three of our favorites, and some of their best hits of college-girl-greatness.

Lovely Undergrad

Feeling low on the living space? Head to the nearest Anthropologie, or just over to LovelyUndergrad.com for your daily dose of insanely pretty living spaces.  Jessica dishes up more design inspiration than Urban Outfitters, and has some serious good advice and links to other great resources, too.  Head over there for the prettiest rooms you will ever see alongside seriously smart college advice.  Our favorite? Her collection of beautiful DIY projects that’ll put pretty in any budget.

Charade Style

Picture running through a rose garden, in perfect pretty-yet-quirky florals and stripes. And that’s exactly the opening photos to Megan’s blog. Travel photos that make you yearn for Parisian cafés and some seriously sound fashion advice about creating a rocking wardrobe on a budget. While there’s a reason her ultimate geek’s guide to fashion is a top hit (seriously. You have to read it to believe it’s awesomeness) her advice on packing for travel is just as sound and helpful, especially for those summer trips.

University Chic

Think of rounding up all your best and awesome girlfriends, with all their different interests and talents. Now imagine doing that across colleges nationally. And you get UniversityChic. Written by real college gals, it covers not only fashion and fun, but serious issues (like how to keep yourself safe while studying abroad).  It’s a must-go-to for all sorts of info.

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Here is the text from the Seventeen Magazine article:

Planning for college can be tough, especially when it comes to buying gear for your dorm room. But the new Web site DesignYourDorm.com can help! The site, which was created by two recent college grads, allows you to see an online version of your college’s dorm room. Various features let you virtually drag furniute (desks, chairs, beds) and electronics (iPod speakers, alarm clocks, lamps, etc.) to figure out the best and most effective use of your space. You’ll save tons of frustration (and energy!) on move-in day, when everyone else is rearranging their rooms for hours.

DesignYourDorm.com also lets you collaborate with your future roomie (or roomies). By arranging things ahead of time, you can split up who’s buying what. One of you can be in charge of buying the fridge, while the other takes care of the microwave. You can even buy some of those items right on DesignYourDorm.com – including funky blankets, comfy chairs, bookcases, even shower shoes – and it can all be shipped directly to your school!

17 Tip: Keep your door propped open during move-in week. It’s super-welcoming, and people will be much more likely to stop by and introduce themselves!

See the article directly at Seventeen

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Today we have a guest post by Chandra, the author of FSU Fashion Girl blog. Check her blog out!

1. Rate My Professors – this site is a great way for you to find out what you are getting yourself into when signing up for a particular class. Past students can rate the professor on easiness, helpfulness, clarity and rater interest. They can also write comments about the professor so you can decide if this is the right class for you or not.

2. Evernote – Evernote is a very useful site that will help you to keep every aspect of your life organized. For a college student, it is great when you are working on a class project. Instead of keeping a million tabs open on your web browser, you can store all of the information you need on Evernote. The best part about Evernote is that you don’t need to always be on the computer or internet to access your notebooks. Evernote can be used on the web, your desktop, Blackberry, Palm Pre and iPhone/iPod Touch.

3. Half.com – Half.com makes surfing Ebay even easier. Simply search for the item you are looking for and instantly find the BEST price being offered. They also categorize the items based on the condition of the item. Definitely a great way to save money on textbooks!

4. Craigslist – you can find anything and everything you need on craigslist. This site allows people to post items that they no longer want and its basically a first-come, first-serve. You can find furniture, DVDs, textbooks, pets and so much more!

5. Twitter – if you haven’t gotten into twitter yet, I would highly suggest that you do. It is a great way not only to keep in touch with friends and family but also to network with other people and businesses. Depending on where you live, you may find that local businesses have twitters and give away free stuff or special deals to people that follow them. What college student doesn’t like FREE stuff?

6. Student Universe – find great flight deals just for being a college student.

7. UrbanSpoon – whether you have an iPhone/iPod Touch or not, UrbanSpoon is a great way to find the best restaraunts in town. You can find restaraunts, where they are located, what other people think about them and more through this site. Great for those late night cravings when you know exactly what you want but have no idea where to go!

8. Quarterlife – interning is a HUGE part of the college experience. Most majors encourage you to get an internship and others force you. Either way, Quarter Life makes it easy to find the internship you are looking for.

9. Internship Ratings – debating between a few different internships? Not sure which company is right for you? This site may help. People who have interned with the company before can rate and review their experience which may make your decision a lot easier.

10. Unigo – are you about to head off to college for the first time in the fall? Get a feel for what the university is like ahead of time. On this site people can post their experiences and what they love/hate about the campus. It is also a good source on how you can get involved on
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So little space, so much to do – so little time. 

In just a few short months, you’re going to be moving into your freshman dorm.  Whether you know your roommate or not, designing your future room must seem like a daunting task.  The cubicle you will call home for the next nine months needs to be outfitted with so many things, from extra long bed sheets to mini-fridges to accent posters that show off your eclectic taste in music.  Coordinating who needs to bring the microwave and the TV has to be difficult with you and your roommate’s contrasting schedules.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have all of that arranged without playing phone tag and sending hundreds of Facebook messages?  Design Your Dorm is a new 3D virtual dorm room creator made to do just that.  This website acts as your own personal interior design tool, allowing you to choose your future residence hall and drag and drop furniture and other accessory items into your actual room.  You can customize your dorm room any way you like and then purchase your favorite items and have them shipped directly to your residence hall so they are waiting for you on move-in day.  Forget trying to figure out what you need to buy and what your roommate is bringing – you can use Design Your Dorm to select all the items you will need, save the changes you’ve made to your dorm room, and show your future roommate – saving each of you the precious little time you have left to hang out with your high school friends.