16 Must Have Dorm Desk Essentials For A Successful School Year
Learn everything you do and don’t need to bring for your desk in your dorm room! This dorm desk essentials list will make it so much easier to shop for your freshman dorm room!
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Shopping for your desk is hard for a dorm room. At home, you just have all the school supplies and random essentials that you need so you don’t even realize what you use and what you don’t.
When I went to college my freshman year, I thought I needed so much more for my desk than I actually did!
I am here to help you so you don’t make the same mistakes I did. I am sharing all the dorm desk essentials you actually need for college and what you don’t need to bring!
This post is all about dorm desk essentials!
planner
This is my absolute FAVORITE planner for college students. I started using this my freshman year and will never use anything else!
This planner specifically has divided sections for each day. There’s a spot for assignments, exams/papers, and a daily to-do list. I love that every list I need is all in one planner and I don’t need to worry about anything else!
If you want to check out even more planners, this article is perfect for you: 10 Best College Planners For Every Type of Student
desk hutch
A desk hutch is life-changing in a small dorm room. Some school-issued desks come with a shelf on top, but if yours doesn’t, you definitely want to invest in a hutch.
This gives you so much more valuable storage space on your desk. It’s the perfect place for school supplies, makeup, decorations, and whatever other little items that don’t have a home somewhere else in your room.
desk lamp
A desk lamp is great to have for when you are still doing work and your roommate is sleeping. This makes it so much easier to get ready at night too.
You can also get a cute lamp and make it a functional piece of decor!
school supply organizer
A small supply organizer for on top of your desk is super important if you plan on having school supplies (more on this in a little bit!).
I like something small like this! It is the perfect amount of space for some supplies without taking up your entire desk.
I also love wandering the aisles of Home Goods or Target for these organizers. You can find really cute sets at stores like these. Try looking in the bathroom aisles, I actually bought bathroom counter organizers that I loved and used on my desk instead for my freshman dorm!
calendar
A calendar on your desk is so important to stay organized throughout the year. You have a few options for this depending on your preferences.
- large paper calendar on the surface of your desk
- smaller paper calendar on a bulletin board or the wall
- dry-erase calendar on a bulletin board or the wall
bulletin board or wire grid
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$26.99
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$19.24
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You are definitely going to want to get a bulletin board or wire grid board for the wall (if your desk doesn’t come with one). These come in handy when you have random things to remember or hang up for easy access. I loved hanging my schedule so I was always able to see it in my room.
Something fun I did my freshman year on my bulletin board was hanging up all my little memorabilia and mementos. I had photos I took for the newspaper, tickets to concerts and events I went to, programs from a show I was a part of, and more! It was such a cute way to see all the things I was involved in!
magazine holder
A magazine holder is such a great thing to have on your desk to keep your school papers organized. For me, I loved having a spot in my room to put all the papers that I didn’t need to carry around anymore.
For example, in one of my classes, we got readings for class every day. However, I only needed the readings from the current class, so the rest of them I left in my room in the magazine holder.
It is also a great catch-all place for whatever folders and notebooks I didn’t need for that day’s classes.
lap desk
A lap desk is a great thing to have if you plan on doing work in your bed. This makes it so much easier to type on your laptop or write on paper when you just don’t feel like sitting at your desk.
garbage can
A garbage can is a basic essential that is commonly forgotten about for your desk! You are 100% going to want to leave a garbage under your desk.
school supplies
School supplies are an interesting subject for college students. While it sometimes feels like you need to bring a little of everything because you don’t know what you are going to need, I am telling you you will not need all of it.
I brought so many school supplies to college during my freshman year and barely used any of them.
Here are the school supply essentials that I actually used during my freshman year at college:
- mechanical pencils (and a couple of #2 pencils for exams)
- colored pens
- highlighters
- tape dispenser
- stapler
- scissors
- sticky notes
- paper clips
- push pins (only if you have a bulletin board)
Don’t go crazy here; odds are you either won’t need it or you can borrow it from someone else.
When it comes to school supplies, Erin Condren is one of my favorites! The planners and accessories are so so great at helping me stay organized.
plants
Plants are such a great addition to your desk to make it look so much more lively! They are such good decorations that match almost any other color scheme you have going on in your room.
If you don’t think you can keep a plant alive, you can also substitute a real plant for a fake one!
makeup mirror
You can also use your desk as a vanity as well! During my freshman year, I had half of my desk with school supplies and the other half with makeup and a makeup mirror.
power strip
A power strip is super important to have on or near your desk. Most likely, your desk will be the spot you charge all of your devices (except maybe your phone which is on your night table) so you are definitely going to want a power strip.
It also makes it so much easier to grab a charger if you need to take it with you for the day.
printer
Depending on your school, this may or may not be needed. I would suggest waiting to buy this until you see what the printing situation is at your school.
For me, I had a printer in my dorm, so I didn’t have to buy my own. However, if you know this isn’t the case, it may be more convenient to buy one for your room.
This one is a super small and wireless printer, so it is great for a dorm room.
cord organizers
Of all the dorm desk essentials, these cord organizers were the biggest lifesavers for me during my freshman year. I cannot tell you how annoying it was to have to go find all my cords when they fell every single day. This kept everything organized and in sight so I always remembered to charge everything at night.
decor
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$13.99 ($0.21 / Foot)
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$79.95
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Of course, in addition to all the supplies and organization items for your desk, you also want to have some cute decor!
Match your desk decor to the rest of your room! I also love using fairy lights, letter boards, picture frames, and more to decorate your desk.
Especially if you have a desk hutch, you have so much space to decorate your desk.
Remember, if you are going to be sitting here doing work all the time, it might as well look cute!
This post was all about dorm desk essentials!
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