Furniture / Structure
Not only does the furniture you find in a dorm vary from hall to hall, but the rooms you find in a dorm can vary too. That’s why I’m going to list out the differences from both categories.
Almost all dorm rooms, regardless of if they’re a single, double, triple, or quad style dorm, come with these pieces of furniture:
Desk Chairs
Twin sized Mattress
Twin sized bed frame
Desk
Dressers
Window blinds
Even though every college dorm comes with these pieces of furniture, they won’t all look the same.
Besides the dorm room staples listed above, the things you find when you walk into your new home will vary from school to school, hall to hall and room to room. Here are some of the variations you can expect based on the type of room you plan on moving into.
Single Dorm Room
Flooring: You might find different types of flooring depending on which dorm hall you’re staying in. The most common types you’ll see are vinyl tile, wood or cheap carpeting.
A Bathroom: Not everyone is lucky enough to get a bathroom in their dorm, but if you are, then you can expect to get one either with or without a shower.
A Twin Sized Mattress and Bed Frame: Since this type of room is only meant for one person, you’re only going to have one bed.
A Window: It’s rare to find a single dorm with more than one window.
Window Blinds: Most dorms that I’ve seen come with window blinds, but there have always been the few random ones that don’t come with window blinds or any sort of window covers at all (which, not gonna lie, is super weird to me). However, It’s more often that your dorm won’t provide any window blinds in the bathroom. Hopefully you land a dorm that thinks about their student’s privacy.
A Mini Fridge: This depends on the school that you go to. At my school, I had to buy my own. Check on the housing section of your school’s website and either look for a list of furniture that they provide, or go on a virtual tour. If you’re seriously thinking about attending the school, go on a real life tour.
Microwave: This also depends on which school you go to. Some dorm halls provide one community microwave in the lounge area of each floor for the whole hall to share. Check on the housing section of your school’s website and look for a list of furniture that they provide to find out if your dorm will come with one or not.
Closets: There are a couple different versions of closets that schools provide. Some that you can expect are two mini wall closets, one mini wall closet, a closet with a built-in shoe rack or one movable closet that’s not attached to the wall.
A Peephole: This is similar to the peep holes you find in apartment doors. Helpful when you want to know who’s knocking before you answer.
Bookshelf/Shelves: Similar to closets, there are a couple different looks that bookshelves can take on depending on which school you go to. Here are some versions you might find when you move in: one movable mini bookshelf, one wall mounted mini bookshelf, one movable mini bookshelf/night stand, bookshelf attached to the corner of the room or large wall mounted bookshelves with an array of mini cabinets lined at the bottom.
Dressers: These come in different versions as well. Here are the different versions to expect: dresser attached to a desk, stand alone dresser, and two dressers.
Cork/Bulletin Board: This is a less common find in dorm rooms, but if you go to a school that has them, you can expect one – three to be attached to the wall.
A Mini Trash and Recycling Can: Surprisingly, you’re more likely to find a recycling bin in your dorm than a trash can, so you may end up buying your own. Even if your dorm gives you both, they’re pretty small so you’ll probably end up buying your own anyway.
A Sink: Not every dorm comes with a sink, but if they do, it’s not a guarantee that they’ll come with a bathroom too. There are two different types of sinks you can expect to find in your dorm if you have one at all: a small sink without cabinets underneath it, or a small sink with cabinets.
A Mirror: These vary just as much as the other pieces of furniture in single dorms. Here are the different kinds that you can expect: one small mirror, two mini mirrors and a large closet mirror.
Shelves: Unless they’re bookshelves, these shelves are usually mounted on the wall, even when they’re inside the bathroom.
A Towel Rack: A dorm can have these both inside and outside of the bathroom. There can also be just one or multiple.
Cabinets: These can be found mounted either high or low on the wall.
Double Dorm Room
Flooring
A Bathroom
Windows: Windows in double dorms can be in both the bedroom and the bathroom (if you have one). You’ll typically get one or two in the bedroom and one in the bathroom.
Window Blinds
A Mini Fridge
A Microwave
A Closet: There are a couple different types of closets depending on which dorm hall you stay in or what school you go to. Here are some examples of what you can expect: one walk in closet with a shoe rack, two mini wall closets, two movable closets, one small walk-in closet or a wall closet with no door
A Peephole
Bookshelves: These shelves can come in different forms. Here are some examples: two movable mini book shelves, two wall mounted mini bookshelves, two mini bookshelves attached to desks, wall bookshelves mounted above a desk or a bookshelf attached to the corner of the room.
A Dresser: The different forms of furniture that you might find are two stand alone dressers, two dressers attached to desks and two mini dressers attached to desks.
A Mini Trash and Recycling Can
Cork/Bulletin Board: If your dorm has some, then you can expect two – five to be attached to the wall.
A Sink
A Mirror
Cabinets: These come in a lot of different variations too. You might find two movable cabinets or wall cabinets.
Racks: You might find a towel rack and a door rack in your dorm.
A Desk: You might get the traditional basic dorm desk, but sometimes they’re attached to the wall.
Cubbies: I know you probably haven’t heard that word since kindergarten, but I’ve honestly seen dorm rooms with cubbies. You can find them mounted on your bedroom and/or bathroom wall.
Triple Dorm Room
Rooms: Sometimes triple dorms are split into two separate rooms, but they won’t be separated by a door. It’ll likely be separated by a door frame instead.
Flooring
A Bathroom
Windows: Windows in triple dorms can be in both the bedroom and the bathroom (if you have one). You’ll typically get one or two in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. Sometimes you’ll even find a window in the walk-in closet. The sizes of these windows in triple dorms can vary too, from normal sized to stretching the length of the wall.
Window Blinds
A Mini Fridge
A Microwave
A Closet: Here are some examples of what you can expect: one walk-in closet, one medium sized walk-in closet or three wall closets.
A Peephole
Bookshelf/Shelves: There are a couple different looks that bookshelves can take on depending on which school you go to. You might find three movable mini book shelves/nightstands, three movable mini bookshelves when you move in and/or a wall mounted bathroom shelf
Dresser: When you move in, you’re likely to find three mini stand alone dressers.
A Mini Trash and Recycling Can
A Cork/Bulletin Board: If you go to a school that has them, you can expect two – five to be attached to the wall.
A Closet: There are a couple different types of closets depending on which dorm hall you stay in or what school you go to. You can either expect one closet attached to a wall that’s connected to a shoe rack or one walk in closet without a door
Cubbies
A Sink
A Towel Rack
A Desk: You might get the traditional basic dorm desk, but sometimes you get some desks that don’t have drawers attached to them.
Cabinets: You’ll most likely have wall cabinets.
Amenities
Here are some of the services that dorms provide while you’re living there:
Laundry facilities
Study rooms
A TV room
Individual thermostats
Computer lab
24-hour front desk
Recreational room
Living room
Related Questions:
What is one benefit to living in a dorm?
A few benefits to living in a dorm are that you have a roommate you can rely on, they are a safe living option, they are cheaper to live in than campus apartments and furniture and amenities are provided for you.
