As back-to-campus season approaches, it’s the perfect time to invest in fresh beginnings and set the stage for a successful year. This might mean shopping for innovative yet compact kitchen appliances that simplify student life, dark academia decor that captures fall and study vibes, or personal accessories to elevate your dorm space. Here are our favourite dorm essentials that make me wish I could be a student again—though I’ll have to settle for curating these finds and rewatching Gilmore Girls. —Christina Armanious
Kitchen Appliances and Storage
Perfect for students seeking quick and easy dinner solutions, the PowerXL SmartSynx Dual Door Oven features two separate oven compartments and 10 temperature presets, including air fry and broil, enabling you to cook multiple dishes simultaneously without any flavour crossover. This means students can effortlessly prepare any combination of meals, whether it’s steak and brownies or whatever their heart desires, all in one go.
The Black & Decker SplitBrew Programmable Coffee Maker offers a refined dorm room coffee experience, perfect for students who want to feel like on-campus baristas. With just a press of a button, this versatile machine brews both perfectly iced and traditional hot coffee in a single carafe. Unlike other coffee makers that produce watered-down iced coffee, the SplitBrew ensures every iced cup is rich and full-flavoured—no ice needed. Its generous 12-cup capacity means there’s always enough to share with family when they visit or to keep you energized through long days of classes or work-from-home sessions. The quick-touch programming feature is especially convenient, letting students set their brew time in advance for fresh coffee, whether they’re waking up or coming back from class.
Nespresso milk frothers are a must-have for any coffee lover, perfect for crafting a range of milk-based beverages. Whether you prefer hot milk, frothy hot foam, or cold foam, these frothers can do it all. The digital barista model even connects to your Nespresso app, offering access to over 20 delicious milk-based recipes. Say goodbye to pricey Starbucks drinks and enjoy barista-quality beverages right in your dorm room.
For tea lovers, this electric kettle by Drew Barrymore offers one-touch preset programs for white, green, oolong, and black teas, ensuring each cup is steeped to perfection. It can also boil up to seven cups of water in under seven minutes. Campus tea party, anyone?
This mini fridge offers a compact design that takes up minimal space while keeping your food and drinks fresh and cool. Its adjustable shelves provide versatile storage options, all while maintaining a sleek and stylish appearance.
For those who savour every sip while working, this temperature control smart mug is made just for you. Simply place the mug on the electric coaster base, and it will keep your beverage at your preferred temperature for over an hour.
Whether you’re snacking while studying or unwinding in your dorm room, having all your favourite snacks—veggies, fruits, candy, charcuterie, or a mix of everything—neatly packed into snack box containers is incredibly practical. Plus, these containers help keep your cabinets and mini fridge organized and clutter-free.
Dorm Decor: Dark Academia
Dark Academia is a cultural and aesthetic internet subculture that romanticizes scholarly and intellectual pursuits with a gothic and melancholic twist. It celebrates a love for a bygone academic era, drawing inspiration from classic literature, art, and the aesthetics of old universities, dimly lit libraries, and Gothic architecture. Characterized by a palette of muted, earthy tones, the style features imagery such as old books and dark, antique furniture. If you’re looking to make your dorm room festive for the back-to-school fall season, Dark Academia is the way to go. Here are some of our favourite pieces to achieve the look.
These bookends in the shape of cement sculptures from Anthropologie can add a touch of sophistication to even your most mundane textbooks and course readings.
Functioning as both a storage box when you open the cover and a decorative piece, this antique storage book set offers customization to reflect various classic literary works, such as Hamlet or Sherlock Holmes.
This antique mini globe adds an academic and exploratory touch to your dorm room. Its vintage design and scholarly aesthetic make it an ideal desk accessory to complement the moody, intellectual atmosphere that defines Dark Academia.
A more on-the-nose option, since the TV show Wednesday quite literally embodies Dark Academia, these Wednesday-inspired throw pillows and blankets from Pottery Barn will bring a cozy vibe to your room—especially with Halloween approaching.
This set of gothic wall decor showcases vintage-style illustrations, gothic architecture, and moody landscapes, creating a nostalgic, dark, and scholarly ambiance. Printed on thick semi-gloss and matte paper, these prints are easy to display anywhere in your dorm room!
Whether used as a functional writing tool or a decorative piece, quill feather pens serve as a reminder of a romanticized academic past.
With this vintage leather journal, you’ll embody the look of a true gentleman and scholar. Its high-quality, unlined pages are perfect for writing, sketching, or note-taking, adding a touch of literary nostalgia to your dorm room.
Bath & Body Works’ Halloween collection and insane new Stranger Things collaboration blend moody, mysterious elements with a touch of gothic charm. The Halloween collection features candles, scents, and decor items that evoke a spooky and slightly haunted atmospheric vibe, and the Stranger Things collaboration adds a nostalgic twist, drawing on 1980s-inspired themes and supernatural elements that enhance the eerie, vintage appeal of Dark Academia.
Dorm Furniture and Accessories
Nothing ushers in fall quite like the back-to-school season, and a changing leaves rug is the perfect way to add a cozy autumn touch to your dorm room. Made of plush microfiber, this versatile rug can enhance the warmth and style of any space—whether it’s the bathroom, bedroom, hallway, living room, or kitchen.
The perfect companion for long study sessions, these body fit cushions from Muji offer comfort for reading, studying, or writing without the need to hunch over a desk. Their sleek design also adds a touch of style to any living space.
Start the school year organized with a stylish laundry hamper that keeps your dorm room tidy and your laundry in check.
This bedside shelf is perfect for small dorm rooms and can easily attach to a bunk bed, small bed, or bedside table. It’s designed to keep essentials like coffee, books, chargers, and other study materials within easy reach, making it ideal for in-bed studying—because we’ve all been there.
You’ll be sure to have the cutest campus ‘fit checks’ with this wavy full-length mirror. Its eye-catching design will make any room look more elevated.
The Mainstays Wood & Metal Writing Desk from Walmart offers a sleek blend of functionality, durability, and contemporary design. It includes a closed-door cabinet, a stationary drawer, and two open shelves, providing ample space to organize school supplies while keeping your desktop clutter-free.
This versatile four-in-one touch lamp functions as an alarm clock with a programmable wake-up light, a desk and reading lamp, and a wireless charging station.
This triple study board wall, featuring two whiteboards and a cork centre, is the perfect tool for students to stay organized and inspired throughout the school year. Whether you’re sketching out your calendar, jotting down notes and assignment deadlines, or pinning up special papers and photos, this board has you covered.
An adjustable laptop stand with seven ergonomic levels is essential for productive study sessions without straining your neck and shoulders. It’s easy to carry and can be used anywhere you work—whether in class, your dorm, the library, or a coffee shop.
These shower slippers are a must-have if your dorm has communal showers, as they protect your feet from bacteria, fungi, and other germs commonly found in communal showers and bathroom floors. The slippers feature an anti-slip design and quick-drying draining holes.
Hanging closet organizers make the most of limited closet space by providing vertical storage, allowing you to store more clothes, shoes, and accessories without using up valuable space.
A mesh shower caddy will save you the hassle of carrying all your toiletries to the bathroom every time you shower. This handy bag features seven spacious compartments to hold your hair products, cosmetics, and other bath essentials. Even better, there’s no need to unpack everything—you can simply hang it from the showerhead for easy access.
To keep your shoes from getting scattered and cluttering your space, this multi-tier shoe rack from Walmart is a must for making your dorm room look more organized. It has space for boots, sneakers, and any type of shoes.
A quiet desk fan helps maintain a comfortable temperature in your dorm room, especially during warmer months, by providing a refreshing breeze without taking up too much space.
If your dorm room includes a shared kitchen, this shelving rack is perfect for organizing mugs, cutlery, plates, coffee syrups, or any snacks.
Artificial succulent plants are perfect for dorm rooms because they offer the aesthetic benefits of greenery without the need for watering or special care, making them ideal for students with busy schedules.
It’s always a good idea to have under-bed storage in your dorm room, whether you want to seal heavier jackets, blankets, or other clothes you won’t need on a daily basis, and to prevent clutter under your bed.
This three-tier rolling utility cart allows for easy mobility, making it simple to move your supplies wherever you need them, whether it’s your desk, the bathroom, or the kitchen. With multiple tiers and compartments, it’s ideal for organizing school supplies, toiletries, snacks, or any other essentials. Plus, its compact size makes it a great fit for small spaces, helping keep your dorm room neat and clutter-free.
If you love to read and want to display or expand your collection on campus, this rotating bookshelf is the perfect addition to your dorm room. The best part? You can easily add or remove shelves based on the size of your collection.
These cube organizers from Walmart help keep your space tidy and organized by providing a place for books, school supplies, clothing, and decorative items. The open cubes allow for easy access to your essentials, and the unit’s clean, simple look complements any room decor.
Dorm Electronics
A Kindle is lightweight and compact, allowing students to carry thousands of e-books without the added weight of physical books. This is especially helpful for students with busy schedules who are frequently moving between classes, libraries, and dorms. The e-ink technology used by Kindles replicates the appearance of paper, reducing eye strain compared to traditional screens—perfect for those long reading sessions.
Durable headphones like Apple AirPods Pro or Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones are perfect for staying focused during intense study sessions or campus gym workouts, and are compact enough to carry with you everywhere you go.
Rocketbooks are smart, reusable notebooks that allow you to upload your handwritten notes to cloud services like Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, OneNote, and more. They’re perfect for students who prefer writing notes by hand but want the convenience of having everything digitally organized on their devices. The portability of Rocketbooks means you don’t have to carry multiple notebooks for different classes. With a variety of page templates, such as lined, dotted, grid, and blank, Rocketbooks are versatile enough for all types of note-taking and brainstorming.
Portable desktop monitors are perfect for students who need additional screen space to multitask effectively. Compatible with various laptops, they allow you to keep multiple windows open at once—like virtual meetings, notes, research, and assignments—enhancing your productivity, whether you’re in your dorm room or at the library.
For those sensitive to sound, Loop Quiet earplugs offer excellent noise reduction. They’re perfect for blocking out a snoring roommate, a party next door, or even a loud chewer.
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