Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel. My name is Kristen and today I'm going to be sharing with you 10 IKEA college dorm must-haves. These are great space-saving, multi-purpose, organizational pieces that would be perfect for any dorm room, small apartment, or even if you just work from home. I went to college for four years for interior design and used a ton of these pieces along the way and still actually have them till this day. So I think they are great quality products that are very useful plus super affordable. So if you enjoy watching and find this video helpful, make sure you give it a big thumbs up and hit that like button and let's go ahead and jump right into it. I'm Kristen, interior designer and home decor expert. I'm sharing all of my designer tips and tricks with you to help transform your house into the home of your dreams through DIY projects, affordable home decor, styling tips, and home organization. If I can do it, you can too. Let's make our homes look and feel their best. When I think back to college, I think about my laptop and I was on my laptop all the time. In my bed, on a couch, at a desk, anywhere. And something like this would have came in very useful back then. This is the new IKEA laptop stand and it is so perfect for any kind of work from home, college dorm type of thing. You can pull it right up to your furniture piece because the legs slide right underneath and it's like a little casual workspace. It even has a little mug holder that you can hold your water bottle or coffee cup and keep your surface super clear just for your laptop. It also folds away so you don't have to have it out all the time. You can put it away and keep your space clear. This laptop stand comes in different colors. There's a black kind of an off-white creamy color and this nice blue so you can get something that matches your aesthetic. It also has an adjustable height range so you can bring it up or bring it down and adjust to whatever size you need. This kind of allows you to move around your space, work in your bed, work on your sofa, create a comfortable space anywhere, and get work done. This laptop stand is $24.99 which I think is a great price and when you're not using it for working on your laptop you can just use it for beside your sofa to have snacks on in a little movie night. It's a very useful piece that is super affordable and would be perfect for your college dorm, new apartment, or your new work from home space. Let me know down below in the comments are you someone that likes to work at a desk or are you somebody that likes to work on the couch? Let me know down below. Now that laptop stand did not exist when I was in college. I really wish it did but what did exist was the laptop support for your lap. This is something that I still use to this day. It's actually right beside me. I do a lot of my editing on this. It keeps the heat off of my legs and makes a comfortable workspace anywhere. It has a soft bottom so it's really comfortable on your legs and a hard top. You can put it away in your closet, slide it between your desk, you can even hang it up using the little hanger. So it's $14.99. I think these are perfect for those late nights where you're working on the couch or just want a casual place to sit. This makes working from home that much more comfortable. Now another thing that you'll absolutely need is the IKEA utility cart and they come in so many different styles, finishes, colors, so you can kind of find one that's perfect for you but I love that they have three tiers. They have edges so you can hold whatever you need in this utility cart. I just think this is the best multi-purpose piece for any space. You can hold extra kitchen supplies in there, food, you can turn it into a bar cart, a laundry cart, a bathroom cart, you could also even turn it into a nightstand. So it is the perfect piece for a small space. So if you haven't thought about a utility cart yet, I think you definitely need to. Especially if you're living in a space that you maybe share with people. If you have a shared bathroom, a shared kitchen space, this would be perfect to keep all of your essential things. You can wheel it in and out of your space and trust me it will make life so much easier. You can roll it under existing surfaces, put it away in your closet, or keep it out on display. So it's something that will really work for your small space. Now something new that they've added on top of the utility cart now is this surface that sits right on top of the IKEA utility cart. It's supposed to be meant for a cutting board, so if you have this cart in your small kitchen it creates another work surface for you to cut different things. But I think it's also great to use as any kind of surface. If you need some extra countertop space this would be great just to add as an addition. Put it on top of your utility cart and now you have that much more space. Alright this next product just got released at IKEA. It's the first time I've seen it and I think it is genius and I definitely could have used it back in my college days. It's the Avning footrest and this is something that is perfect for making your workspace more ergonomical, more comfortable, and you can put it right underneath your desk to kind of hold your feet. You can rock it around, you can even throw it behind you as like back support and throw it on the floor to be back support. Maybe you're reading on the floor, working on the floor, you know you got to change things up and this thing makes it very easy to do so. This multi-purpose footrest is $14.99 and it was actually found in the kids section. I don't think it's just meant for kids but it's perfect for anybody doing at-home work, homework, working in your college dorm. This would make it really easy to work anywhere. I feel like sometimes the kids section has the best stuff so I'm always looking through there to find really great things. Another thing I found in the kids section that would be perfect for any small space is this bed organizer. I've spoke about this on my channel before and I just think it is so smart and so perfect for hanging all of your essentials and keeping them close to your bed, easy to access without messing up the surfaces around you. I know in a lot of college dorms they don't have night stands and dedicated spaces like that so this little organizer can hook right on the edge of your bed, not take up any floor space and it's only $7.99. I think this is perfect for storing your books, your water bottle, your phone, anything that you would want to grab at and have close to your bed. This little bed organizer comes in different colors. They have black, a bright pink, and bright green. I think this also helps kind of tidy up the look of your room as well. If you have water bottles beside your bed, books, pens, this can kind of keep everything very slim right beside your bed and keep it out of sight. Now I know when it comes to college dorm rooms, small apartments, sometimes you don't have the most closet space. If you want to hang your outfits for the week, get organized, or even just style your space that way, you can use these really affordable IKEA clothing racks. These are $10 which is just incredible. They have such a slim, very classic look to them. It also really acts as more storage space so that you can store shoes underneath, you can hang different things, and keep your space organized. If you're not somebody that wants the look of your clothes out on display, you can also use this piece as a room divider. Put a piece of material over top or even a throw blanket that matches the aesthetic of the space and you instantly have a room divider. I think this would be perfect if you are sharing your dorm room and you have somebody sleeping next to you. You can kind of throw this divider up and create some privacy. You can also put it in a room behind the sofa like this so that you have some separation between your workspace and your living space. And again, it's just $10 and that is definitely a lot more affordable than any other room divider. I think it is a great addition to any college dorm room or any small apartment. Now another really great multi-purpose piece that takes up minimal space is the knapper mirror or the vanessla mirror. These are floor mirrors that actually act as clothing stands on the back and they give you that multi-purpose functionality. So this would be great for your front door before you leave. You can hang your purse and your coat and all your things on the back of it and use the front as a place to, you know, check your outfit out before you leave. It's a very small kind of alternative idea to a closet. The vanessla mirror is actually a spinning mirror. It has a swivel bottom and there's hanging space on the back so it takes up even less room but it is a little bit more expensive. So but I think they would be perfect for any small apartment, dorm room, or really any space where you're looking for storage and a mirror. Now I don't know about you but every time I think of a dorm room I think twinkle lights and I feel like they're just something you need to have in your dorm room. They create atmosphere, they just create this young feeling, and they make it really fun. Ikea has so many great string light options. Some are battery powered, some you can plug right in, and they just have clear cords that you can throw up anywhere. So this little string light pack is $8.99. It's a plug-in version and it's something you can kind of weave between your space around artwork, maybe around your bed. If you're shopping for your dorm room at Ikea, pick up a little pack of string lights. They'll make you so happy. It will add a little bit of atmosphere and fun to your space and I just feel like it's something that every dorm room needs. Now this is another brand new product at Ikea called the Eleven Desk Organizer. This will add more storage space, also more surface space to your desk, and make it just a lot tidier. This is perfect for anybody that has a desk that has a designated monitor on top so that you can raise up the monitor. You have that storage space underneath. It already comes with a slide-out drawer that has dividers and organizers inside. This can actually help you clean up the look of your desk because you can slide your keyboard underneath, you can hide all of your pencils, papers, and it also has cable management at the back. So it's a great piece to add to your workspace that will really help tidy it all up and keep it looking that much better. This desk riser is $24.99 and again is the perfect multi-purpose, multi-functional piece for your workspace. Alright the last product is the most affordable. It is something you will use every single day and it's Ikea dishware. The off-test dishware is the most affordable. You can get plates and bowls for $0.79. So I've bought a ton of them. I like that they're really lightweight, they're white, they're plain, they look good on open shelving, they look good in your cabinet, and they're just the perfect dishes for your new space. I would say if you need to shop for any kind of kitchen supplies for your dorm room or apartment you should get them from Ikea because there's a lot you're going to need and to get it at a more affordable price is definitely the way to go. They have so much selection when it comes to dishes and glasses, even silverware. They have finishes that are gold and black. There's so many options now so I highly recommend it if you're looking to buy all new stuff for your new kitchen space. Alright so that's it for my 10 Ikea college must-haves. Trust me if you're moving away you'll definitely need at least some of these pieces so I hope you guys found this helpful. Let me know down below in the comments if you are moving away to college. Are you moving into a college dorm, a college apartment, do you have roommates? Tell me everything down below. Anyways if you enjoyed watching and found this video helpful make sure you give it a big thumbs up and hit that like button and make sure you guys are subscribed to my channel so you don't miss the upcoming videos. Click that red subscribe button down below and make sure you guys have your notifications turned all the way on so you're first to see the next video. Love you guys so much and I'll see you in my next one. Bye.