Visualizing Your Living Space

Everyone wants to know what their dorm is going to look like. The prospective student visits take us on tours of the campus, and occasionally, the tour guide will point to a big building and say, "You may end up living here next year." But I didn't choose a school based on the dorms, so in the beginning of August, if you are like me, I found myself wondering what my living space would look like, and where it even was.

Basically, there are three living areas- north campus, south campus, and west campus. Many south campus dorms have a communal bathroom, and so do west campus dorms. Most north campus dorms have a bathroom for each dorm. However, the university staff cleans the communal bathrooms, and the individual bathrooms get cleaned once per semester. Otherwise, it's all on you! The link below lists the names and addresses of each dorm, and it also says which campus it is on. If you click on the name of the dorm, it will tell you the housing style and amenities, and it will show you a floor plan. The only two west campus dorms are Lincoln and Morrill Towers, which provide helpful landmarks when you don't know which way you are walking.

https://housing.osu.edu/roomsearch/

The following is an example of a north campus dorm, Taylor Tower. Taylor Tower is at the northeast edge of campus, and it is an honors dorm.

The bedroom

The bottom bunk

In the basic dorm, there are two rooms. One room is the bedroom. In a quad (like the one pictured), there are two sets of bunk beds. It can be seen from the top picture that against each bed is a wardrobe. Across from the wardrobes, against the wall, are two wardrobes mirroring the other ones. I My roommates and I were not sure if curtains would be provided, but they were. Each bunk in the room has two outlets near the bed. The beds are twin extra long, and storage bins fit perfectly underneath. In the bottom picture, you can see a rug. This is a runner rug. No rugs were provided for the room, but two runners fit perfectly in the room. One went between the beds, and the other went between the wardrobes. I had planned on putting lights next to my bed, but much to my dismay, command strips do NOT work on these walls! Sticky tack worked on the poster in the first picture, but it takes some effort.

Bedroom storage

A sample wardrobe

This is a view of the wardrobes in the bedroom. To the left of the wardrobe in the bottom picture, cut off from the picture, is a full-sized mirror. This is something I wasn't sure if I would need to bring. The bottom picture shows my wardrobe, which consisted of the furniture pictured and a hanging rack for my clothes. I bought the hangers and the extra drawer storage. I bought a hanging rack that hung below the clothes so I could hang two layers of clothes, but I haven't used the bottom rack yet. It's definitely a good idea to bring some hangers. The shelf above my hangers is used for extra clothing, and the shelf above that is used for general storage.

The top picture shows the common drawers. Each person gets a locking drawer, which is good for when you leave your computer in the room and no one is there. Each person gets one of the four drawers, and each person gets one of the cubbies above the locking drawers. There is limited space to maneuver between the two wardrobes, and it's also hard to walk between the two ladders of the bunk beds.

Desk area

Fridge and microwave

This is a limited view of the common room, which has four desks with desk chairs, an extra chair, a microwave, fridge, and freezer, and a chest of drawers that we use to store snacks. The top picture shows that I actually got the command strips to work on the desk. This desk is table-style, connecting to another desk. There is lighting under the storage area. I have the top drawer of the desk and the space above my desk. The chairs have been provided. I would not advise bringing another chair because the furniture in the room is supposed to stay in the room, and you and your roommates are held accountable for it. On the opposite wall of my desk are two more desks, which are more traditional desks. They aren't connected, and they each have a lamp on them. They have a drawer and storage space underneath them. I brought a trash can for my desk area, but there is a trash can (with trash bags) in this room and the bathroom. I don't ever even turn on the lamp above my desk, but the power strip proves to be very useful. Otherwise, there are two outlets per person. There is no clock in the room, so unless you plan on looking off of your phone, I suggest bringing one. The area between the two desks fits a 4ft by 6ft rug very well, or some people bring a large rug and cut it to fit the desks.

The fridge and freezer are both rather large, and they adequately fit our needs. Between four people, we don't have problems fitting things in there. The microwave is a standard microwave. We found it easier to put the single-serve coffee brewer on someone's desk rather than balance it atop the microwave. The storage next to it is really handy. The top two drawers hold kitchen and cleaning supplies, and the four drawers were divided up between the roommates. I use mine to hold excess clothing, but other people store snacks in theirs. The shelves are mostly used for food and kitchen utensils. I brought trash bags and paper towels just so we wouldn't have to go to the front desk, but it's not necessary to bring them. The hall desk also has kitchen, cooking, and oven supplies, as well as cleaning supplies like a broom and a vacuum. They have movies and games that can be watched. There is a big TV in the lobby. One of my roommates brought a TV, but it's been three weeks, and we haven't used it yet. Toilet paper is also available at the front desk. Some people choose to buy their own, but between four people, we just get it from the front desk. The entire campus has wi-fi, so you don't need to worry about plugging an ethernet cable in your room. Water bottles and coffee mugs are a great thing to have, and extra cups can even be used to store things like pens. There is a water bottle refill station in the lobby of my dorm, and there is a water fountain on my floor. 

Bathroom shelf

The bathroom has a shower with a curtain, a mirror with a ledge, and a trash can. There is also a sink with a mirror and a ledge above it. There are four towel racks and two hooks on the back of the door. There are also four shelves in my quad, which I use for my toiletries. There is no storage in the shower itself, so the caddy that my roommate brought to hang on the shower head was a lifesaver. There are no bath mats. We brought a fabric one for the sink area and a rubber one for the shower area. It is a good idea to get an idea of when your roommates shower, because it's no fun to get up early for class and have to get in line. There is plenty of bathroom storage. I brought an over-the-door hook, but it wasn't needed. The shower curtain and hooks I got were also left in their packages. There is no toilet brush or cleaner there, so my roommates and I have Clorox wipes, a toilet cleaner, and tile cleaner. We seem to get by pretty well with these three items. I have heard people ask if the toilet has a seat, and yes, it does.

This is a basic overview of a dorm in Taylor Tower. It may give you an idea of what some of the dorms are like, but they tend to vary, especially on south campus.