Hi friends, today I was thinking about how I didn’t get to say goodbye to my residents this year or leave them good luck notes on their doors for finals. Once down that rabbit hole, I started thinking of their rooms – which totally matched their personalities – and all the different ways they managed to make kitchens this year. Personally, in my first year of college, there were so many things I didn’t realize I would need for the kitchen area of my dorm! With the
This post is all about forgotten dorm kitchen essentials that probably weren’t on your college shopping list!
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With that said, let’s get started!
A Small Cutting Board
It didn’t take me long to learn that slicing fruit on my plates was not the move. This is one of the best cutting boards I’ve ever used. We have one of these cutting boards at home and it is the one I reach for whenever I need to slice or chop something!
It has a rubber bottom that grips surfaces which just makes the whole cutting experience safer, and it has a convenient hole you can use to hang it up when it’s not in use. Super
Oh, and it comes in 11 colors, so you can find something to match your room décor! Is that perfect or what?
One or Two Sharp Knives
Plan on ever cutting anything? You’ll thank me later. You don’t need anything fancy for college when it comes to knives (unless, of course, you’re a culinary student), especially in your first year when you’re DIY-ing a kitchen area in your dorm. Just look for a set with a knife or two, and make sure they come with a sheath to cover the blade. This will help cut down on potential accidents and keep everyone safe!
A Jar Opener
Oh my goodness, a lifesaver. I didn’t think I needed a jar opener until I realized that I actually regularly kept products in my room that usually came in jars. Think salsa, fruit preserves, pickles, simple foods usually used for snacks that happened to be jarred. When I expressed that there were foods I had that I wasn’t eating because I couldn’t open the jars, my mom got me this funky silicone Hokusai jar opener with The Great Wave on it, which I love.
Jar openers are one of those items that you don’t need all the time but when you do, you’re glad you have one. They’re also an item I see pop up in group chats a lot, with people looking for help opening jars! Make life easier and come prepared by buying one ahead of time.
P.S. There are other famous artworks available on jar openers as well, check them out in the listing for The Great Wave jar opener!
Dishtowels
Pot Holder or Oven Mitts
Because you know what it’s like when that thing you just heated up in the microwave is way too hot. Save your hands and get a small pair of oven mitts! I loved these so much that my mom actually bought a pair for our kitchen at home when we needed new ones.
They come in a few different colors, plus they have little loops on the side so you can hang them up too to save space!
Bag Clips
When it comes to chip clips, my philosophy is
I ordered a big pack of these smaller clips when I was a first-year and realized that the few clips I brought with me weren’t gonna cut it. For bigger bags and things that need clips on them, I’ve generally used clips I’ve picked up at on-campus events. They’re a really common freebie at activities fairs and job fairs or networking events at my school, so I imagine its similar at other universities! I highly recommend taking advantage of these opportunities.
For a cute gift add-on, check out these Woodland Creatures Bag Clips!
Bottle Cleaning Brush
Water bottles are one of the most important things to have in college, in my opinion. I don’t leave my room without one! Hydration is key, but so is keeping things sanitary. If you want to at least have a glimmer of hope that that water bottle is going to get washed at some point during the semester, make sure a bottle brush is on your college shopping list.
I like this pack because it comes with brushes you can use to really clean the bottle lid and mouthpiece too!
Dishwashing Gloves
Keeping on the washing up
Having a couple of pairs is a good idea, in case one gets a hole and needs to be replaced. Or so that you can have one pair dedicated to cleaning, and one dedicated to washing dishes. Because let’s be real: you don’t really want the same pair of gloves used to clean the dishes you eat off of and the grossest parts of your dorm room.
Gloves like these are a great option because there are two distinct colors, so you won’t get your cleaning gloves and your dishwashing gloves confused!
Dish Soap
You may be surprised to learn that college students aren’t afraid to wash their dishes with hand soap… until they consequently find out the hard way that that can leave a bit of a bad taste if not properly rinsed. Don’t be like my friend whose coffee had a hint of “Winter Wonderland” hand soap one morning!
It turns out that not everything in hand soap is considered “food-safe” and using hand soap to clean dishes can cause build-up (more info in this article from Apartment Therapy). The bottom line? Bring dish soap with you to college! Even if you think the only things you’ll be washing are coffee mugs and water bottles. Better safe than sorry!
And there you have it! The dorm kitchen essentials that you probably forgot to add to your college shopping list.
There are certain college staples that you’ll find in almost every dorm room. If someone in the room drinks coffee, you’re almost guaranteed to find a Keurig (if you are looking for Keurig’s, my residents recommend this Keurig mini because it is small and easy to store!) or travel cups, and you’ll always find some sort of water filter. However, a lot of the items on this list are regularly overlooked. As a result, they can be incredibly difficult to find if you go shopping after move in, or at any point in that first week of college! Save yourself the stress of missing something, and think ahead!
I also just want to put it out there that I always advocate bringing what you can from home to save money while preparing for college. You do not need all new things and most students certainly cannot afford it! If you have some spare dish towels you can take with you to school, go for it! Or if your family buys three packs of rubber gloves, sponges, etc. you can just as easily just take one with you to school and that’s one less thing to worry about buying.
If you are shopping in person, I highly recommend going to a store such as TJ Maxx or HomeGoods, you can get great prices on things like dishtowels! For more tips to help you save money and time while shopping for college click here!
Good luck with your college shopping and putting together your dorm “kitchen”! I hope this blog post has been helpful. Let me know if you were forgetting anything on this list in the comments, or if you’re a fellow upperclassman, is there anything you think should be added to this list? Did any of these forgotten dorm kitchen essentials surprise you?
1 Comment
I use jar opener every day and it works like a charm. It is a must have for people who have just a little arthritis. My daughter gave it to me and I have since given it to several friends.
December 26, 2020 at 9:53 am