Greetings and salutations everyone!
As you are going into college from high school, unless you were able to skip a grade or two, most likely you will be well on your way to adulthood. This meaning you have many wonderful things to worry, I mean, many wonderful things you can work on now!
Going into the college scene, unless you are going to a local college or so, you will most likely be living inside of a dorm room, or an apartment. With these spaces, rather than just having a bedroom and the rest of it furnished like back at home, sometimes it is up to us to be able to furnish our own spaces! Given that UAT dorm rooms come with a mini fridge, microwave, bed, and a desk, there is still quite a bit of stuff that may prove useful when living on our own, or with a roommate.
Shopping for furniture can be a daunting task. For some of us, it could be our first time going about such matters, and as such, it can be just a little bit overwhelming. Over the course of my time as a student, I have come across quite a few luxuries to keep on my side of the room, and if I could make any recommendations, they would be these piece(s) of furniture:
Futon
Think of a couch, that also folds into a bed. This is something that could potentially be an alternative to getting a couch, as a futon could very well be less expensive and still look pretty cool for usage within an apartment or dorm. The futon back can be put up to work with a couch, or could also be put down to act as a spare bed, so having people over to stay the night wherever you are would not be a hassle! They're rather inexpensive (at least on the couch and various other furnishings), and some of them look pretty good too!
Bookshelf
Whether for your current books, or maybe for future books, or perhaps just some miscellaneous stuff you want to show off, a book shelf has multiple purposes. With mine, I am able to show off my collection of figures or boxes that come with collectors editions of games and media, and also have a place to store various other books rather than just a pile on my desk. They are just as useful as having shelves to store things in, and can be incredibly inexpensive if you go to a place like Walmart or Target to get one!
Coffeetable
Depending on the size of your living environment, a coffee table could go great with a couch as that would be the main setting for hanging around and doing things such as watching TV or playing video games. You could have an area to eat at, while also to relax, should you choose to do so. And they can also be relatively inexpensive depending on the brand and what it's made out of as well.
For all of these, I feel that there are many places to get them, but I find that IKEA is generally pretty good about the smaller pieces to these. I wouldn't recommend buying a full bedspread, but you can at least get the box frame, or perhaps a table or two, or even a futon or couch there for a lower price as opposed to some other places. Given you should always shop around for things like these, you might be able to find some items cheaper elsewhere!
Being an adult isn't so difficult, and while living in a college environment like Tempe, it only makes it easier, where everything we need is not too far away!
-Nicholas "TAE"
