Knowing what to bring with can help freshman make the most of the small space they’re given in most residence halls. There are some essentials students should make sure to pack, but extras can make the room feel more like home.

Don’t forget the basics: Bed sheets. University residence halls have extra–long beds, according to the University housing Web site, so check ahead of time to make sure they’re the right kind. Lindsay Taylor, sophomore in education, said she also brought an extra set of sheets.

Refrigerator. Reilly Robertson, sophomore in education, said she brought hers from home. Students can also rent a refrigerator/microwave from University housing.

Fans. “Fans are absolutely necessary for the dorms that are not air conditioned,” Taylor said.

Lights. “I actually got Christmas lights a quarter into the semester and covered our ceiling,” Taylor said. “It made the room a really nice place to hang out with friends, and even just relax or do homework.”

Shelves. “We brought a shelf for our movies, which we didn’t have at first, but we brought it later,” Robertson said. “It definitely helped because we both had a lot of movies.”

Wall decorations. “Both my (roommate’s) and my side were covered in pictures from home, and I bought posters online,” Taylor said. She added that they made the room “feel a lot less like a dorm room.”

Mixing it up: Some residence halls provide bulletin boards, and students living elsewhere can opt to bring one from home. Students can decorate these bulletin boards with pictures from home, items showing their Illini pride or any of their other favorite decorations.

Robertson said she and her roommate originally just brought pictures to put up, but later got more creative.

“We actually bought fun, colored wrapping paper that matched our room and put that up, and put our pictures up over it,” she said. “It really made a difference in the room.”