What To Bring & What Not To Bring?

[epfootballcutie04]

Is it best to just buy everything once u get there?

I live in Chicago and our sales tax is like 11% so I'm thinking it will be cheaper down there, no?

I was only going to bring clothes, bulletin board, laptop, printer and that's about it.

You could shop online!!! I know walmart does site to store, so you could pre-order everything you need and then have it set up for you to pick up your first night. It sure beats fighting all the CP traffic and those 2 hour lines at walmart lol.

Watch how many clothes you bring. I brought SO many more than I needed. Everyday (since I worked only nights) I ended up getting up, switching into gym shorts, coming back and showering, switching into pajama pants and then work clothes. I barely used any shirts that weren't t-shirts!

Agreed!!!! I brought down WAY too many clothes. I didn't believe people that said you are in your costume most of the time. It's true! And even when I got home, I tended to just chill for a while, eat something, watch tv for a bit... still in my costume Around the apartment i definitely just rocked the PJ style clothes and only wore actual clothes like tshirts, jeans, etc when I went out to the parks and what not. And if you do laundry even once a week... you really don't need too much!

 

[iMia345]

You could shop online!!! I know walmart does site to store, so you could pre-order everything you need and then have it set up for you to pick up your first night. It sure beats fighting all the CP traffic and those 2 hour lines at walmart lol.

Thanks! that's a great idea!

 

[Toffy]

I love putting stuff all over my walls, too The technical rule is, one bulletin board in each room. All decorations (including calendars) must be placed on that. Technically speaking, that is the only thing you are allowed to have up.

With that being said, it really depends on your inspectors. some of very stirct and others don't care as much.

Hmmmmmm..... note to self..... get a verrrrrryyyyyy big bulletin board haha What are you allowed to put them up with? And do wipe off boards count as bulletin boards?

 

[rcpromike]

Hmmmmmm..... note to self..... get a verrrrrryyyyyy big bulletin board haha

I'm thinking of a bulletin board that covers all four walls. That should do the trick.

 

[jewjubean]

Just so you know if your staying at Vista they might say something about the stuff on the walls. But as long as you have it off for inspections and dont do any major damage to the walls, you should be okay.We have lots of stuff on there right now and they havnt said a word to us. And we got the mean inspection lady lol

 

[Damhsa04]

To the OP or any past CPer.

I know that you said bring twin size sheets to the appartments. Would Twin XL sheets work just as well? I know that the fitted sheet would be a little loose, but I have 2 sets of Twin xl and don't feel like buying another set just for the CP.

 

[epfootballcutie04]

Hmmmmmm..... note to self..... get a verrrrrryyyyyy big bulletin board haha What are you allowed to put them up with? And do wipe off boards count as bulletin boards?

I used a couple thumb tacks to put them up with and no one ever said anything. My roommate and I each had a small white board out side of our bedroom door for messages and such and they never said anything about that either.

Just so you know if your staying at Vista they might say something about the stuff on the walls. But as long as you have it off for inspections and dont do any major damage to the walls, you should be okay.We have lots of stuff on there right now and they havnt said a word to us. And we got the mean inspection lady lol

yeah I lived at Chatham. My roommate and I each had a couple posters up and the sticker type of stuff you can decorate your walls with that peels off with no damage...and a bulletin board. We took it all down for inspections and no damage was made to the walls at all. if you look really closely you can see the holes from previous people, so we just used those holes and it was fine. We aren't into causing damage to the apartments

I heard patterson is more strict since they are the newest apartments. I'm not sure how extreme it is though since i just heard that from someone who heard it from someone else.

To the OP or any past CPer.

I know that you said bring twin size sheets to the appartments. Would Twin XL sheets work just as well? I know that the fitted sheet would be a little loose, but I have 2 sets of Twin xl and don't feel like buying another set just for the CP.

As long as you are ok with a little slippin and slidin' you should be fine lol. sheets aren't really that expensive, especially if you wait until they are onsale, but they all do the same thing You should be ok with the ones you have!

 

[Amber Leigh]

Alot of the stuff I would suggest has already been said, but a few of them that are REALLY important (that one could easily forget about) that I will reiterate

-Bed Risers... it's been said but I say again cus it's so important! You can hardly store anything under the bed without them and the extra space you will come to find a welcome thing

-Extension cords... I didn't think I would need one until I realized the one outlet on my wall did not work and I had to use one outlet for everything on my half the room. A powerstrip saved my butt.

-Hangers... Walmart WILL be sold out. It's the first thing to go cus of all the other CPs needing them as well.

-Landry basket and/or bag... use whatever is going to be most comfortable for you to carry to the landry. I had one, but found it hard to lug so I got the other as well.

-Rug for the floor by the shower! You don't realize how much you need it until the tile is soaking wet and you slip!

-Decorations... don't go overboard on wall ones. You are TECHINCALLY only suppose to have your cork board on the wall. I will say however that some insperctors don't care and others do. In my first apartment, we went through two inspections with nothing said about the extra stuff and we had a LOT of extra stuff! In my second apartment, they failed us on it with only a fraction of the amount of stuff we had on the walls. I had a cork board AND a small dry erase calander, and I was never called out on having two. The calandar was really small however so maybe that is why.

A few other things. Like... while twin bedding is a MUST to bring, as for window curtains and shower curtains and such, they do have generic ones in the apartments. If you are on a budget or just have NO more room to pack things, you can let it slide at first. It all depends on your own personal style too. If you don't mind using the generic stuff that is there when you move in, save the money and don't bother. If you wanna feel like it's more of YOUR place then a place you are only in for awhile, then personalize it more.

For the kitchen, everyone is different. I knew I was gonna need coffee in the morning, I cook on a countertop grill, and I can't stand the taste of tap water. So I had a small coffee maker, George Forman grill, and a water filter. But if I didn't need those were things I would not have brought them. They were nessisary to me.

So you really need to ask yourself... what is NESSISARY to how you live, cook, sleep, bath, etc?

 

[NicoleRose]

i dont understand why the rooms in the 360 views on the website have so much stuff on the walls if its even not allowed lol

 

[QueenofPrideRock]

i dont understand why the rooms in the 360 views on the website have so much stuff on the walls if its even not allowed lol

i've always wondered about that myself!

 

[rachaelfig]

I know! But it looks really nice - I love the idea of the lights going all around the doors.

 

[bekah1477]

same here!! ive always felt that they shouldnt show rooms with a bunch of decorations if they werent going to allow it...its false advertisement and a little bit hypocritical on their part lol i just love decorations though hehehe

 

[jewjubean]

I do advise to invest in a good mattress pad. The beds arnt that great and at first it will be ok because you are dead tired. But eventually it gets annoying.

 

[Michel Jhon]

These are easy to bring and so handy: cookies, brownies, scones, pizelles, muffins, biscotti and if you'd like cookie tray or gift basket so that it will surely cater anyone's sweets cravings. But first, you should ask what they will bring so that when you potluck, it will be a variety of foods and not just a repetition of someone else's potluck.

 

[mickey4ever]

Hangers, hangers, hangers. My daughter is down there now and when she started in early Aug. this past summer, we moved her in and went to Walmart that night and they were out of hangers. There is a Walmart right down the street and if you forget anything they will have it. If you have any ?'s, reply back. Oh yes, and a car would be a great plus. She drove down there from Indiana and it was the best thing she brought with her.. It was her car.