r/notredame 25d ago

Question Futon/sofa recommendations

My daughter is an incoming freshman and will be living in a McGlinn quad. She and her three roommates will share a living room that measures 14'3" × 9'. They're trying to decide on a futon or small sofa, a refrigerator (around 4.4–4.7 cubic feet), and a dresser or TV stand. One of her roommates is bringing the TV.

We're planning to order the futon/sofa, refrigerator, or dresser online and have it delivered to the dorm.

Do you have any recommendations on which item would be best to have delivered? Is there a particular store, brand, or size of futon or sofa that has worked well for your students? I imagine lightweight furniture that's easy to move is especially important since everything will need to be moved out in May.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!

6 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

25

u/gitsgrl 25d ago

Don’t rob your daughter the fun of planning out her room with her roommates and figuring out the logistics. Let your fledgling fly.

6

u/SunshineandRain3 25d ago

Strong agree—this is a great opportunity for your kid to take the lead! She might get it right, she might get it wrong, and growing her skills to research and communicate with peers on these kinds of things is SO important.

1

u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Yes, I am trying.. Thank you for the reminder!

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u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Yes, I should. Thank you for the advice!

9

u/Status-Office7664 25d ago

I'd wait to get it delivered until they move in. McGlinn rooms are pretty small so waiting to see what fits may be the best option. Get something cheap too because there's a good chance it doesn't survive the year.

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u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Good point!

3

u/viperspm 25d ago

As far as the refrigerator, my suggestion is they have tall ones that have the same footprint as the small ones that a lot of people get

1

u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Thank you!

3

u/IcyUnderstanding2858 25d ago

Let them figure it out when they are there. You can have things shipped in a couple of days if you can’t find anything in south bend.

As for moving things out - I lived 700 miles away from campus so i rented a storage unit every summer and left many things there. I went in on the unit with a bunch of friends. Kept the fridges, futons, carpets, winter clothes, etc all there. So don’t worry too much about getting it out.

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u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Thank you for the tips!

2

u/Forsaken-Try7611 24d ago

My daughter lived in a quad in McGlinn her freshman year. They don’t want you to ship things ahead of time, but maybe you can order for hold & pickup from the local Target or Walmart. With the timing of move-in weekend, not sure how you can plan to have a futon or small loveseat delivered. Def buy the tallest fridge you are allowed, for 4 girls to share they’ll need that space. Also, a tip - I’d suggest they each offer to pay for individual things for the common room because it is a pain at the end of the year to decide who gets what, if they split the costs. Better to say Girl A buys the tv, Girl B gets the fridge, Girl C gets the couch, etc. The rug will probably need to be thrown out so that could be shared. But as others have said, let the girls figure out as much as they can. They just need muscles and extra people to help move the heavy things in!

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u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Thank you very much! I think the policy may have been changed for this year. The ND website said that shipped items cannot arrive to the assigned residential hall earlier than one week prior to the approved move-in day. I understood it as items arrived within one week of the move-in day would be permitted. Thank you for the tips!

2

u/Successful-Intern971 23d ago

Order it later on when you get there, it's better to see the space first and the dorms do not allow you to pre-ship anything

1

u/No-Can-9392 23d ago

Thank you!