No commissions here - just stuff we love

"I want it to feel like MY space."

"Where do I even find this?"

"Wait, can I do that myself?"

"What do I actually NEED?"

All questions Être is hearing from first-time frosh as they pack up their rooms and head off to campus. From dorm design to storage hacks, study tips and staying sane, high school grads have questions - and they're good ones. Where do we usually turn for answers? Back to the companies whose boardrooms we visit and whose execs or influencers we interview!

And we like to share what we know.

Here, then, are five fast tips from mentor orgs expert in getting you ready and out the door, armed with the items & advice you need. Want more? Part 2 will be packed and shipped next week.

1. Make a Plan.

No place better to make - or pin - your plan than Pinterest. When we stormed their boardroom back in May to talk about what it's like to work there, girls talked animatedly about how they use the platform - and college prepping was top of mind. From easy searches like dorm room decor to organization tips and what to leave behind, Pinterest is Gen Z packers' first stop. Why? Besides the trend-spotting and taste-curating, Pinterest makes 2025 dorm planning more DIY than ever...board by board and step by step.

“We want users to go from IDEA to I DID IT...we want to spark inspiration for a life you love.”

— Sabrina Perelman, Global Head of IP and Trust Safety Legal at Pinterest to Être

2. Make Space.

Make your space your own - and smart collabs can help! When Pinterest teamed up with Dormify to curate dorm room inspo, lightbulbs went on over heads everywhere. More ideas for new spaces? We love these portable LED lanterns from Urban Outfitters, these clever storage options at Target, these sleep masks from Petite Plume and this alarm clock that won't fail at Amazon. What else do Être members swear by? This mattress topper, bedshelfie everything and genius under-bed storage like this.

3. Make Friends.

Collabs can often mean working with friends - or roommates - and these former Stanford University BFFs are a great example. When Être interviewed co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni about their back to college partnership with Command™ Brand last month, they made great points about how to navigate new space with new friends:

“When Phoebe and I were roommates at Stanford, we obviously used Command products to accessorize our dorm rooms. Honestly, even with the simplest things like being able to hang up our jewelry or being able to hang posters, photos, and display different memories – we loved Command!”

— Sophia Kianni to Être

“I can’t even tell you - Sophia and I had two halves of the room and they were completely different! So, I think having that flexibility to hang things up and take things down super easily is really important.”

— Phoebe Gates to Être

What items, specifically, do we love from Command right now? These limited edition color hooks, these cord clips for lights & photos, and these smartest-ever self-stick & no damage storage ideas.

4. Make Changes.

What else is great about design with no damage? You can change it when it's not right. That's why peel & stick wallpaper from companies like Tempaper embrace & correct all mistakes. For more inspo head here and for additional removable wallpaper options check out Pottery Barn's latest collabs with LoveShackFancy (shout out - LSF's president is an Être TED-Ed mentor this year!), Roller Rabbit and more.

Other disaster-averting items good to throw in your bag? Think shower shoes with drain holes (trust us), Tide to Go stain remover systems and this all-purpose First Aid kit from our mentors at Johnson & Johnson - we visited there last fall when they taught us all about curiosity, mistakes and the power of innovative solutions. Change, they told us, can be tidal - so don't be afraid.

5. Make Waves.

Yep, make waves. Because curiosity and innovation are what college is all, or at least partly, about. A time to define yourself in new spaces, forge fresh friendships, risk mistakes and brainstorm tomorrow's ideas. It's no accident that roommates become co-founders - sometimes our earliest ideas are the gems and those by our side share the inspo.

So, as you sort, plan and pack - also dream big and dive in. An ocean of opportunities and mentors awaits.

Looking forward,

Illana

ÊXTRAS: Three more back to campus tips you won't want to miss: for students with a foot out the door, meet our BFFs at Her Campus, for parents waving goodbye, check out Grown & Flown, and for brands seeking to reach the back to school crowd - Pinterest has you covered too.

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