11 Best New Target Dorm Finds Under $25

Dorm shopping has constraints that regular home shopping doesn’t: there’s a move-in date, a slim square footage, and a budget that’s already been stretched by textbooks, meal plans, and everything else that shows up in the first week. Target’s current under-$25 dorm selection navigates those parameters well, covering the practical and the personal in equal measure. Right now, you’ll find a 12-cup Mr. Coffee, a Brita pitcher, a Lasko box fan, an Aroma rice cooker, a rattan dog pencil holder, and a mini faux wood lamp that might make the room feel a little like home. Here are eleven dorm finds worth picking up at Target before you head off to college for move-in day.

At 50×70 inches, this plush throw is large enough to actually use as a blanket rather than a decorative layer—most dorm throws stop about six inches short of useful. It comes in solid colors that work with most bedding without requiring any coordination effort. It’s $10.

Dorm rooms run on overhead fluorescent lighting, and this mini faux wood lamp fixes that for $12. The warm light on a desk or nightstand changes the entire feeling of a small room after dark in a way that no amount of string lights quite manages.

This rattan dog pencil holder holds pens, highlighters, and scissors while warming up the desk space with something a little cute. The rattan construction gives it a natural aesthetic that standard plastic organizers don’t have. It’s $15.

This botanical lumbar throw pillow in green gives a dorm bed the layered look that standard twin XL bedding usually struggles to achieve. Between the pastel color palette and the pretty bird design, it’s like bringing the outdoors in. It’s $25.

Set it the night before, wake up to coffee already made. This Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker is programmable, which matters most on the mornings when class starts unforgivingly at 8am. At $19.99 it pays for itself in avoided café trips before the end of the first week.

The patchwork construction gives this woven plaid lumbar pillow a tactile, handmade quality that’ll make you feel at home, no matter how far you’ve traveled for school. At 14.75×20.75 inches it’s substantial enough to actually support a lower back during late-night studying. It’s $20.

This thin hinged frame holds two photos side by side and sits on a desk or nightstand without requiring any wall space, and folds up neatly when damage is a concern. The thin profile keeps it from taking over a surface. It’s $8.

This wire basket with wood handles holds textbooks, snacks, or extra supplies without taking up permanent surface space. The wood handles make it easy to pull off a shelf without displacing everything around it. It’s $12.

Buy this before the first August night in a room with no air conditioning and a roommate who runs warm. This Lasko box fan is the most practically urgent purchase on this list for anyone moving into an older building, and at $19.99 it costs less than two nights of bad sleep.

This Aroma rice cooker cooks rice, steams vegetables, and keeps meals warm, meaning you can actually plan on eating a few meals in your dorm room rather than always hitting the dining hall. The outer steam tray adds a full meal’s worth of flexibility without requiring a second device. It’s $22.99.

This Brita water pitcher fits in a mini fridge door, filters tap water to actually drinkable quality, and eliminates the daily bottled water purchase that adds up faster than anyone expects over a semester. The 6-cup capacity is right for one person without taking up shelf space meant for food. It’s $17.69.