Once you’ve unpacked, met your roommates and said goodbye to your parents, you’ll begin to realize there’s a lot more to living on your own than doing your own laundry. (By the way, have you packed a hamper? Detergent pods? Dryer sheets?)
Even if you’ve brought everything from shampoo to dish soap to risers for your bed, odds are you forgot a few knickknacks. Here are a few places within walking distance where you can pick up the little things:
District Hardware and The Bike Shop 1108 24 St. NW
This local treasure prides itself on being a family-owned business in D.C. since 1971. The store has a little bit of everything, from bike locks to potted plants to super-strength adhesives for hanging up heavy tapestries in your new room.
While options closer to campus, like CVS, carry some basic home supplies, District Hardware has a wider variety and items you might not think of until you need them, like solvent for cleaning dirty bathroom tiles or blenders for mixing frozen fruit smoothies.
Paper Source 3019 M St. NW
The kitschy chain is made for future crochet club members, but it’s also a great, albeit occasionally overpriced, place to upgrade the aesthetic of your school supplies.
Their journal selection is better than at the campus bookstore, but if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can always head to the Moleskine store at 3029 M St. NW. Prices range from $10 spirals to $30 leather-bound Cavallini notebooks. And Paper Source’s gift wrap, which hangs on a wall display, can double as pretty posters that cost between $3 and $10.
Greeting cards cost $5 to $7 and you won’t waste time digging through cliche sayings or lame jokes. Instead, you’ll find pretty doodles of sloths, “Orange is the New Black” references and an “I’d know it was your birthday without Facebook” card.
Staples 1901 L St. NW
When you’re not ready to spend your precious GWorld money on school supplies at the campus bookstore, this is your go-to: Pens, paper, tape, printer paper and binders line the walls at the reliable chain.
And there are other things you may not have thought of. You may want a mouse for your computer ($15), a label-maker ($65), Post-it notes (about $7) or stamps for keeping in touch with friends via snail mail. And even if you bring your own binders, you may have forgotten dividers or folders.
The lamp you brought to school probably didn’t come with light bulbs and odds are you’ll need batteries for the remote that came with your TV. Staples is only six blocks from Thurston, so even if it takes a few trips to finally feel ready for your first class, you won’t waste any time on the Metro.
