Back-to-School Dorm Decorating
Personalize Student Housing with Cool School Decorating Tips
Aug 19, 2009
Back-to-school for college students is such an exciting time of year until you walk into that horribly drab and cold dorm room. But think of your dorm room as a chance to start over with a blank slate and create your own personal style and statement.
Decorating a dorm room comes with many limitations but there are also some freedoms inherent in a college living situation. The following decorating tips should help get you started in creating your own environment.
Learn the Rules
The problem is every college has its own rules on how you can decorate your dorm room and what they allow. It’s really worth the time to review the rules before you go crazy and try to replicate something you saw in a magazine. Breaking the rules will only cause you problems and waste your time and money. Instead think outside the box and find creative ways to decorate your dorm room.
Multifunctional Bed
Your college bed will serve so many more functions than just a place to sleep. It will be the place you sit and relax, where you study, where friends sit when they visit, where you eat some meals and more. So a standard bed set up probably won’t serve all your needs. Look for large throw pillows that can serve as back support when you’re sitting on the bed. A breakfast in bed table works wonderfully for meals and as a laptop desk. You may even want to bring in a daybed with shelves so you can attach a lamp and take full advantage of every inch of space under and around your bed.
Dorm Closet
A dorm closet with enough space for your clothes and accessories is a rarity, instead you get a small cube with a shelf and a pole. Increase the functionality and visual appeal of your closet by using a closet organization system to sort and store. If you have an accordion style closet door, see if you can remove it for the year as they take up a lot of space in the closet. Use Velcro and fabric to hang a curtain over your closet instead, it gives you more space and provides a patch of color.
Student Desks
Some student desks are less than functional. If it’s allowed, take down the desk provided by your university and add one that gives you more storage and features you need. If you can’t afford a desk consider buying two filing cabinets and topping them with a piece of wood. You can paint, decoupage, and decorate your homemade desk any way you want.
Color in your Dorm
Painting may be outlawed in your college room but you can add color to the floor with rugs, to the bed with bedding, to the desk (if it’s your own) with paint, to the walls with artwork and to the windows with curtains. There are many ways to infuse the room with vivid colors that are exciting and energizing.
Separate Areas
One reason it’s hard to decorate a dorm room is it serves so many functions but basically it needs to be a restful place for sleep and relaxation and a comfortable place with energy for studying. Find ways to separate your sleeping area from your studying area by hanging curtains, using shoji screens or stacking crates or storage containers. This division of the room will actually make it seem larger as its functional areas are separated.
When moving into your first college housing situation or dorm room, don’t feel like you have to buy the standard bedding packages and desk organizers in all of the discount stores, get creative and come up with personalized ways to express yourself.
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