How to Arrange Furniture in a Dorm Room
Tips and Tricks for Getting More Space Out of Your College Home
Aug 15, 2008
Student housing - whether it is a dorm room or campus apartment - tends to come across as dull and generic. To some, the thought of living in such an uninspiring place is daunting. Don’t let it get you down, though. Think of the unadorned walls, blah color scheme and standard furniture as a blank canvas just waiting to be spruced up with a little bit of personality. Because you are probably working with a tight budget, the top priority for decorating your new digs is finding low-cost options with lots of stylish flair. It is a big design challenge, but with a few of these innovative ideas for dorm rooms, you’ll be living in a completely new space before you know it.
Arranging Furniture in a Dorm Room
Most college dorm rooms come with standard-issue furniture—bed, desk and dresser—in unappealing wood finishes. While you can’t do much to change how it looks, you can arrange it in a way that creates space for cool decorating solutions in a dorm room. Start by pushing all the pieces flat against one wall if possible. Try the bed in one corner (with one side touching the wall), a dresser at the foot and the desk in the other corner.
Adding Space to a Dorm Room
An arrangement like this opens up the room, leaving one side free for creative additions. Bet you didn’t know you could add on to a dorm room? With the basic furniture pieces pushed to one side, you can. Purchasing a few inexpensive and readily available items gives you an eat-in kitchen, living room and even an office/studio. Think about these ideas…
A Kitchen in the Dorm Room
Start with a slim-profile table (like a sofa or bar table) flat against the wall opposite your furniture. A tall rolling cart also works. Put a mini refrigerator underneath one end and a compact microwave on top. A set of stackable drawers beside the microwave and rolling drawers next the fridge gives you pseudo cabinet space. A row of removable hooks on the wall above provides a place for any frequently used items or a stash of recipes for easy dorm room meals. To finish the “kitchen,” a small chair in a fun color or pattern gives you a place to sit and eat.
Create a Living Space for Your Dorm
The best spot for a living area in the room is across from the bed, which stands in as a sofa. A small chest of drawers or set of open shelves works well as a TV stand because they have space for DVD players, gaming systems and discs. Keep several large pillows stacked on the floor between the bed and TV; you’ll have a comfortable place lounge around.
An Office in a Dorm Room
You have the desk so all you really need to create an office in a dorm room is a tall bookshelf, which you can find cheap at stores like Ikea, Target and Wal-Mart. Put the shelf across from the desk, and consider buying a rolling chair to make it easier to scoot back and forth between the two. Use this “office” as the place to liven up the dorm room. You can paint the shelf a bold color, hang artwork from the shelves and organize your supplies with bright office accessories.
All it takes is artful rearranging to get four distinct spaces out of an otherwise boring single dorm room.
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