Decorating Dorm Rooms
Be Creative!
It doesn't take much to make a dorm room feel hip: a futon, a few Christmas lights, some alterna-rock band posters held up with the square, white poster mounts handed out by University Housing—you're set. But if you want something a little different, it doesn't take much more to make your dorm room feel like home. You don't have to buy a leather sofa from Nieman Marcus to create atmosphere, but bookshelves made of cinderblocks and two-by-fours just don't say "welcome home." There are plenty of simple, inexpensive things you can do to your room to give it that warm atmosphere without detracting from the cool quotient.
1. Let your décor represent you. If you love Escher, buy some prints. If you're a marine sciences major, set up an aquarium. (Check your Community Guide for specific guidelines on aquariums.) Your room should feel like "your" room, not like some random, well decorated room.
2. Set up soft lighting. Try finding a wide selection of cheap, chic lamps to replace the harsh, fluorescent overhead lights that come with your room. You can choose from clip lamps, desk lamps, torchiere floor lamps...pretty much any type of lamp you can imagine. Some of the Oriental-style lamps with wood frames and paper shades are particularly pleasing. Many styles come in coordinated sets, so you can match all the lighting in your room.
3. Don't buy a cheap futon. They're ugly and uncomfortable, and no one will ever fold it out into a bed. I know it fits perfectly underneath your lofted bed, but so do many sofas.
4. Buy a used sofa. You could buy two or three at the Salvation Army with the $100 you saved by not buying a futon. If you want to fit the sofa underneath your loft, be sure to measure before you buy. Most lofts have an interior clearance of about 76 inches, but you should measure yours to be sure. If you can't sit on your sofa without hitting your head on your loft, you can usually cut the legs off the bottom of your sofa to bring it several inches closer to the floor.
5. Put down a large rug or carpet. Nobody likes walking on cold, hard tile, so treat your feet to a little luxury. You can even study on the floor. You can find a 6-by-9 area rug, which will cover most of the open floor space in the typical dorm room, at The Home Depot for as little as $20. I highly recommend you first put down a padded mat, which is well worth the extra $20.
6. Plant a garden. A few small potted plants on the window sill really will breathe life into your room. You can grow plants like this even if you've never gardened before; most packaged seeds come with simple, easy-to-follow instructions on things such as how often to water the plant and how much sunlight it needs. You can decorate the pots yourself to add some personal flair.
7. Don't be afraid of color. Dorms come with a lot of white, and maybe a little off-white if you're lucky. Brightly colored accents such as bed sheets, window treatments or throw pillows can really enliven a space.
Pick one color for accent. If you don't want a lot of bright color, a single hue that appears in several items will visually tie the pieces and the room together.
Stick with one design theme. In such a small space, diverse design elements don't feel eclectic; they feel haphazard.
8. Work with your furniture, not against it. The desk, bed and chest of drawers that come with the room are there to stay. Figure out how to incorporate them into your motif. If something is particularly ugly, try covering it with a sarong or an appropriately-sized piece of fabric.
9. Balance your room's chi. I could never explain all of feng shui in this small space, so just don't aim the head of your bed at the door. You won't sleep well. I highly recommend buying a book on feng shui or checking one out from the library.
10. Bring in peaceful sounds. A small running waterfall can be very soothing. Homedics offers a variety of tabletop waterfalls for less than $50. You can check out their selection at www.homedics.com, and their products are available at most major retail stores and several online stores.
11. Frame your wall hangings. You can buy 8-by-10 prints at the poster sales for just a few dollars each and have them custom-framed in metal or wood. You also can buy pre-made frames at Target for about $10.
2. Use wood grain when you can. Chrome and brushed aluminum don't feel like the dorm of the future; they feel like an institution. Keep this in mind when choosing lamps, picture frames and other decorative pieces.
Avoid plastic. It looks cheap; it feels cheap...it is cheap.
13. Don't decorate with empty liquor bottles. A few particularly pretty bottles filled with brightly dyed water can provide nice color, but empties randomly scattered throughout the room just look like trash that needs to be taken out.
14. Most importantly, think ahead. With just a little brainstorming, it's easy to create a unified design theme and then go out and buy inexpensive décor that fits in with your master plan. Organization is the key to living in tight space, so be sure to consider having a place for everything.
10 Creative Ideas for Decorating and Orfanizing Your Dorm Roomn
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