The Importance of Decorating Your College Dorm Room

When the word “college” is brought up, a lot of things can come to mind such as: classes, studying, majors, partying, surviving communal showers and so on. One of the aspects that I found important was decorating my dorm room. Some people may find this silly and unnecessary, but how your space looks and feels can really affect your experience. Like many other people, I am a visual person. One of the things that goes along with that is how my environment around me looks. Colors, patterns, and continuity will affect the overall “mood” of the room per say.

Despite walking in to a room that resembles a prison cell your first day of freshman year, there is still a lot you can do with the limited amount of space that you do have. A dorm room is more than just a place to sleep or study, it is also a space where your friends will hang out, movie nights, important bonding with your roommate and so on. It is extremely multi-functional, yet that does not mean it has to be bland.

In hopes of making your space more personalized here are my five tips on having a dorm room that you will love.

Tip #1: try to find out more information about the layout of your room. Many universities will have floor plans available online and if not, Youtube dorm tours are always a good source too. Knowing the amount of space you have and the basic setup of the room will make the tedious process of college shopping much easier.

Tip #2: Talk to your roommate or roommates beforehand. It is essential to establish not only who is bringing what, such as a fridge or printer, but also their style. There’s some things you may disagree on, which is fine. It’s good to build that skill from the start, especially when it’s over dorm decorating. You do not have to match everything perfectly like you see on Pinterest posts of extravagant dorm rooms, but it is helpful to have a basic color scheme and see what you have in common taste wise.

Tip #3: Buy some faux plants! Plants are one of the simplest ways to help vamp up a dorm room. It brings some life and greenery into the room, plus it matches with almost everything. Stores like TJ Maxx, Target, and even some dollar stores are really affordable places to get fake plants. They typically come in decorative pots too, which is a huge bonus. If you feel like as though you can handle it, live houseplants and air plants are a great option also.

Tip #4: Basing your décor around your bedding is one the easiest ways to have a cohesive theme. Considering the fact that dorm rooms are quite small, the bed becomes the vocal point of the room. Buy bedding that you really love! Even if it means splurging a little bit, remember that you can use it for a few years throughout your college career. Another solution to this is to buy basic bedding and dress it up with decorative pillows and blankets. They are even interchangeable which is convenient.

Tip #5: DIY what you can! Before I began college, I looked at different rooms on Pinterest and went on websites like Urban Outfitters. A lot of their décor can really add up which is why I suggest being creative and using those items as inspiration. It can be a lot cheaper to make things yourself; you can even do it with friends.

Overall I think it is important to personalize your dorm. It’s more than just a space you sleep in. When you’re dorm room shopping just keep in mind what you like! If you end up finding some décor on the way that is your style buy it!