Surviving College Life

College Dorm Décor on the Cheap

August 6th, 2008 Jamie

First, thanks to all of you for your ideas about improving the site. There’s still time to make suggestions, so if you haven’t yet, let me know what you’d like to see! Now, several of you have asked for more tips about sprucing up your space, so on to the dorm décor ideas…

With all the limitations on dorm room decorating (no paint, no nails, no nothing!) it takes some real creativity to make your dorm room into your own space. But you have more options than posters and white cinderblock… In fact, why not use other people’s creativity to spur your own?

Snoop Around

Take a peek at the wide range of dorm rooms (made and lived in by real people) on HGTV’s Rate My Space. (They’ve been having some server trouble, so you might want to check back later.) I love how creative these students got both with budgeting AND working around the “no nails or paint” restrictions in most dorm rooms.

My favorite hacks from these rooms:

• Hanging Chinese lanterns from the ceiling for (cheap) ambient lighting
• A bed that doubles as comfy seating (the more pillows the better!)
• Repeating patterns & colors especially those cute mirrors from Ikea (plus, they’re cheap!)
• “Wallpapering” with fabric or wrapping paper
• Slipcovering ugly dorm couches with bed sheets
• Cheerful, sheer curtains (you can also use a cute bed sheet for this)
• Organizing DVDs by color to create a design element (this looks awesome with books, too)

Go to “Therapy”

I love, love, love the creativity that pops up on Apartment Therapy-especially the gorgeous-and-teeny homes that showed up in Apartment Therapy’s Smallest, Coolest Apartments Contest 2008 (and of course the contest from 2007, too). Some of them are entire homes encompassed in 300 square feet, and they’re chock full of ideas for personalizing a small space, like…

• Dividing rooms with curtains for privacy and style-you can also do this with your desk or a bookcase
• Using the bed as a way to divide living and sleeping space
• Turning a closet into living space (see the bedroom? Yeah, that used to be a closet.)
• Thrift store and flea market finds as unique, funky furniture and décor elements

DIY, or Just Buy

Yay for the internet, which provides us with thousands of great DIY dorm projects, like MookyChick’s tips on how to decorate your dorm room on a student budget (thanks to KillJill Goes to College for the link). If you’re interested in making your own dorm décor, start with google or instructables.com.

More in the mood to buy? Check out CollegeFashion’s dorm room shopping series, with tips on everything from buying bedding to smart storage options for small spaces. (And while you’re there, sample some of the fantastic college fashion authoress Briana has collected over the past couple years!)

photo: Bedroom Basics 3 by Lotus Head

Related Posts

• Your First Apartment: Things You Should Remember but Probably Won’t
• Easy Ways to Decorate Your Dorm Room
• 25 Things You Need to Know About Living in the Dorms
• Your First Apartment: How Much Will the First Month Cost?
• Ten Useful Things to Add to Your ‘Take To College’ List

Entry Filed under: dorm room