Decorating A Room For Dorm Event

There are few things that excite me more than an empty dorm room. After three years at boarding school and four years of college, transforming these small spaces in residence halls was something I looked forward to every summer. Here are some of my best tips (and secrets…)to making your college dorm room look more like a home and less like a prison cell.

As you and your teen begin to make a college packing list and BEFORE you do ANY dorm shopping for freshman year, find the residence life section on the college website. Look for the dorm rules, items that are prohibited, find out any information about the dimensions of the room, and look for what furniture may be provided by campus housing.

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Favorite college dorm room ideas

Dorm Lighting

Light is hands-down the most important part of the room. Most dorms have minimal natural light and cringe-worthy fluorescent bulbs that immediately make a room less inviting.

If your college allows them, string lights are a popular source of lighting. I stay away from the wire lights because I have trouble finding places to wrap them around, but a lot of my friends find ways to make it work. A fun use for the wire lights is layering them in an extra-large mason jar for a DIY lamp.

lights in a jar

My favorite ones are globe string lights. Two sets will likely be enough to fully line the perimeter of your room. This creates the appearance of natural, warm light that comes from all directions.

globe lights

A light box is also fun, and you can change the letters that are part of the set to display.

light box Target

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Dorm Decor

WALL ART

My first year in a dorm I decorated with posters from AllPosters.com which is what many students do. While displaying great movie and TV shows, I think they darkened the color scheme and the vibe of the room. Now, I try to decorate with art prints and photographs from small businesses that I find on websites like Etsy and Society6 that have thousands of unique art prints by artists from around the world. Society6 also offers student discounts of 25% plus free shipping.

20×200 is a company that seeks to make art affordable and I've found a few great prints from their site in the past. You can also find unique posters and maps at art stores like A.I. Friedman and Michael's.

PHOTOS

Steer clear from the glossy photos you print at the drugstore photo counter and look around on websites like Social Print Studio and Artifact Uprising (a little pricier). Both websites offer square (and large-format) matte prints that you can pull from Facebook, Instagram, or your photo library. These squares look great as a grid, fastened with clothespins on a piece of string, or in the frames that both websites offer.

I often pull photos from websites like Tumblr and even just Google Images of artists' works that I like and print them on Social Print Studio, which allows me to mix personal photos with more artistic images. You can also use the larger options on these websites to create your own posters or prints. I'm eager to try out their new panorama option.

If you have small photos or post cards, using a photo hanger like this one creates a cute wall display that you can easily change.

photos on a string Target

Also, another option that I have only learned after living through (and decorating) several undergraduates' college rooms is that less is more. It's fun to have wall-to-wall coverings with photos, prints, tapestries, and so on, but sometimes a more minimal approach gives the room a more mature, sophisticated look that one might have later on in college.

TAPESTRIES

I use pareos (sarongs), turkish towels, beach blankets, and tablecloths for my wall hangings because I think that they look less typical "dorm room" than the busy-looking tapestries that most companies sell. But, I also think that a statement tapestry can look great on a wall, and should be the standout piece in the room. If you go with a statement tapestry, I'd suggest taking it easy with the remaining decor, and go with neutral bedding.

Pottery Barn tapestries are some of the prettiest I've seen. Remember, check to see if your college has rules about hanging tapestries, first.

tapestry Pottery Barn

Dorm Room Essentials

Dorm Desks

I purchased a desk bookshelf (which some dorm rooms come with — check before ordering) my junior year of high school and have used it every year since.

It's an investment that will last, and aids not only in organization/storage but also in decor. I pile my favorite books atop of the hutch and use the inner shelves for my textbooks, notebooks, and binders. On my actual desk, I try to have as few items as possible.

dorm desk bookshelf

A good desk lamp is important as well as somewhere that holds pencils and other office supplies that you'll use everyday. This one has a high-speed charger for my phone on the base of the lamp and it has loads of different illumination settings.

tao tronics lamp

For things that you won't use as often, store them in the desk drawer using organizer tray Iike this one on amazon. I also love the organization options offered at The Container Store.

Desk for a college dorm room

I like Miquelrius notebooks (even though they don't look as cool as Moleskins) because they hold up well and the pages don't feel cramped.

notebooks

This year, I pinned some of my favorite personal items, poems, photos, and postcards to a bulletin board and leaned it against the wall behind my desk. It was nice to look at while doing work and something I continued to add to throughout the year.

bulletin board

Rugs

A rug makes a huge difference in a college dorm room, warming up the space and providing another source of light, brightening colors. I would go with a neutral color that isn't pure white, because, knowing dorm life, there are going to be a few spills.

In the past years, I've either purchased one large area rug that spans most of the room or used two smaller rugs. It's up to you. Try to find one that doesn't curl up at the edges, which tends to get annoying. This blue rug with an ombre effect is a great contemporary look.

blue rug target

Dorm Furniture

This really depends on the room, because some have much more space than others. A dish chair fits in most dorm rooms and can be changed with each school year if covered with a different tapestry or comforter.

dish chair
I used a rainbow beach blanket because I didn't like the original color of the chair, but you can really use anything. Even an old bed sheet would work.

Other options include floor pillows, bean bags, or other similar pieces.

floor pillows

One year I even flipped over a dresser that I wasn't using, layered it with a pool chair cushion and throw blankets and pillows, and transformed it into a makeshift daybed.

Another great option, if you have the space, is a small couch with the option of storage cubes. A lounger that doubles as somewhere to put your shoes, food, or clothes is always a plus. I used my brother's old couch from PB Teen, covered it with a tablecloth, and purchased the storage cubes from their website. Futons can also be very comfortable and are great for extra seating if you have the space.

Dorm "Kitchen"

Make sure you find out what appliances are allowed in your dorm before you start thinking about your college kitchen. Having a mini-fridge, microwave, and electric kettle are wonderful but each dorm and college have different rules.

A fridge cart is great for additional storage in narrow spaces. This one by The Container Store is very durable and comes with drawers for storage.

fridge cart

Dorm Closet

In my experience, you either get really lucky with closet space or you don't. In the case that you don't, a double rod extender makes one into two rows on the closet bar so you can hang things like skirts and pants. Make sure you bring thin hangers to maximize space.

Raising the bed with risers provides for under-the-bed storage, which is where I typically keep everything besides shoes and hanging items.

bed risers

If you can't fit a shoe rack in the closet area, you can use a cube. I like clear drawers from The Container Store that are stackable and, because of the transparency, perfect for easy access. They offer both pull-out drawers and open-faced ones.

This originally appeared on DaytripperU, a guide for college tours and towns.

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If you're looking for the easiest way to make your dorm room adorable and affordable, then this post has all the DIY Dorm decor ideas you need. Dorm rooms don't have to be boring, and it's really easy to make it a comfortable place for your college kid to live. #collegelife #dormideas #dormroom #dormdecor #diydormroom #dorms #college #teens #teenagers #decorideas

Charlotte Klein is a graduate of Wesleyan University. Her passions include reading, writing, visual journaling, and lying on the floor with her dogs. Charlotte has previously worked for The Huffington Post and Into The Gloss.