One of the earliest negotiations first-year college students undertake is decorating their rooms. Each kid has his or her own style that’s got to jibe, or at least coexist, with that of a perfect stranger! Read on for ideas about how to make the room feel less institutional and ideas for blending disparate styles.
Fabrics are one way to temporarily soften the space (both literally and figuratively). Beyond the bed, curtains add instant personality, and in a neutral color can tie together otherwise warring color schemes. A DIY fabric-covered headboard can personalize and warm up a space, too. Pinterest is loaded with ideas as is HGTV.com. Kara Paslay has great ways to temporarily customize furniture with painters tape!
In some ways, decorating a dorm room is a bit like decorating an office: accessories count. Bookends, thumbtacks, lamps, storage options all come in a bevy of designs. You can easily make or buy a cool pin board that can be propped against, rather than attached to, the wall. You can also tie the ubiquitous snapshots together by clustering frames in a similar finish.
Schools often have a lot of rules and regs about attaching things to walls. The good news is Command brand hooks and hangers come in a few different styles and are as damage free as you can get. One classic small space trick: decorating by hanging things like handbags, jewelry or even baseball caps on the wall, freeing up closet space and brightening the room at the same time.
Chances are the décor of the room is going to evolve as the year progresses, so don’t overdo it on day one or push a bold initiative at the get go; wait a few weeks before you craft fake wallpaper out of placemats a la HGTV’s Taniya Nayak. Show up with enough stuff to make it “yours,” but leave room for the space to become “ours,” too.
