Decorating Your Dorm Room
The blank, white walls are reminiscent of prison, the bright overhead light blinks at an irritating pace, and the top of your desk and other surfaces are scarred from years of use. Adding to the lovely d�©cor is the fact that you overestimated just how much stuff would fit in the tiny space, so your clothes and miscellaneous other junk are all over the floor.
Welcome to decorating your dorm room on a budget! There are a number of ways that you can make your dorm room feel more like yours without breaking your wallet-and all before your first day of classes, too. (Of course, if you have a roommate, it is always a good idea to check with him or her before you start decorating.)
One of the keys to decorating any room is lighting, something many people forget. Of course you say, “But I can’t afford lighting that will actually look nice, can I?” Wrong. You don’t need expensive track lighting to add ambiance to your room. Some of the best lamps for dorm rooms are the small clip-on desk lamps with adjustable necks. While not exactly stylish, they are a bargain at $5-$6. They can be clipped onto bookcases, table edges, closets, and practically any other edge, so they are perfect for rooms with little table space. Plus, if you add several to you room higher up, they can be pointed at the ceiling for a track light effect. If you want a more direct light, you can place one near your bed for reading. Either way, they add texture to the room.
Floor lamps are also nice, though a bit more pricey (though you can still find them for under $20-sometimes under $10). However, since many are also adjustable, they are nice for the small space that dorm rooms often provide, plus they do not take up table space, either.
Now that you have your lighting set, let’s take a look at those bare walls and tabletops. One of the best, cheapest ways to decorate is fabric. Most fabric stores have scraps for very cheap. Also, places like Hobby Lobby sell bandanas. I know what your thinking-you want me to put a silly-western looking bandana on my wall? While bandanas still come in the classic western style, they also come in a variety of other colors and designs, and they are the perfect shape and size to hang on the wall or place on the top of a scarred surface to cover up the rough edges of the room. Plus, they add color and texture.
One of my dorm rooms had a large bulletin board, which I covered with fabric-it added a great deal to the room and made a nice background for pictures (If your dorm room doesn’t provide a bulletin board, buying one would make a nice addition. You don’t actually have to buy a pre-made board, either because you can buy just the corkboard and cut it into sizes you like.) Also, fabric can be used to spice up furniture that is already in the room, such as the desk chair. You can also make your own curtains for the bare windows. You don’t even need any sewing experience. All you need is a suspension rod (if there isn’t a rod there already) and some safety pins-just fold the top of the fabric over the rod and safety-pin it to itself.
Posters are always a great option for the walls. Of course, posters are for sale all over, but sometimes places like movie stores and theaters will give away old posters, as well as music stores, which is a great way to find your favorite band or movie. Also, art shows will often use miniature, postcard-size prints to advertise the show. Several of these together make a nice arrangement. You can even try your own hand at art. Many stores carry small canvases for very cheaply, and with a few of them and some paint, you can create your own “abstract” art.
When I first moved into my dorm, I had the hardest time trying to make posters and pictures stay on the wall without permanently damaging the walls. I tried everything from scotch tape to special hooks. The best product I found was 3M Command Adhesive Products, available at stores like Wal-mart and Target. Though they are a little pricey (about $3-$4 a package), they come in a variety of sizes and shapes and hold a great deal of weight. They even make ones with hooks to hang framed pictures. The adhesives held up all year long, then removed easily with their pull strips when I needed them to come down at the end of the year and didn’t leave marks on the wall. (I should note that these do not work quite as well on the fabric.)
Plants also make a nice addition to dorm rooms because they add color and life. Be sure to place them near a window, though, so they receive plenty of sun. If you don’t have a green thumb, cacti and bamboo are two plants that require very little watering and attention but still look nice.
Now, you’ve taken care of the white walls and such, but your stuff is still everywhere. In a dorm room, you must be very inventive with the space you have. For instance, shoe organizers can be hung in your closet and hold any number of objects from linens to light bulbs. Also, you can help your decorating scheme by buying wooden boxes and painting them to match your room. Then you can store your extra odds and ends that don’t have a place yet, plus add to your dÃ?©cor.
If your bed is a design that can handle it, you can raise your bed off the ground a half dozen inches or more (they sell bed raisers at stores like Wal-mart, but you can also use concrete bricks). This provides a great deal more storage. Also, many places sell plastic, rolling organizers that are designed to fit under the bed, which are excellent for dorm rooms. Another key is to keep the drawers that you have organized. It is easier to find things, and you can fit more of your stuff in them. Little plastic boxes and such are a also a great help.
Decorating your dorm room can be fun, cheap, and easy. All it takes is an imagination and a little bit of searching.
