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Imagine that you have just finished decorating your college dorm room and it doesn’t quite look like those rooms showcased on Instagram and Pinterest that you were striving for. What exactly went wrong? Well, nothing. The truth is that most of us are on a budget and can’t afford to decorate our room like the people who have posted those elaborate dorm rooms on Instagram and Pinterest.
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But don’t worry! Even if you are on a budget, you can still create your dream dorm room by using a little creativity and imagination. Here are some decorating tips that I have created to guide you in making your dream dorm more comfortable, spacious, aesthetically pleasing and Instagram-worthy.
1) Rearrange Your Dorm Room
When you first move in, rearranging your dorm room is a MUST. Most of the time, you will not like the default layout of your room. But don’t fret! Most colleges and universities will allow you to rearrange your dorm room to your liking. This means that you can move the furniture wherever you want and set up a space that is to your liking.
To begin, most shared dorm rooms are small, making each square-inch of space a hot commodity. To create more space, you can draw a plan to rearrange your dorm room furniture--- (desks, chairs, and beds). Doing this will help you maximize your space.
For starters, I begin by rearranging the setup of the beds, which will later determine where everything else will be placed. If your dorm room is too small and you want more space, I suggest lofting your bed. By lofting your bed, you can create a perfect workplace under your bed or could even add comfy furniture giving you plenty of space in your dorm room. Of course, not everyone likes the idea of sleeping all the way up high, but another idea is lifting your existing beds. By lifting your bed, you can have a whole new storage place underneath. This is perfect for storing anything that you don't want in plain sight, but still want to be easily accessible.
2) Add Furniture
After rearranging your dorm room, you might find that you have extra space. To take advantage of this, add your own furniture. By this, I don’t mean that you have to bring a big bulky couch to your dorm. A huge couch probably won’t fit. However, you can simply fill the space with smaller furniture such as a multifunctional bean bag chair or even an ottoman. Items such as an ottoman can be extremely affordable and can serve multiple functions as it can both provide extra storage space while acting as a decoration for your room.
3) Coordinate With Your Roommate
Decorating is key to creating your dream dorm room. But if you want your room to look extra aesthetic and colorful, then coordinate with your roommate! You will want to find your aesthetic first and go from there.
Color scheme is very important if you want to slightly match with your roommate and bring the two sides of your dorm room together. Trust me! It will change the atmosphere of the entire room and create a more balanced look rather than having a bunch of random colors all bundled together.
From the color of the bedding to the color of your pillow cases, you and your roommate can decide on the color theme of the room. For example, if you both like the color blue, one could settle for the dark shade of blue and the other could settle for a light pastel color of blue. If you don’t know where to start, check out this amazing guide on how to choose a color scheme for your dorm.
4) Light it All Up
Light up your side of the dorm room! If you have a wall right beside your bed, and are looking for easy decorating ideas for your wall, simply hang up fairy lights. Fairy lights come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors, and are perfect for that extra boost of lighting in your room.
No matter how you hang your lights, it always creates a dreamy, stylish look for your wall. Here are the different ideas you can style your room with fairy lights and different types of fairy lights that come in all shapes and sizes. You can buy these affordable fairy lights below:
A couple fairy light options:
Decorative Mini Lantern Fairy Lights
And you can even find lights that are specifically for the decor in a guy's dorm room.
5) Hang up Pictures
While hanging lights on their own might seem too plain, they serve as the perfect compliment to pictures on your wall. You can frame your lights around your favorite pictures of your friends and family. If you’re the artistic type, you could even frame the lights around your favorite pieces of art. To do this, you can create a gallery of your favorite pictures and tape them on the wall. If you’d rather avoid hanging pictures directly on your wall, you can buy a photo board to create a picture collage or purchase a photo grid panel. By hanging pictures on your wall surrounded by lights, you can turn your dull, old wall into an aesthetically pleasing view. Beyond pictures, feel free to also hang up your favorite posters or tapestries.
6) Design Your Own Wall With DIY Art
If you are looking for a more affordable way to decorate your plain white dorm walls, you can create your own DIY art and hang it up in your room! Nothing beats a unique piece of artwork created by you! Keep in mind that you don’t have to be an artist to do this!
You can create any kind of art that you want, even art for your desk. To get you started, all you need is paint, canvas boards, construction papers, and a splash of inspiration and creativity to get your artistic mind working!
7) Decorate Your Workspace
Did you know that an organized and a neatly decorated workspace can improve your overall productivity and concentration? For starters, you can decorate your workplace with simple, colorful stationery accessories, such as pencil holders, jewelry/makeup organizer sets, and folder organizers. This will make you less distracted because your workspace is a lot neater, and more spacious when you sit down to get some work done. To create a more stylish desk, you could also make your own DIY desk organizers and brighten up your workspace with a LED lightbox.
Also, be sure not to neglect your wall space! You can extend your desk decor by setting up and personalizing your own magnetic white board with a monthly schedule and your weekly to-do checklists. Additionally, you can also hang up some photo collages using metal photo grids or hang up some motivational quotes on your wall.
8) Add Some Greens!
Lastly, decorate your dorm room by adding a touch of greenery for that refreshing and natural aesthetic. Adding live plants to your room can not only brighten up your place, but also offer many health benefits, such as purifying the air in your room, improving your sense of well being, and decreasing your stress levels.You can place your plants near the window sill, by your bed, or on your desk. Remember, don’t forget to water your plants!
If you know that you are someone who will most likely forget to water your plants, I suggest that you get some fake plants, or ones that require little care such as a succulent or a cactus.
Let’s Wrap Up
As can be seen, decorating your dorm room with your roommate can be a fun and exciting process. Don’t underestimate it, however. It requires more work than simply buying each accessory for your dorm room at the store. By planning thoroughly before move-in day, you can make your dream dorm room like the ones you’ve seen on Instagram or Pinterest.
Remember, you don’t have to spend a ton of money, especially if you are on a budget. By using just a little imagination and creativity, you can transform your dorm room into the one of your dreams!
