It is a truth universally acknowledged that a college girl, in possession of a lot of free time, will be in want of a Jane Austen themed dorm room.
Alright gals, I’ve gotta be honest. I’m a bit of a Jane Austen fanatic. Maybe it was the abridged version of Pride and Prejudice I read in 3rd grade (as you can imagine I wasn’t the most popular 8-year-old at Park Elementary), or maybe it was the 2008 Keira Knightley adaptation that just made me fall head over heels for Jane Austen and everything she was about.
Frankly, I’ve been looking for my Mr. Darcy since I saw Collin Firth rise sexily out of that fishing pond in the Pride and Prejudice 5-part TV series, and I haven’t looked back since. (So if you see a stern, haughty, gentleman with a heart of gold and molten chocolate eyes, send me his resume please).
Luckily for me, my roommate Helen, the Jane Bennet to my Elizabeth Bennet (or vice versa. Honestly, we can’t agree on who’s who, and frankly it could tear our friendship apart), is also an Austen-phile. Our mutually shared living space, nestled rather unromantically in the basement of Richardson Hall, therefore has taken on a certain tinge of our obsessive Austen cult fanaticism. (I honestly had to restrain myself from getting a Mr. Darcy body pillow.)
So, without further ado, here is our list of how to make your dorm room intimidatingly Georgian looking. Enjoy!
1. The lighting
Let’s be honest. The harsh florescent dorm room lighting isn’t the most conducive to wanton daydreams about finding everlasting love despite oppressive social stratification. So, the first step to inciting a little bit of a soft, English romance into your dorm room is to fix the lighting. Go for warm yellow string light fixtures, the basic fairy lights will do, but I tend to think you need a little something more substantive to give your room that melancholy, whimsical glow.
2. Bedding
A soft floral or egg-shell plain cotton bedding tends to be transformative for a room, and I usually think that keeping your bedding neutral makes decorating the rest of your room super simple. Also, you’ll need comfy bedding to throw yourself dramatically on when a letter fraught with untimely bad news arrives from Pemberley. My roommate went for this simple floral patterned betting from Target, and I went for a soft white cotton bedding from Pottery Barn.
3. Make it easy: use Etsy.
I don’t know what about Etsy seems to draw Austen fans to it, but damn if it isn’t totally rife with all the Jane Austen décor a girl could ever dream of. My roommate and I went for an understated quote and book banner, but there are tons of different items you can find. I’ve listed some of the cutest ones above. (Plus, they’re all usually affordable. After all, we don’t all have a yearly income of 30,000 pounds).
4. Flowers
Nothing reminds me more of the Bennet’s sleepy country cottage like a lot of fresh flowers. My roommate and I usually get wildflowers every two weeks, either from our local farmer’s market or the supermarket. If that’s too much of an investment, getting a little flower bush can add a lot of fragrance and freshness into your musty, dusty dorm room. (Also, dried flowers!)
5. Teatime
Who here hasn’t pretended while sipping a cup of tea to be lounging around in a parlor in Bath and making sultry eyes at some potential gentleman caller, as your 55-year-old chaperone fusses over her Indian silk muslin? Invest in some pretty, simple tea cups. Tea accouterments add a pleasing sense of comfort to our room, and they’re always a good resource to have if a friend stops by to chat about her creepy cousin who just proposed to her.
6. Accent furniture
Though dorm rooms are cramped spaces, remember the Bennets somehow managed to cram five daughters, several servants, and the larger-than-life personality of one anxiety-ridden mother into one dilapidated house. I find that a few select pieces of small furniture help transform a room. Cute ottomans, wooden benches, and a few throw blankets here and there make the difference.
7. Personalize
However you decide to Austen-fy to your dorm, keep it individual. Jane Austen’s heroines are some of the most iconic, individual, and strong female characters in literature. Your room ought to reflect that headstrong independence and self-assurance. Make your room reflect your own personal style and taste.
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