Decorate Your Dorm: 5 Tips on How to Spruce Up Your Room

There is no denying that Amherst has some of the best dormitories in the country.  Look no farther than Room 200/202 in Charles Pratt (I have no idea who is living there this year but I sure hope the residents are appreciating it).  Unfortunately, not all of us are lucky enough to reside in the best dorms on campus.  I am convinced I have lived in two of the smallest rooms—North 4^th floor with its ridiculously low ceilings, and a double in Mayo-Smith that seems almost smaller than my room in North, although the floor plans beg to differ.  And then there are the Socials, the unfortunate remnants of ‘70s architecture that are thankfully being renovated soon.  But no matter where you are living, it is easy to make your room fabulous and functional.  Whether it is your first time living in a dorm or you last year at Amherst, here are a few tips to organizing and decorating your room.

1. Coordinate With Your Roommate.  So maybe this is a little hard to do freshmen year when you haven’t met your roommate yet, but planning your double together really makes a difference.  My roommate, Mallory Howe ’14, and I discussed color schemes over the summer, and then worked together to buy additional dorm decorations in the fall.  Instead of looking like two separate 
spaces squished into one room, our room has a cohesive feel.  We opted for corals/magentas and blues/greens for bedding, and chose to add beachy decorations since both of us are from SoCal.

2. Push all your furniture against the wall to make the room feel bigger.  Amelia Shoenbeck ’14 and Avery Stone ’14 opened up their room by putting their beds, desks, and bureaus against the wall, making the room feel way more spacious.  They use the empty space in their room for various purposes, such as yoga workouts, pre-game dance parties, and indoor picnics.
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3. Put your desks together to make a social work environment.  While some dorms have great study spaces, others don’t.  One way to remedy this problem is to push your and your roommate’s desks together.  (Granted, for this arrangement to work, you have to like your roommate).  Jessica McMillin ’14 and Lucy Xu ’14 (not pictured) made this awesome study space in their room.  Set against the large windows in the background, it’s just like being on the first floor of Frost without having to make the trek.

4. If you’re lucky enough to have a single, decorate your room according to a theme.  Helen Gaffigan ‘14 created this alluring Asian-themed room by draping her walls in red fabric, putting up lanterns and lights, and hanging a canopy on her ceiling.  This room has a stylish
and sophisticated feel to it.

5. Don’t be afraid of putting up “too much.”  Sometimes people are afraid of overwhelming their room with decorations.  However, when done tastefully, the effect of covering almost every surface of your room can look really cool.  Lizzy Linsmayer ‘14 gives a perfect example of this.  Although she has various types of images (flags, photos, posters, postcards) and a bunch of different colors,
the result is an oasis-like atmosphere, which is exactly the kind of environment you want in your room once school gets stressful.  Lizzy decorates her walls like a collage board, hanging up cards, pictures, and even 3-D objects like pom poms.

And don’t forget common rooms!  For suite style living, the common room is arguably one of the most important places.  Make it the perfect party spot by building your
own deck such as this suite in Stone.  Or make it a comfy space like this suite in Davis.  The point is, you’re going to be living here for the next nine months so make the place your own!