After enduring a stressful, busy day at school, your dorm room is the place where you go to escape. Obviously, a college dorm room is far from what people would describe as a relaxing paradise. Most rooms do not come elegantly furnished and decorated by an expert designer (a girl can dream!), but instead consist of a bed, desk, and set of drawers. Coming back to a little box of a room is not the best feeling after having a hard day. Experiencing all the clutter, bareness, and overall unappealing atmosphere of a simple, unorganized dorm room does nothing but damage on your drained psyche. If only there were easy, relatively cheap ways to make your dorm room feel like home rather than a little box…Well, there is! Other than literally cleaning your dorm room (which we all SHOULD do…at some point), there are other ways to fix up your space to make life just a little easier. Though it is a little late in the school year, keep these ideas in mind for next semester!
(All pictures are from actual dorm rooms at Mercer University)
Functional Floor-Space:
Space is a precious commodity in dorm rooms, especially due to the clunky bed, desk, and dresser set found in every room. One way to get the most space is to put all your furniture against the walls. For example, if you’re opposed to bunking the beds, instead of having your bed jutting out from the wall, have it completely against the wall so your room will appear more open. Also, don’t be afraid to rearrange! The first arrangement you and your roommate (if you have one) decide on might not be the best. If you’re fresh out of ideas, knock on your neighbor’s door to see how they arranged their room. Another benefit of having awesome floor-space is the option to bring different furniture. You can fit all kinds of things in your dorm room (couches, lounge chairs, book shelves, coffee tables etc.) when you arrange your room around floor-space.
Smart storage:
With such limited space, storage boxes are your best friends! There are so many different sizes and types of storage options to organize your room any way you want. Investing in storage bins will seriously help you straighten out a cluttered room and also provide pleasing aesthetic qualities. You can use drawers, cube organizers, decorative bins, baskets, hollow ottomans, and shelving units to clean up your closet, safely store food items, keep all your school items in one place, proudly present your movie collection, etc. For optimal storage space, raise your bed as high as it will go! You can now place tons of storage items under your bed which allows for easy access and more room in your dorm.
Original Organization:
When your room is cluttered, your live feels cluttered. Having so many things piled on your desk can not only distract you from your work, but can cause you to feel more anxiety and stress. Having a clean, organized desk space will allow you to work better and it’s more pleasing to the eye. Your desk is actually bigger than you think; having a clutter-free desktop will allow you to add more fun and personalized things to your work space. A few picture frames and pencil holders can transform your desk into a place you actually want to be at!
Mood lighting:
The lights in the dorm rooms are reminiscent of a hospital, a court room, the DMV… basically any place that you would rather not be. To counteract the harshness of the overhead dorm lights, fill your room with different types of lighting to brighten up the place! Desk lamps, decorative standing lamps, tea lights, and outdoor hanging lights are just a few of the many options you have to give your room that homey glow. If you’re feeling crafty, there are tons of tutorials on ways to decorate lampshades; you can create the perfect lamp to go with your room décor.
Wall Decorations:
One of my favorite things to do is decorate my dorm room walls. Adding your own stylish touch can really brighten up a dingy dorm room and create a different type of environment. While the egg-colored paint and tape marks are stunning, adding your photos, drawings, posters, and paintings will make your room feel more comfortable. There’s a lot of wall space in every room, so even if you do not have a lot of things to use as decoration, experimenting with the placement of your selected items can make all the difference. I suggest using command strips or hooks for your decorations; they’re a lot cleaner than tape and won’t ruin the walls.
Appealing Bedding:
Let’s be honest…most the dorms at Mercer are kind of small, and the beds take up most of the space. Sprucing up the appearance of your bed can really add ambiance to your room, not to mention overall comfort (those mattresses can be pretty uncomfortable). I cannot stress the importance of an awesome mattress pad enough! A great mattress pad can make you almost forget that you’re sleeping on a big piece of plastic. Other than the mattress, pillows and blankets make up the over-all level of comfort. Adding and randomly rotating different accent pillows will make your bed seem like new. Think outside the box and use your creativity to create a unique color scheme for your bedding. Or, instead of the traditional matching, chose one or two specific colors that will run through your pillows and blankets.
For more ideas on everything dorm room, check out Her Campus-Mercer on pinterest!