By Kate Roy
It’s the first thing you get excited to do when you get back on the Hill. It’s the hot topic you and your roommate(s) talk about over the summer. It’s how you translate your personality into your environment… It’s decorating your dorm room!
For me – a craft-loving, color-craving, style-seeking perfectionist- decorating my dorm room is an essential part of returning back home to the Hill and establishing myself in this new school year. The dorm room can be used as an extension of personality. Your room is a place you come back to after a stressful day of class. It is a place where friends gather to chat and have a good time. It is a place that you will call home for the nine months you are at St. Olaf. In sum, your dorm room is an important place that deserves to be made your own.
I know not all girls coming back to St. Olaf share my decorating excitement, but I hope to instill a spark of decorating desire into the creative minds of Ole women by sharing some ideas. Here are my “Three P’s” of how to decorate your dorm room (on a budget, I might add!)…
The first “P” is pictures. I know this may seem obvious, but pictures are essential for decorating your room. They are inexpensive (13 cents per print at Costco!), fill up a lot of empty space, and remind you of cherished memories. Print pictures from Instagram or Facebook. Get creative with these pictures! Try decorating clothespins to hang them, or cover a cork board with your favorite inexpensive fabric and pin your pictures to it (this will add a splash of color to your walls as well). Another option is simply to Sticky-Tack your pictures to your walls in a creative, random design. Play around with your pictures and just see what you can come up with! Another addition would be to add string lights around your picture design to showcase your memories.
The next “P” is plants. Real, living plants that you can take care of add a very home-style vibe. For my dorm garden, I simply went to Home Depot and picked out a small variety of succulents and cacti ($5-$10 per plant). Plant them in a retro tin, mason jar, or whatever you have around. There you go! You’ve got a mini garden in your room to enjoy and take care of. The plants add color, a hint of nature, and a feeling of home to your room. What could be better? (Just don’t forget to water them on occasion!)
The final “P” is passions. I have a passion for fashion and design. Therefore, this summer I spent my free-time paging through my old Marie Claire, ELLE, and Vogue magazines and ripping out pages with fashion trends that caught my eye. I then proceeded to make collages with my cut-out fashion favorites. These fashion posters I ended up creating add color, decoration, and a piece of my personality to the room.
Maybe you don’t have a passion for fashion… no big deal! Find your passion and put it on the walls – whether it’s running (bring your old race numbers and hang them on the wall), playing the piano (print your favorite sheet music and pin it to the cork board on your desk), or reading (showcase your favorite novels in a special place on your desk). Find where you get inspiration and decorate your room with it.
I hope I have instilled a decorating spark into your crafty mind. Your room is an important place that deserves to feel like home. Make it your home on the Hill with some of these decorating suggestions!
Now, get decorating ladies!