Updated June 14, 2021
One of the most fun parts of freshman year of college is living in a dorm!
Especially for people who are very creative, this is a great opportunity to make a small space feel like your home. Since you will be living in one room for a whole school year, it is important to make sure you are comfortable and enjoy spending time there. After a long day of classes, it was always nice to come back to my room where I had pictures of my family and friends, and had my favorite fluffy blanket and some string lights. My dorm room was where I could unwind and have some friends over, so it was nice to have it decorated how I liked it. Especially during these times when, more than likely, some classes will be online, it is important that you are comfortable in your room as you will likely spend a fair amount of time in there. Here are some tips I want to give you on how I decorated my dorm to be a comfy and relaxing space:
1. Make your own decorations.
This is probably the biggest tip that I would give for decorating your dorm room because it costs so much less than buying a decoration. Also, it is more fun and will feel more personal if you make a decoration. For example, last year for my dorm I got a rectangular piece of wood from Michaels, got some string lights, and a few picture clips, and it turned out to be such a cute picture board. I hung it with command strips and it looked so cute and reminded me of home. Also, for this year, I have made some paintings of a couple of my favorite pictures, and also a collage of Auburn decals. I have discovered that making your own decorations is such a great way to save money, and have fun doing it. You could also consider shopping for your room all at once with some of these dorm room ideas.
2. Get a couple of decorative pillows and a throw blanket.
For my freshman year, I chose to have a gray comforter set so that I could find things that would be easy to go with my comforter. However, a neutral colored comforter could look bland, but one solution is to get a few colorful throw pillows and a blanket to brighten up the look of your bed area.
3. Get string lights.
Usually in a dorm, the ceiling lights will be harsh. I found that having a lamp and string lights gives you more than enough light, and it also makes your room have more of a cozy feel. You could also change up the string lights depending on the season (Christmas, Halloween, etc).
4. Go to antique stores and discount shops.
You might be skeptical, but some of my favorite dorm decorations have come from antique malls and discount stores. A lot of times, you can get pieces of things for cheap and then make your own decoration of them. This saves a lot of money, and once you make it your own, nobody is going to know where you got it or how much you paid for it.
