Dorm Room Decorating Ideas
April 3, 2009 by sara
Filed under Decorating Tips, dorm room decorating
At first glance, your dorm room might seem like a drag. With standard furniture, awful lighting and almost no closet space, your dorm room is a decor nightmare. But there are acutally many creative dorm room decorating ideas out there. With the right accessories and simple furniture you can transform your dorm room from a lame to awesome.
Your first task is to do your research. Different dorms have different rules. Check out if your dormitory allows you to paint the walls, hang thing up with nails and change the furniture. Then you’ll know what you have to work with.

A shoe hanger is a useful dorm room decorating idea
Next it’s time to arrange your space. A dorm room is your home away from home so make it comfortable and welcoming to guests. Arranging your room like a living room is great if you want to have people hanging out there a lot. You can put the furniture around the room with open space in the middle. Placing an area rug on the floor with a bunch of cushions or large floor pillows transforms your floor into chilling space.
Another important element to keep in mind when decorating your dorm room is lighting. The bright florescent lights that dorms often come equipt are good for one thing only and that’s studying. To create a nice ambiance in your dorm room, buy a few inexpensive lamps or candles. You can try having one big and noticable lamps (you can find some great ones at thrift shops) and a few small ones. Putting a lamp on the floor behind a piece of furniture is a great ambiance creating trick.
Storage is always an issue in dorm rooms so if you are allowed to bring your own furniture make sure it has a lot of extra storage space. If not, a few key items to purchase are hanging storage (like one to put your shoes in that fits in the closet), a high shelf or closet (because floor space is limited) and under the bed storage. If you have a bed with storage space, then great but if not make sure that your bed is elevated from the ground so you can fit storage containers underneath. Wall shelves are good too if you are allowed to put them up. To hide messy storage space, try putting a funky room divider in front of it. They come in all different colors and designs.
Last but not least, make sure to have great music, lots of snacks and other fun things that will make your room the place everyone wants to be!
Stay tuned for more dorm room decorating ideas,coming soon!
Fabrics for Budget Dorm Room Decor
February 23, 2009 by talya
Filed under Budget Decorating
So you have no money to afford anything fancy. Well, the truth about dorm room decorating is that a little creativity and a couple solid ideas will go a long way. Many students will spend tons of money on useless items that are meant to make a boring space into something personal, but decorating your dorm room can be done on a tight budget just by picking up one very useful décor tool: fabric.
Here’s a method to the madness. The first step is to take a pencil and a piece of paper and see if you can sketch a cube to approximate an empty room. The next step is to take a good look around your dorm room and see how you can rearrange things to make it a bit more like a living room space. Try to sketch out the different pieces of furniture into your miniature room design (and don’t worry, it’s not meant to be a masterpiece). If you can visualize a new room, you can create it. That’s the beauty of room decorating ideas.
Before you start moving anything around, take a trip down to your local fabric store where they sell huge rolls of any type of material you can imagine. This is where you let your imagination run wild. Look first and foremost for colors that match the current color scheme of your dorm room in the event that the walls are not white.

Once you’ve settled on the colors you’re looking for, pay close attention to textures. A large, soft, furry piece of material can transform any piece of furniture into something warm and inviting. Brown and cream colors are great for a cozier feel. Pastels are good if you’re looking for a cleaner, modern style. You can use different types of fabrics to cover your bed, the floor, serve as a table cloth, a carpet, curtain, and anything else you may have. Make your purchases wisely though since they charge by length.
The final step is to begin rearranging your room and experimenting with the fabrics you bought. Fiddle around, change your mind, and don’t be afraid to adjust the lengths and widths or find creative ways to hang things. The combined effect of a more inviting furniture arrangement as well as the enhanced color and texture of the fabrics will be sure to give your dorm room that much needed face-lift you were looking for, well within your budget.





