College Dorm Room Decorating Ideas

You've moved away from home, and now you're staring at the blank eggshell walls of your college dorm room. Maybe you're prepared for decorating, maybe you're not, but those wall can be depressing if they stay blank. This is your transition period from the person you were in high school to the person you're going to become, and you will change. For now, you'll want to stay in your comfort zone. The changes between high school and college are hard enough without feeling like you don't have a home base that you can go back to every day.

The best way to decorate your college dorm room so that you're comfortable when you move in is to bring some posters, photos and decorations from your room at home. If your curtains from home will fit, ask your parents to send them, too, or find a blanket that you like and attach it up there. It'll add color to the dorm room. As your time at school goes on, most of your decorations will slowly be replaced by things you acquire while you're at school. You'll get posters, tickets from plays and concerts, things that remind you of current good times. Your dorm room decorations, in short, will change with you.

Don't worry if you and your roommates' sides of the room look completely different, decoration-wise. That happens in dorm room decorating, and it might even give the room a cool look. If the sides are disparate, try putting a physical line down the middle of the wall between the sides of the dorm room, and give it an on-purpose design.

If your room has an open closet on either side, another way to both decorate and hide the things in the closet is actually a shower curtain. They don't cost much even when you buy the pole for it, and they come in so many varieties that your dorm room can grow a personality just from that one item! If you have a theme, like tropical fish or frogs, or even flowers or the sky, you'll be able to find a curtain to match!

Are you crafty? If so, your dorm room needs you! Whether you can sew, paint, or sculpt, integrate that skill into your decorating. Pillows, pencil and pen holders, even paint on furniture you bring (only if it belongs to you!) can all make your dorm room feel more like home.

Now, let's face it. A dorm room is tiny, and by far the largest thing in it will be your bed. So you should use that in your decorating! Make sure you bring bedding from home that you like. If your bed is up on stilts, which is highly recommended for storage space, then you can make a curtain over the things that are under it. You can use fabric to cover the wood or metal of the bed frame, and make it your own completely.

You're going to be spending a lot of time in your college dorm room throughout the school year, so make the most of your comfort by decorating as the year goes on. There are plenty of things you can do without destroying the room - and some colleges and universities even let you paint your room, but don't bet on that. See your college handbook for your college's rules on dorm room decorating.