Easy Ways to Decorate Your Dorm Room

Let's face it-dorm rooms can be depressing. Many of them are small, cramped, and devoid of any style or life. And since you only live in them for nine months before moving on, it can feel pointless to spend any real time decorating your space. While dorms have all sorts of restrictions that prevent you from going wild with your décor, it is possible to decorate your dorm room with style that goes beyond a few random posters on the wall. Follow these simple tips and ideas to infuse your dorm room with style and enjoy your school year.

Choose a Color Palette
In college, it's easy to decorate your dorm room as you go, collecting an array of pieces that don't really add up to much of anything. To give your dorm room a cohesive look, choose a color palette that you love and use it as a guide when choosing accessories. If you don't have a favorite hue, think of your favorite places or moods. Deep blues and greens can invoke the sea and promote calm, while reds and oranges invite a spicy flair that can awake and excite you. Don't go overboard in your color scheme, however, or you may start to feel closed in rather than enjoy it. Organize your dorm room around one or two main colors and accessorize in smaller ways with accent colors. Key pieces in your dorm room you can decorate are the bedding, desk chair, lamp, clock, or even some accessory pieces on a desk or shelf. Be sure to inject splashes of a complimentary color within the room to keep it from feeling too one-note.

Cover the Boring
Many dorm rooms come with white walls, plain closet doors, and ugly furniture. While you can't open a can of paint to cover what you hate, there are ways to decorate your dorm room that cover the less-than-pretty. A beautiful piece of fabric hung on the wall can instantly transform a space from blah to beautiful. Cut a piece from a fabric store, find hangings in vintage shops and flea markets, or even use a bedspread or tablecloth you love. If you like a modern look, try painting complimentary colors onto large pieces of poster board and arranging them on the wall in a grid pattern or random blocking. Dress up side tables and the tops of dressers and desks with fabric; place a piece of glass on top so that your things have a sturdy surface to rest upon and the fabric won't get ruined. Many hardware stores will cut pieces of glass to your specifications; simply come in with your measurements and they'll do the work for you. Cover closet doors in pretty shelf paper or wall paper; just make sure the adhesive you use will come off when it's time to move.

Make it Personal
One of the things that makes any space into a home is personal touches. Framed photographs set on shelves or hung on the walls can instantly lift your mood. Consider frames in the same color palette or wood hue when decorating your dorm room so that things look cohesive and not jumbled. When hanging pictures on the wall, keep in mind that many dorm rooms only allow poster putty or sticky tack as an adhesive; choose lightweight, plastic frames to avoid the mess and potential danger of shattered glass. If you've been to a lot of movies or concerts, a collage of your ticket stubs is a way to showcase your tastes. You can even "wallpaper" a set area with photos, notes, cards, and other mementos as a way to make things personal and to remind you of all of the family and friends both at school and at home who love you.

No matter how you choose to decorate your dorm room, you'll have a much more enjoyable year when your dorm room reflects your personal style and tastes. No matter how much homework you have or how lonely you get on certain days, one look around will remind you of who you really are and lift your spirits. And if you get tired of the décor you've chosen? Next year you can start from scratch all over again with another blank canvas of a dorm room.

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