Design Dilemma: Decorating a Dorm Room

Josh D Some great stuff in here even though I don't live in a dorm anymore. You really can get away with more in a dorm, but carrying some of that stuff over to a new, more mature space, can help as a subtle reminder to enjoy life and have fun!

PS: Very subtle re: the in-room bar, Lily. Well played ;)

00kate Thanks so much for posting this on Design Dilemma! I'm getting fabric for curtains this week, and I put my hutch BEHIND my desk - increasing my desk space and opening up space on the wall for a corkboard :) I'll post pictures when it's finished!

denverglamgal A fabric folding screen in the corner would be more stylish than the multiple posters. Also, if you can get some greenery (fake plants or flowers) that would help make the room look warmer.

CJ Sebert These are all great, but difficult to do when sharing a room with a stranger. Also most dorms don't allow you to put nails in the walls, paint, etc. I think my dorm room back in the day was 10 x 10, pretty tight!

Lily Gahagan I like the idea of adding plants. Didn't think of that, but it makes such a positive difference in a home!

00kate I'm lucky in that my roommate and I have been living together for three years now (and we'll be in this same room together next year) and she's very open to any decorating ideas I have!

Plants are a fabulous idea.

Debra Carrillo Add a fish tank with turtles to the north it's great Feng Shui longevity and you'll enjoy the sound of the water too.

Frisson I totally agree with plants - and with not encouraging MORE drinking in dorm rooms :)

tcufrog My sister found a huge pretty piece of square cloth meant to be an inexpensive bed coverlet that she tacked up to a big empty wall in her dorm room. It looked gorgeous and she got a cheap but unattractive loveseat at a thrift store that she covered with another coordinating coverlet. I highly recommend lofting your bed to get more space. I didn't have access to a loft kit so I flipped over my bed and lofted it a little higher than way. I then pushed it against the wall and set it up as a day bed with a couple of long bolster pillows against the back and throw pillows at either end. It became a fun place for friends to sit when they visited. I then tucked a blanket in so that it draped down and hung to the floor for an extra long bedskirt that covered up the stuff I stored under my bed.

Casart Coverings I like your closet wallpaper idea but that may be hard to remove unless it's repositionable. Picking up on bringing Nature inside and the idea of using plants is to personalize a room with largescale artwork or photos as wallcoverings with removable and reusable backings. Here are some examples. These can be as "edge-y" or as modern as you like.

ckgc1 Fabric soaked in liquid starch can be applied to a wall. Smoothed and dried, the edges can be hidden with ribbon, gimp, rick rack, etc. and a glue gun. You could use a sheet. You could apply a square of home dec fabric (54" wide) and then use floral Cling, a sticky substance to apply white molding over the fabric. Done carefully, the cling would not have to touch the university's wall. The bonus...when moving out, fabric can be pulled off wall with zero damage to the university's paint. Use tape to hold fabric in place while it's drying.

spoton I love all the ideas, but I am told that the dorm my daughter will have in the fall does not allow them to nail anything to the wall. Besides posters attached with sticky tack, are there other suggestions?

A & D Glass Inc. My son had quite a large room his freshman year, but not near as large as these!

mlholeman You can use Command hooks instead of nails. They make them to hold various weights.

Cassidy I like the idea of decorating the closet door.

Hannah Malcolm Once Michael's had a sale on scrapbook paper - all different colors and textures. I bought a ton, taped them up around my room and used them to informally frame and organize my postcard collection. I also taped up quotes that I'd written out in calligraphy haphazardly around the room. My room was a constant work in progress - I put new stuff up the week before I graduated - but it looked complete at every stage. It was also REALLY cheap to do.