Moving into a dorm room can be a bit jarring for most students. After all, you are used to the creature comforts of your home for your entire life. So, moving into a small and sparse space can be a bit of a letdown.
The good news is that there are a lot of ways to make your dorm room feel homey and somewhere you feel safe and content. To know just what you can do to your room, check out the suggestions below:
Set Up a Comfortable Bed
Most dorm rooms are so small that your beds are your main, and sometimes only, piece of furniture. Due to this, it is important to make sure that it is as comfortable as possible. After all, it will be used as your study spot and where your friends hang out when they are in your room.
Now, college beds are notoriously rigid and certainly don’t make for a good night’s sleep let alone lounging quarters. So, your first order of business is to improve on it. Mattress covers, pads, and toppers can help you to take any mattress to the next layer, so it is a good idea to invest in these.
The next thing to do is to choose comfy, fluffy pillows. These can be used as a backrest, makeshift tables, or as seating cushions for friends. So, look for good-sized, good-quality pillows. Cheerful slip covers can help to transform them even more.
Raise Your Bed
The lack of space in your dorm can be downright depressing. So, if you want to make your room feel a bit more like home, try and raise your bed. Before you do this, though, check with your university about what their policy is on lofted beds. In some cases they will provide you with the gear to raise your bed, otherwise you may be on your own.
Even if your college won’t let you create a loft bed, use bed raisers to raise the bed several inches off the ground. At the very least, you may be able to pack storage boxes under there and get some of the clutter in your room out of the way.
If you are allowed to create a loft bed, use the space underneath carefully. A great idea is to create a miniature living room. You don’t have to go overboard – a few bean bags and a small table is all that you need to add a cozier vibe.
Create Your Own Headboard
Headboards may not serve any function, but they certainly help to make your bed look a bit more comfortable – and sophisticated too!
The good news is that you can actually make your own headboard and it is pretty easy. The base can be made from either cardboard or plywood. Then, use quilt batting for padding and your preferred fabric on top. Best of all, this can all be held together with a staple gun so that you don’t have to make any more effort than necessary.
Create Some Privacy with a Canopy Bed
It doesn’t matter how much you love your roommate, sometimes you need a little bit of privacy. Unfortunately, this is hard to come by in a dorm room. Fortunately for you, you can create your very own canopy bed with a minimal amount of fuss.
Place removable command hooks on the ceiling of your dorm room. Then, get as many curtains as you need to surround your bed. Loop string or twine where the curtain bar is supposed to go. Then hang the string in between the curtains from the command hooks.
And, there you have it – your very own canopy bed! Best of all, you can swap out the curtains every now and then if you feel like you need to change up the space in any way.
Fluffy Rugs
The flooring in some dorm rooms aren’t great. You either have cold, unforgiving tile or thin, rough carpet. This is why fluffy rugs can make all the difference here. If your roommate isn’t on board with the idea, have a fluffy rug at the foot of your own bed. This way, you step down on something soft and cozy first thing in the morning.
In case your roommate does like the idea, you can buy several large, fluffy rugs that can cover most of the flooring. To make things a bit livelier, you can play around with colors or textures. This can help to add some interest to the floor as well.
Personalize Your Space
One of the biggest issues with dorm rooms is that each room has been designed to be an exact replica of others. As a result, there is nothing very personal about this space. This can make your room seem rather stark or cold. Therefore, it is up to you to personalize it as you see fit.
One of the ways to do this is to invest in removable wallpaper. These come in all colors and patterns and are a temporary alternative to paint or permanent wallpaper. If you are tired of the backdrop or are moving rooms, just remove it and there will be no trace of it left behind.
If you don’t want to make such a commitment, you can try to incorporate your favorite color in various ways around the room. This could be with wall hangings, frames, comforter covers, and more. Or, put up posters of your favorite bands, movies, places, etc. Make sure to surround yourself with things that make you happy.
Create a Wall of Friends and Family
One of the hardest things about being away from home is missing your friends and family member. To compensate for this, set up one of your walls so that it is a collection of your favorite faces. Go through your social media and print out some of your top memories.
And, as you make new friends in college, make sure to add them onto the wall too. Being surrounded by people that you care about can really help to make your dorm room feel cozier. Not to mention, it is a great reminder of all the good times you have had.
Add Mood Lighting
Lighting can make all the difference in your dorm room. It can soften, brighten, and in general just make a space look far better. However, you do have to use your lighting options wisely.
For instance, if you want to brighten up a room for studying, opt for white lights. These are great if your dorm room feels like it is in perpetual darkness. If you want to soften the space and make it feel warmer, then opt for lights with a yellow hue.
You should also not stick with just one type of lighting, either. For a soft and romantic vibe, consider string lights. If your roommate doesn’t mind, you can string it up across the entire ceiling. Otherwise, just restrict it to your side of the room. Or, you can hang them on your wall instead.
At the same time, buy a good lamp. These are great for studying and when pulling all-nighters.
Invest in Curtains
If you are all about making simple changes, then consider setting up some curtains. All you need is a curtain bar and curtains of your choice. Select a bold or cheerful color and watch how these curtains instantly transform a space!
If you have shades in your room instead, there are still a few options available to you. Use removable wallpaper and paste it on top of the shades. This can add a pop of color or an interesting pattern. In any case, it will certainly liven the space up.
Add Some Greenery
There is something incredibly comforting and soothing about having greenery indoors. Of course, taking care of plants is not something that the average student wants to be bothered with. So, go with a more student-friendly option.
Succulents don’t have to be watered all that much and can be pretty much left to their own devices. You can get several small pots and place them on various surfaces or even attach them to your walls.
Air plants in terrariums are a good option if you don’t want the plants to take up too much space as they can be hung from the ceiling. Want to make your room smell nice at the same time? Invest in tiny herb pots – mint, rosemary, and basil are just some options to start with.
As you can see, there are plenty of ideas for you to try out. This means that making your dorm room feel cozy and comfortable isn’t as difficult as you thought. So, go ahead and try out some of these options – you can do as few or as many as it takes for that space to feel more like home.
You may want to get your roommate involved so that you can create a beautiful and cohesive space that everyone can enjoy. See what you can do today!
