While in college, your dorm room is your palace and should be set up befittingly. Are you just moving into your new dorm room, or your current dorm room setting seems very boring and disappointing for your tastes? Are you lost for dorm room ideas that can take your dorm room from an ordinary room to a beautiful palace designed specifically to your tastes and style? Are you caught in the endless spiral of uncertainty about what your dorm room should look like and what it should contain?
If your answer to any of these questions is yes, you have no worries then, this article has been specifically written to cater to all you’re lacking and give you the best dorm room ideas that will have your room looking spectacular in no time. This article details the best dorm room ideas for girls, dorm room ideas for guys, general college dorm room ideas, and even dorm room decorating ideas.
This article cuts across all facets of dorm room beautification, so you can be sure that by the time you’re done with this article you’ll have enough dorm room ideas to take your room from boring to stunning.
What Every Dorm Room Should Have
First off, there are some non-negotiable basics that every dorm room should have, regardless of the gender or the tastes of the individual. These items include: Throw blankets, Bedsheets, Pillows, Mattress pad, Alarm clock, Tissue, Under bed storage, Shower mat, Air Freshener, Handheld mirror, Scale, Thermometer, Laundry basket and/or bag, Laundry detergent, First Aid kit, including basic adhesive bandages, vitamins, aspirin, cough drops, etc., Sticky wall mounts and removable adhesive hooks, Personal pictures, photos, and other favorite items, Curtains and spring rods, Rugs or a piece of carpet for vinyl floors, Desk chair, Desk lamp, Trashcan, Additional seating for guests (Futon, bean bag, pouf), and other items for food, clothes, and self-care.
How Do You Style A Dorm Room?
The main deal in styling your dorm room no matter what styling method or theme you choose to use is to ensure that it is extremely comfortable, convenient, and feels just like home. So to style your dorm room, apart from the basic essentials for your room, you should ensure that you imagine what a place you call home would like and add in the details bit by bit to perfectly recreate the image you have set in your mind.
You may choose to give your dorm room an old-school theme with some classic touches from the 80s or go for a rock band theme, what is paramount is that no matter the style you choose, it fits your description of home perfectly.
How Can You Decorate Dorm Walls?
When you want to go about decorating your dorm walls, you can consider the following ideas:
- You can go for the very popular poster design for your walls and put up some very nice and large posters of your favorite musicians, icons, idols, or some fancy art piece you can get your hands on.
- You can go for a bohemian look and put up some macrame on your dorm walls.
- If you’re the radical artistic type, you can draw up some nice graffiti on your walls.
- You can also put up beautiful wallpapers or a nice picture collage of your favorite people on your walls.
- Finally, you can be completely simple and go for a classic white painted wall with some cool multi-color led lights for beautification.
Dorm Room Ideas For Girls
1. Abigmountedmirror
The importance of this piece in any girl’s dorm room can not be overstressed, it is a beauty workstation almost any college girl has to report to every morning before they go about their other business. So, if you’re about to move into your dorm room as a girl, you should put this up there on your priority list.
This type of mirror is necessary for watching yourself as you fix your makeup to ensure it is done perfectly, as well as taking stunning mirror selfies and videos every now and again. Hence, it is a great idea for your dorm room as a girl.
2. Mountable multi-picture frame
Everyone loves to feel closer to home and the people we love, so this is a great idea for setting up the pictures of your friends and family members who you hold dear. You may be away from home for a while, so an easy way to keep your loved ones in mind is to have their pictures in plain sight on a multi-picture frame that can hold several pictures together on a single mountable frame. It would be a great addition to your room and it is also great for moments of nostalgia.
3. Potted plants
This is a very simple, yet great addition to your room, getting a few potted plants around your room, would actually work wonders in livening up your room, making it feel fresher and less basic, and would give you a sense of responsibility and care towards something while in your dorm room. What’s more?!
Living around plants is great for your health, and they are low maintenance, it’s basically a win-win for you. Therefore, if you want something to give your room a spark of liveliness with little space consumption, potted plants are the way to go.
4. Pillows
Although these are listed as a basic need, more pillows will not anyone, especially girls. Girls love to have a snuggly feel and soft comfort, in this respect pillows are the way to go; throw pillows, plush pillows, regular-sized pillows, cushion pillows, feather pillows, etc.
You can get as many pillows as you want for your room for that extra feel of coziness. Pillows are great to hug and rest on, hence, having them all over your room means you’re afforded great comfort wherever you are in your room. They are definitely a great dorm room addition for girls.
5. Fluorescent lights
These have become popular recently, and rightly so. Having beautiful LEDs lighting up your room is super cool and it is perfect for any setting you choose for your dorm room. White light bulbs are quite boring, to be honest, but several LEDs randomly switching colors is a completely brilliant touch for lighting up your room.
An added advantage of fluorescent LEDs is that you can easily carry out activities at odd hours without announcing to everyone that you’re awake. They are a superb addition to your room, so if you’re trying to give your room a cool look, buying fluorescent lights will go a long way.
6. Comfortable Sheets
The importance of your comfort in your dorm cannot be overstated, and there’s nothing like too much comfort in your own room, this is why getting super soft and comfortable bed sheets, duvets, pillows, etc. is important. Nobody wants to wake up feeling all grumpy, so it makes a lot of sense to invest in comfortable sheets that will have you sleeping like a baby and waking up refreshed every day.
A cozy quilt or a comforter would be ideal for your room, there’s no way you’ll regret affording yourself that extra bit of comfort. Comfortable sheets are a perfectly smart investment.
7. Headboards
Some dorm rooms come with cement walls and honestly they are not comfortable to lean on, and many college students enjoy casually typing away on our laptops while sitting up on our beds instead of sitting by the desk every time. This reason alone makes the addition of a good headboard to your bed frame important and a good idea for your dorm room.
As I said earlier, there’s nothing like too much comfort, so get yourself a headboard to give your back and head a nice place to rest when you want to do some work without having to get off your bed.
8. Lamps
For the sake of emphasis, it is essential to note that it is almost impossible to “over-light” your dorm room, so don’t hold back when it comes to buying lamps and different light sources for different parts of your room. Get a lamp for your study desk, get one that can be mounted directly over your bed, get one for your bedside locker, you can basically buy a lamp for a crevice of your room to have its own light source independently if you wish to afford yourself that sort of convenience.
It is quite surprising how much stress having a lamp at the right place can save you in some situations, so don’t shy away from lighting up any area with a lamp if you can.
9. Curtains
You can get yourself some beautifully patterned curtains for the windows of your dorm room to give your room a classic and beautiful touch, as well as keeping your business private from potential poke-nosers. Curtains have the characteristic of giving a homey feel and a sense of a finished room.
So if you feel your room is somewhat incomplete no matter what you seem to add, try setting up some curtains and see the dramatic switch up to wholeness you will observe in your room. What’s better? Curtains are very cheap and you can even watch some DIY videos and make them yourself.
10. Hangout Zone
It is true that dorm rooms may sometimes be compact, however, in scenarios where they are not too small, you can mark out a certain area which you will furnish for hanging out with your friends when they come around, so instead of having to clean your entire room after a night with a full house, you can just have a hangout zone with a couch, some cushions, and chairs where everyone can have fun and still maintain a neat room. It is a very great addition that saves stress and is a cool concept in itself.
Dorm Room Ideas For Guys
1. Wall Mounted Bookshelf
If you’re an avid reader as a guy and you are constantly finding out that you’re having problems organizing your catalog of books, both educational and those for your leisure, the best way to go is to get a wall-mounted bookshelf for your room, preferably directly over your study area, this will go a long way in organizing your books and relieve you of the trouble of them lying around, or even losing.
You can easily arrange them in an alphabetical or chronological order to keep track of the books you’ve read. This is a great addition to your dorm room and is definitely worth buying.
2. Television
You may not have the hang of creating fun for yourself or other people, what is the solution to that? Easy, get a television to create all the fun you need, nobody can resist a large screen displaying all the fun things we like to watch.
A television will make everything about a chill-out session with your friends so much better, you can all watch sports together, catch up on
3. Hangout Zone
Similarly to what was described in the dorm room idea for girls, this is also a great addition to your dorm room as a guy. It would be the perfect area to place your television and all the games you use for game night.
Excessive furnishing isn’t required, a few throw pillows, a sizeable couch, and some chairs with a round table will do the trick and will ensure that every other part of your room you consider sacred maintains its sanctity. So if your circumstances allow for it, this is something you can easily set up and make your room perfect in all respects.
4. Fluorescent Neon Lights
This is a brilliant addition to your room and would make your room so much cooler than it already is. Soft glowing lights at different intensities and speeds give a sense of calmness and coolness instead of a boring monotonous white glow.
You should definitely add this to your room if you’re looking to make your room look very cool. It also helps you go about your activities without making an announcement to everyone around that you’re awake. It is just perfect in every respect.
5. Headboards
Some dorm rooms come with cement walls and honestly they are not comfortable to lean on, and many college students enjoy casually typing away on our laptops while sitting up on our beds instead of sitting by the desk every time. This reason alone makes the addition of a good headboard to your bed frame important and a good idea for your dorm room.
There’s nothing like too much comfort, so get yourself a headboard to give your back and head a nice place to rest when you want to do some work without having to get off your bed.
6. Bathroom Mirror
Your bathroom is where all your boy’s business takes place, so ensure you have a mirror in there to ensure you can go about your business seamlessly. Imagine trying to shave your beards without looking at yourself in the mirror, so many things can go wrong.
That makes this a great addition for your convenience instead of having to walk about holding a mirror in one hand, this mirror removes all that hassle and you can easily do your thing.
7. Reclining Gaming Chair and Large Table
There is a very good chance you’ll be spending long hours on your laptop; gaming, typing, coding, etc., so why not provide maximum comfort for your back if you’ll be engaging in any of these activities by getting a reclining gaming chair that can keep your back comfortable for hours.
Buying a large table will also afford you convenience while going about your business, a desk will just not cut it, so buying a large table will give room for easy maneuvering. So it is highly recommended that you get these two things for your dorm room to keep you comfortable while going at it with your favorite activities.
8. Mini-Basketball Hoop over Trashcan
Everyone loves a “Kobe” moment, why not just give yourself at least one of such moments every day?! You can buy a mini-basketball hoop to put over your trashcan to shoot those “threes” from anywhere in your room when you want to dispose of trash.
It is a very simple addition to your room that you will absolutely enjoy having. It will give you random moments of excitement each time you throw stuff through it, even better if you’re a basketball lover. It’s a great addition overall.
9. Mini-Refrigerator
This is an almost necessary addition to your dorm room, it relieves you of a lot of stress and is super convenient. Imagine not having to take long strolls to the vending machine every time you want a soda or a quick snack.
A mini-refrigerator means you can get cold drinks at your convenience and proximity. It also helps to store your snacks and leftovers. So if you can afford one, ensure to buy one for your dorm room, it will take away a lot of stress and make you comfortable in many ways.
10. Posters
When you’re designing your room, it should represent you and things you consider important, that’s why posters, graffiti, and other wall designs you want to use should be taken seriously. If you idolize a musician, basketball star, or maybe an artist, you should put up their posters or artworks in your room.
Putting up posters helps you communicate to people who enter your room on topics you may never discuss. Posters are also cheap and not hard to come by, so if you can, put up posters in your room, they look great and are great communicators.
Conclusion
There are several ways to set your dorm room up, there are no restrictions, but in setting your room up, you have to take several details into account to ensure that your room is a perfect representation of you and a place you consider home. So, if you’re moving into a dorm room, apply the tips listed above and come up with the best design that suits your unique taste.
