apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

add a rug

do not take candles! scent has a come along way in the last few years, you don't need to risk a fire.

take what you need to be comfortable and at home, but not your entire home bedroom. college is a transitional period from teen to adulthood. you want some difference btw there and home. also, have an eye toward that when selecting your bedding etc. choose things that say "you" in a teen-to-post-adolescent way, not a kid way.

goodness, that really wasn't one of gropius' masterworks, was it?

I like to rock the Christmas lights in my dorm room. My pinboard wall is covered in random findings from around campus [broken records, notes, etc] while the others have the classic posters.

Another good wall covering is finding an old calendar to hack up and put up.

my dorms were walled with concrete. no holes. also very glum. i'm so glad i've got an off-campus apartment. it comes without the smell of 18-year old girls repeatedly burning popcorn because they've never cooked a day in their lives.

i wish decals had been so prevalent then. totally would've used them.

i wish unh had let us hang curtains. alas, we were stuck with ugly yellowed shades that matched the ugly yellowed concrete walls and floors. sigh.

"Consider coordinating your bedding with your roommate's."

There should be a caution label with this: attempt to do so may result in getting beat up/heckled.


I totally agree with the rug comment, my rooms had lenolium (sp?) tile floors that were terrible (not to mention cold) and the addition of a rug worked wonders.

I might also suggest bringing your own desk chair. With the amount of time you SHOULD be spending in it, splurge a little on something that is comfortable and effective. If need be put the spare chair in the closet, use it as extra seating or just put it out in the common room and get it at the end of the year.

Those 3M stick-on/removable hooks are a must for dorm life. You can hang curtains, pictures, everyday items, etc., and not screw up the walls. Much better than the "poster putty" I was stuck with when I went to college.

I highly recommend 2 cheap things- a pretty tapestry/sheet to hang from the ceiling (it makes the room feel warm and can help with the OH MY GOD FLUORESCENT lightbulbs) and milk crates in fun colors- instant shelving! Also, if you are going to use push-pins to hang posters, do yourself a favor and just use little nails. you might as well because once ther is a hole, there is a hole. you can actually hang things with nails and i can't tell you how many times i brushed up against a pushpin and knocked whatever out of the wall. some white toothpaste or spackle at the end of the year will close those holes up nicely!

Almost all dorm rooms require that you keep the college furniture in your room. I highly recommend you organize things in a way that you can fit one comfortable arm chair, preferably one with a fun sense of style.

It's incredibly challenging to create a flow of conversation in a dorm room, because the space is small and your furniture options are limited. Also, it gets old having to do EVERYTHING from your bed. All four years of college, I had different arm chairs and it made for a cozy room! My roommate and I always got compliments on the fact that our room didn't feel like a dorm room, and I attribute that primarily to the arm chair.

Also, tapestry's are a great way to add a bold statement of color. I also would suggest staying away from traditional posters that everyone in your dorm building will have. Try to find something a bit off beat, and if you can stick it in a cheap frame!

And do everything you can to reduce clutter! This was the hardest part for me. :)

I also think coordinating bedding is a terrible idea.

tallguylehigh, you're right on point (hey I'm a lehigh alumna, class of 2001). College is where an individual often finds or defines their own identity, why not reflect it in the items you see and use every day?

When I was in college, I put down carpet samples to create a mosaic of carpet on the floor. It was colorful, cheap, and useful. If we spilled anything on one piece we could pick it up and drop another one down no problem. I like to think of it as the pre-cursor to FLOR. Wish I had actually created FLOR. :>)

Every college has fire hazard rules as well. Sheets on the walls and ceiling are a no.