I would place another rug down, or two runners. Maybe that would help open up the color scheme palate. Good Luck.

That carpet could be a lot worse; it is actually fairly neutral. And it looks like you could pull out some blue and green from it if you like those colors. If you are really bothered by the carpet, cover it up with an inexpensive area rug from Target or similar.

Agreed with alexismarie--put a different color rug on top of it. I used to hang cheap flat sheets on the walls to add color to my white walls too.

I must say I applaud these young students for wanting to decorate their dorm rooms. I am very house-proud now, but when I was in a dorm that was the farthest thing from my mind. I put up a gigantic poster of Ralph Fiennes from the English Patient and was done with it.

As for your question, I would go for bold, multicolor accessories like pillows, rugs and curtains.

Thumb tacks will hold pashmina scarves against the wall, and 3M hooks are your friend for hanging real artwork (not posters!)...I agree, another rug, but shop thrift stores and resale/antique stores for these things, not the local big box.

If you like green or blue, use green or blue bedding with colorful throw pillows. There is even a little red/orange in that rug so you could go with that. Use an area rug or runner to minimize the carpet.

Or you could go with earth colors like terra cotta and yellow ochre.

Did you see the segment yesterday on the Nate Berkus show about how to "wallpaper" your walls with fabric and starch? It leaves no residue when you peel it off.
Also, www.whatisblik.com has decals that would look amazing.
I'd stick to neutral browns and greys with bedcovers and curtains etc and then you can pop it with any color really.
Good luck! Post photos of the finished product.

I second the earth colors, mauras. Blue and green can feel really institutional sometimes and in a dorm I was always craving personality.

I'd say you should be grateful that you don't have the rusty-orange low-pile shag with tar tracks from an earilier occupant's motorcycle that I inherited. Also, the furniture was royal blue - selected when institutional designers thought it was cool to combine large masses of colors from opposite sides of the color wheel in small spaces.

Ignore the carpet, pick a color-scheme you like, and mostly the carpet will be background noise. Draw attention back up above floor-level with art, other decorative objects - pillows, baskets, bedding. You can add an area rug when you've decided on a color scheme. I'd stay fairly neutral with a couple of shots of color.

You didn't say what the school's providing by way of furniture, but most schools have basement storage areas where you can stow the standard-issue stuff. This, by the way, includes window treatments. Curtains, shades and blinds would all help focus attention on what you've added, not what you are stuck with. IKEA textiles are a bargain compared with other decorator fabrics.

Good luck!

Go with what you'd want after college, this is just a temporary situation.

Your carpet really isn't all that bad. Use it as a neutral and it opens up your color scheme to anything!

bring in a large shag rug to add some 'comfort' to the ugly carpet.
i would definitely recommend wall decals or 'wallpaper' the walls (as long as they aren't the institutional brick that was in mine).

also, some great throw pillows and curtains would do a lot of good.

and please, PLEASE make sure your room is organized.

there's nothing worse than living in a small space that's in complete disarray. keep everything that is functional, and leave behind everything that's not.

it should all flow together and make it a very easy room to study, hang out, craft, and possibly entertain. school-appropriate activities of course =)

Hey, I'm in college as well and have had a LOT of fun working with the dorm room set up. The only thing I really spent more money on was my lamp. Lighting has been everything. It almost doesn't matter what everything else looks like if the lighting is just right. It might be fun to find a creative way to hang pictures on the wall but don't put too much. Add a plant! For a couple of bucks, you can get what you need for it and it will add a whole bunch of life to your room. I promise.

Oh, and stick to your style, not your mom's.

Shouldn't you be studying, dating, doing laundry or cheering on the football team while drinking lots of beer?

As long as your room is clean, Who cares? - You'll be moved out by June anyway!
;-)

Some general tips:
#1 Stay really organized. Clutter is the biggest reason most dorm rooms look awful.
#2 Add art. Something framed is great if you can afford it but if you could also make a wall of polaroid pix for a very dramatic effect with just some wall adhesive or do something similar with favorite images that have a related theme (like black and white photos).
#3 Add plants.
#4 Add lamps. Never rely on overhead lighting! One of the simplest things you can do is add several lamps around a space (at least three points of light are what is usually recommended for any room).
#5 Stick to a limited color palette. Pick a color scheme you like. Any color scheme. But then stay within that. In a small space, having too many colors or competing color families (neutrals and brights and pastels, oh my!) isn't the best idea
#6 If the furniture is movable, play around with the arrangement. Sometimes centering a bed against a wall or creating a nice study nook makes the biggest difference. On that note, define your spaces. (Sleep area versus work area versus relaxation area).

I really think you could go with any color scheme, the carpet is pretty neutral, and you can always put a rug over it (as I've done in an apartment with dark gray carpet). Just think about what colors you like and work from there! Or go shopping and see what you're drawn too. Sometimes the best way to go about it is to work around something that you love.

I have a relatively similar carpet in my dorm room as well, but it really hasn't gotten in the way of anything. I've taken advantage of the 3m re-usable hooks to put up framed art. My sleeping area (the bed and surrounding area) is a blue pallette, whereas my desk area has black, white and silver accesories. I accessorized my desk with a "vintage" looking sign, a framed black and white photo of Venice, postcards of Germany, a small silver Dansk horse, an Argus Rangefinder, and some old tobacco tins. Decorate with unique items that carry meaning to you in order to balance the institutional feeling.
Also incorporate various shades of a specific pallete (for instance, I have a deep turquoise glass Coffee container that plays off of my light blue/white sheets and navy throw).
And last but not least, be on the lookout for great finds at thrift stores or on Craigslist!

First of all, be happy you don't have linoleum floors! If you are really unhappy with the carpet, check a local wall to wall carpet place. My roommate and I were able to buy a 10'x12' "scrap" from a carpet store for really cheap.

I have a very similar base carpet/wall in my dorm room. My roommate and I put down sections of carpet (get something comfortable and cushion-y. This isn't so much about style as you're probably going to end up sitting on the floor with friends and some point and want something comfortable). As other people have said, this is actually a good carpet as dorm carpets go--it's easy to clean and whatever carpet you add should keep that in mind. If you haven't figured out already, dorm floors get dirty quickly.

My wall currently is covered with newspapers with different quotes on them and my drawings. It's not how I would decorate a home, but when I'm studying/working, I like to have my sketches and different inspirational quotes surrounding my desk.

And, as others have said, getting good lighting will help tremendously. I currently have my entire desk backlit in addition to my desk light (if you don't have one already, I suggest getting something with some sort of diffusion, since your eyes will hurt like crazy when you've been pulling all-nighters) and replacing your school-issued curtains will help. These are large, colour the light entering your room, and are often ignored.

I'm with bepsf on this one, enjoy life as a college student, it's a good phase :)

It's likely you'll change rooms several times during your time at college, so I'd say focus on a few pieces of art or fabric for your walls that you love and that feel like a cohesive collection, rather than trying to match things to a carpet in your current residence hall.

I really like that carpet, lol! It's neutral yet it has enough colors in it to pull just about any color scheme you would want. I would hang over sized artist's canvas frames with a nice printed fabric stretched onto it to get some color on the walls.

I lived in a single during college too. I think if you're on a budget, try to stick to things that are transferable, such as art work or bedding you will use when you move out. One thing I did which really made a difference to my gross dorm room was a huge piece of fabric that I pinned to one wall, similar to the tapestries sold on Urban Outfitters. You can find lovely but cheap fabrics at craft stores. Now that I have my own apartment, I used the fabric for pillows. You can hang art on top of the wall and make it a great focal point. Most of all - make sure it's all very temporary. When you move out for the summer the last thing you'll want to think about is spackling 500 pushpin marks in the wall.

Decorating your dorm room is important. When you finally go away to college, it's important that you have a home away from home. Having a great study area and comfy bed is essential to doing well. When I went away, my mom got me a black shag rug that I put in the middle of my room. I had it up until a few months ago when my dog got sick on it. I LOVED that thing. So comfy and chic! Try target or walmart, they have great rugs. Do any color you want. I did pink, black, and white and it was awesome. I also recently discovered "heavy mounting tape" that's great for my house that I live in. My husband and I are newlyweds and live in base housing so we can't do anything either. We used the tape to put records on our wall. It looks pretty sweet.

When I used to live the university's dorm (a year or so ago) I bought myself some rug at walmart (sorry for the haters, but seriously this place is great for poor students!). For 15$, it's a white fluffy-furish rug and it added a lot of comfort to my room. I also bought some electric blue sheet and pillows, which brought a lot of color to the room too.
Hope this help, good luck!! :)

Punch up your dorm room with a great mural! See this article I wrote on Dorm Room Style and with examples of great furniture and accessories. A wall mural will add a great theme and lots of color! See the bamboo mural sample in this article.
http://thedesignerinsider.blogspot.com/2008/07/dorm-room-style.html

The Designer Insider

I've always been interested in decorating my surroundings (I started saving to buy my own furniture at age 9!) but even so, in college, I gave very little thought to my one-year dorm rooms. The main thing I did was to have nice bedding. Don't buy things you'll just throw away at the end of the semester because they were only for your current room. Get a few nice things that you want and will take with you after college.

I realize I'm seeing a photo but it's coming off mostly as dark grey so anything bold would come off well.

Stick with more neutrals for big things (like the bed) and do brighter colors with small items. I'd recommend a grey duvet cover with a green or orange throw pillow. A plant will really make a dorm room feel less dorm-y too. Pothos are resilient enough for a student lifestyle.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50145982

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40151676

I lived at the dorms at Rutgers back in the mid 90's - plain white walls, 50's linoleum floors (not the good kind...) florescent lighting, and institutional furniture. I lent the furniture to various people down the hall who wanted an extra desk or bed. (The beds stacked.) Then I brought my own furniture, lamps, Persian rug... I have photos is you want to see them. My roommate called the place a "Girl Magnet". And I never competed for his ladies... ;-)

I'd go with warm tones of oranges, yellows, and reds/pinks. Just add bedding, pillows, a cheap & chi'ful throw rug on top of what's there...maybe some bead curtains (this is a temporary space---have fun with it!). Good luck.

You are lucky. That carpet is not so bad.