How to Use Interior Decorating for Dorm Rooms

Personalize your dorm room and add ambience with extra lighting.

Living in a dorm room doesn't preclude you from having a space that looks professionally decorated. Dorm room decorating does present some distinct challenges. Dorm rooms are usually tiny, and often have ugly cinder-block walls and fluorescent lighting. You usually can't paint, and sometimes you can't even drive a nail into a wall. Nevertheless, the same basic principles of good design apply whether you have 10,000 square feet or 100.

Things You'll Need

• Metal measuring tape
• Pencil
• 1/4-inch grid paper
• Additional furniture
• Bed covering
• Additional lighting
• Rug
• Artwork
• Picture-hanging nails or adhesive hangers
• Curtain panels
• Curtain rod and hardware

Instructions

1. Measure the length and width of the room with a metal measuring tape. Measure the exact width of doorways and windows, and where they're located on each wall.

2. Convert your measurements into a 1/4-inch scale floor plan, the scale used by professional decorators where 1/4 inch equals 1 foot. Use 1/4-inch grid paper or the free online room planners provided by Thomasville and Stickley Furniture.

3. Measure the furniture included with your dorm room. Note whether it's fixed or movable. If it's fixed, add it to your floor plan. If it's movable, cut scale templates from 1/4-inch grid paper or make furniture templates within the online room planner.

4. Make a list of additional furniture you'd like to have, such as a nightstand, bookshelf and an upholstered chair. Estimate their sizes and make templates for them.

5. Move the furniture templates around on your floor plan, trying different arrangements. Arrange furniture into zones for sleeping, studying and entertaining. Think of your dorm room as a studio apartment, and overlap zones if you can get double duty from an area.

6. Choose a color scheme for your dorm room. A cohesive palette makes a room look professionally decorated and feel larger. The continuity keeps the eye moving around the room.

7. Select your additional furniture and your bed covering. Follow your color scheme. Make sure the furniture fits in the space you allotted on your floor plan. Choose a washable bed covering, since dorm beds usually double as seating.

8. Add lamps to your bedside table and desk. Hang a swag lamp in your entertaining zone. Don't rely solely on the overhead fixtures for lighting.

9. Accessorize your dorm room with a rug, artwork, throw pillows and curtains. Hang artwork with adhesive hangers if you can't use nails. Opt for white sheers or curtain panels with simple tailoring.

Tips & Warnings

• Look for double-duty furniture, like storage ottomans or bookcases that double as room dividers.

• Go vertical with your additional furniture. Choose tall pieces that take up as little floor space as possible.

• Hunt for inexpensive furniture, lighting and rugs at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores. You can always rehab pieces with a coat of paint, new hardware or a new shade.

• If you'll have a roommate, plan the decor together after you move into your room.

References

• Apartment Therapy: 10 Ways To Make Your Dorm Room Feel Like Home
• Better Homes and Gardens: Dos and Don'ts of Dorm Decor
• Apartment Therapy: Tips for Making a Small Apartment Feel Bigger

Resources

• Apartment Therapy: Small, Cool Dorm Rooms
• Danny Lipford: Tips for Moving into a College Dorm Room
• Better Homes and Gardens: Creative Dorm Room Decor
• Stickley: Room Planner
• Thomasville Furniture: Room Planner