How to Make a Home Room Into a Dorm

Turn your bedroom into a dorm room with new furnishings and accesories.

You're not yet heading off to college, but you want your bedroom at home to look and feel like a dorm room. No problem. You can make a home room into a dorm room by filling it with the trappings of college life. That includes loft beds with desks underneath, kitchen and electronic appliances, simple bedding and casual rock-music-oriented decor. The key is to make the room feel like a mini apartment, with everything you need to survive except the bathroom.

Things You'll Need

• Loft bed
• Bedding
• Dresser
• Desk
• Desk Chair
• Bean bag
• Task lamp
• Bulletin board
• Telephone
• Mini refrigerator
• Microwave or toaster oven
• Kitchen cart
• Television
• TV equipment
• Audio equipment
• Laptop computer or tablet keyboard
• Clock
• Rock band posters
• Plastic poster frames
• Throw pillows
• Framed photos of friends

Instructions

Start With the Basics

1. Clear your bedroom of all the trappings of childhood. Remove old furniture, bedding and decor.

2. Paint your room white for a realistic college look, since most dorm rooms look like plain white boxes. Paint your room the color of your choice if you aren't willing to live with white walls.

3. Move college-style furniture into your bedroom. Set up a loft bed with a desk underneath. Add a desk chair.

4. Put a bean bag chair in your room for lounging.

5. Place a dresser in your room so you have a place to keep your clothes and a surface that doubles as an entertainment center.

Conveniences

1. Attach a bulletin board on the wall above your new desk. Add task lighting to your below-bed space, such as a desk lamp. Place a telephone on your desk if you have a land-line in your home. Hang a clock on your wall.

2. Set up a kitchen cart with appliances that are safe for use in your home dorm room, such as a small microwave oven or a toaster oven. Place a mini refrigerator on a hard surface, possibly the floor or the bottom of the kitchen cart if it's strong enough to support the weight of the mini refrigerator.

3. Set up audio equipment so you can listen to your favorite music. Consider a boom box or a speaker station for your MP3 player.

4. Place a television and DVD or Blu-ray player on top of your dresser, which is doubling as an entertainment center.

5. Place a laptop computer on your desk for typing and Internet research. Set up a portable keyboard if you use a tablet for your work.

Decorate

1. Decorate your home dorm room with posters of rock bands that you like. Tape them to the walls or place them in plastic poster frames.

2. Dress your bed in casual bedding such as striped, floral or plaid comforters and matching sheets.

3. Place throw pillows on your bed that complement your bedding.

4. Place framed photos of your friends on your desk and dresser or hang the frames on your wall.

References

• Pottery Barn Teens: Sleep and Study Loft
• Brookstone: Bluetooth Keyboard
• Target: Elite Poster Frame-2 Pack - 22x34"