Although moving to college may cause a lot of enthusiasm and joy, the very first look at the dull and boring dorm room can easily wipe all the delight away. However, don’t let this tiny, shared dwelling frustrate you. Add some unique personal style to turn your college room into a fancy and functional space perfect both for focused studying and chillaxing with your peers. 

And these 7 smart ideas will help you with that.

Furnish in A Multifunctional and Compact Way

When decorating your dorm room, the least you want to do is to stuff the already tiny space with even more clutter and bulky furniture. Instead, choose stylish multifunctional pieces that can kill two birds with one stone. A futon or a folding sofa is a great example: it’s a hang-out with friends spot during the day, and a fully-functional bed at night. 

Storage puffs and ottomans can be another compact and mobile solution. In addition to concealed storage space, they will also add color to your dorm room and serve as a stylish sitting spot for your friends.

Make Use of the Free Room Under Your Bed

Need some extra space to arrange your personal belongings? The room under your bed can be used as quick-to-access storage for keeping fresh linens and towels, clothes and shoes, or your study items. To arrange it well, just buy a few storage containers of appropriate size or even fit your empty suitcases for these purposes. This will keep your room clutter-free, while long bed skirts can carefully hide the boxes and add some fresh and tidy look.  

Create a Green Zone

Adopting a fancy green plant is a great idea to create a positive environment and add some verdure to your room. In addition to the oxygen they release, plants are well-known for their relaxing and calming power. While decorating your room in an elegant way, it will also help to create a suitable atmosphere for studying or rest. However, if you don’t think you’ll be a good parent for your new green family member, just pick the plant that doesn’t require more care than simply watering every two weeks. Or think of a faux one as a last resort.

One more tip: a bizarre plant pot can become the statement of your interior and express your personality and unique style.

Use Vertical Arrangement

You’ve taken just a “survivor kit” to your dorm but you are still short of space to distribute all of your belongings? Using vertical storage options will keep the room spacious and the floors open. Buy a few hang-on-the-door pockets that can be fit for keeping different most-used items like cosmetics, underwear, shoes, accessories, whatnot. This way you’ll avoid extra cluttering and turn a boring door into multifunctional and classy shelves. 

A bonus: such on-the-door pockets can become that missing bright decorative detail to make your room look even more stylish and cozy. Use them to leave messages to your room-mate and keep some important and memorable things or other cute and pretty items that make you feel at home.

Create a Functional and Inspiring Studying Space

Your desk will be your best studying buddy for the next several college years and it’s in your best interests to turn it into an effective place to work. Keep it tidy and well-organized; a messy place with stains can hardly encourage productivity and concertation. Use different cute accessories, boxes, and drawers to keep the clutter in check and necessary things within close reach.

If you are the type of person that finds inspiration in someone else’s wisdom, put a fancy clipboard with favorite quotes and affirmations on your desk. Let your imagination fly: play with fonts and colors, add some impactful pictures or emojis – whatever keeps you positive and upbeat. 

An original and comfy desk chair won’t hurt either. In addition to keeping your spine healthy, it can become a worthy element of décor. 

Get a Wall of Inspiration

Turn a large bare wall of your dorm room into your personal beacon of inspiration, encouragement, and joy. The options are plenty. You can use pictures, lights, tapestry, ornate carpets, paintings, decals, you name it. Here are a few ideas:

Decorate a gallery wall together with your room-mate. Hang on your dearest brought-from-home items, favorite paintings, or posters that would be the expression of the personal style and tastes of both of you. Not only will this help to create a unique size-of-the-wall artwork, but it could be a great way to connect with your roomie and break the ice. 

If you enjoy mood lights, strings of lights curtain will be a perfect decoration for your wall of inspiration. Furthermore, it can serve double duty – as an off-beat piece of art and a message board. There, you can clip your favorite photos and pictures, important messages or quotes, to-do-lists or deadline reminders and transform it into a functional and breathtaking masterpiece. 

Geometric shapes are never out of trend. Why not going geometric when decorating your wall too? Sticking a few geometric-shaped cork boards is a functional, yet stylish way to cover your wall space. Due to its adhesive strip attachment, the boards can be stuck to the wall and easily removed when you need it. At the same time, they can serve as a message zone, your most favorite photos keeper, an organizer for accessories and other light-weight things, or anything else you can think of. 

Put a Sophisticated Rug on the Floor

And finally, throwing a nice rug on the floor is a great way to originally transform your college room while keeping your feet warm and creating extra space to gather with friends. However, if you struggle to find the perfect size, a Pro-papers interior design blogger Ellen Mitchell recommends making your own designer rug by combining a few ones together. 

“When in doubt, go neutral. It won’t clash with the total room interior but will help to balance the total look,” says she.

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