Welcome to University aka college life. Chances are it's not going to be luxury living and your undersized room may already be furnished with a squeaky bed, small desk and dresser. Theoretically, dorm rooms don't have to be decorated especially if you spend all your time in the library, with friends, the dining hall and in class. However, if you do decide to make your student living more pleasant, decorating on the cheap can be easy to do.
Plants
A low maintenance succulent i.e. cactus is a good way to go. I had one of these in my first year dorm and it could survive weeks without water, looked nice and was inexpensive. Some succulents can be expensive but the kind available at home furnishing stores such as Lowes and Home Depot can be quite cheap especially during end of season clearance sales.
Wall decorations
Posters from home are a good way to go. The corners may be a little frayed but it will be free and still feel like home away from home if some of your high school decorations come along with you. Other inexpensive wall decorations include magazine cut outs, and/or a cork bulletin board full of photos of your friends and family.
The Floor
There is a good chance the floor may never be cleaned the whole time you reside in your dorm room. For this reason it may not be a good idea to go all out and get a fancy Persian rug, especially if some drunk guy stumbles into your room and spills beer on it. If you want the floor to be cozy but still save money and be realistic, consider an inexpensive mat or rug with a tasteful design that matches the rest of the room. Rugs can even be pieces of carpet, but the ends of carpet pieces fray and appear messy. Cheap rugs may be obtained from home, church sales, or other independent one time sales or dealers.
Furniture
As mentioned above, if you're lucky, the dorm room will come furnished with pre-engraved desk and graffiti closet. If the room isn't furnished, keeping it light might be a good way to go. After all, this isn't really your home it is a place to live while you initiate and possibly dwell throughout college life. To obtain cheap furniture think Walmart futons, flea market shelving and desks. The hard part is finding a the flea market and transporting the furniture and the easy part is actually getting cheap furniture. Some places may deliver if you don't have access to a truck, but that costs extra. There may also be furniture sales on or near campus but be weary of over inflated prices due to convenience.
Lighting
Keeping it simple, the room probably already has electricity and an overhead light. You may want a desk lamp to read better. This too can be brought from your room at the parents house or inexpensively at a Target, Walmart or neighborhood sale. If you have a pack of candles and a candle holder, there really isn't much need to worry about ambiance and subdued lighting fixtures, candles do the trick just fine, just don't forget about them when you leave the room.
That's pretty much it, anything else you think of to decorate a room that doesn't need to be decorated can be done on your own. The above tips may make your dorm room decorating experience a little more manageable and cost effective. The key things to keep in mind are, it's college not married life, and your property may be treated with some disrespect whether intentionally or unintentionally i.e. lack of cleaning, messy roommates, friends etc. Bringing a few well chosen decorations from your previous home might make the room feel more comfortable and simplicity really can be inexpensive as well as affordable.
:.
0 comments:
Post a Comment