Money Saving Dorm Room Decor Tips

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.

Budget Dining Room Decoration Tips

The largest part of the dining room is the center piece which is usually the dining room table and chairs. The periphery features of the dining room are more visual and less functional. Combining the style, color and material of the table with the surrounding dcor, furniture and home decorations will create a more harmonious house-scape but a symbiotic blending of differences between room is also attainable. To do this within a budget is also possible.

• Achieving home harmony and symbiosis

To choose material types that are similar in texture, veneer and appearance, to furniture pieces in other rooms is a good way to create a smooth flow of cascading transition of colors and objects between rooms. However, if one is attempting to blend dissimilar objects and colors, keeping in mind complimentary color patterns such as gold and green or purple and yellow can do just this. While these colors in their most solid composite might be too rich and heavy for one's taste, they serve as an illustration for the complimentary color system. Choosing colors of paint and rugs can be an affordable way to create complimentary and harmonious schemes.

• Dining room objects

Objects such as dining ware, tablecloths, curtains and shades all have an influence on the feast not only on the table but of the eyes as well. Well chosen fabrics and dining ware can make for a most eloquent or pragmatic yet appealing of dining room features. What's more, such features may cover up or enhance any flaws or values in the existing dining room setting depending on what one's goals are. Inexpensive, yet tasteful dining ware doesn't always have to include the finest bone china and the highest grade crystal however even these items can purchased for a reasonable when they are on sale or through private vendors.

• Foliage and plants

Well selected plants can inexpensively add a beautiful semblance of grace to a dining room for a relatively low cost. Some types of fast growing palms can adorn the room with bold presence of gentle life for around $20-$30.00. Keeping the leaves dusted and healthy will only add to the beauty for the price of a little care. Also, the type of pot the plant is contained in doesn't have to be a hand painted import marked up by a local retailer. A well chosen glazed ceramic pot can more affordably create a similar aesthetic.

• Artwork and wall decorations:

Artwork is an individual taste, however as with the dining-ware, plants and colors, the artwork can be something as simple as a painted plaster piece of abstract art on a crafted plaster pedestal. Places like Hobby Lobby have many of these items some of which can be painted and some of which come painted. When stores like this have sales, good quality and tasteful art can be found at an affordable price.

• The table and chairs

The most expensive part of the dining room is often the table and chairs. One may not want to skimp on this as good dining room furniture can last a lifetime and re-sold or handed down if necessary. If one does want to cut corners, contracting out the crafting of a table to a reasonably priced out of work carpenter or woodworker may keep the cost reasonable and possibly avoid added logistics and retail markups to the price. Also the type of wood material will have an influence on the price if wood is used at all. A wood that is local to your area is likely to be more affordable than an imported wood. Other places to look for dining room furniture may include but not be limited to estate sales, local sales, online and newspaper ads.

• Lighting

Lighting can be free if it is daytime and the dining room table is located next to a large enough window. However, during the evening hours a few elegant candles complimented by and easy to install overhead light dimmer and a nice candle-holder can give the impression of polished refinement and taste for dollars. Well chosen bulbs that suit one's lighting color preference may also replace the cost of an expensive lighting scheme.

In summary, a dining room can be a room of eloquence and dining fortitude that matches the template of the remainder of the home whether that template be similar or dissimilar. Choosing colors, and materials with thought and furniture with skill and cost in mind can all come together with an affordable congruence of style and beauty for an affordable cost. The tips and techniques provided in this article comprise some of the methods that can enable one to accomplish a dining room of beauty and flavor for a more reasonable cost than hiring an interior decorator or shopping without price in mind.