Be the Hostess with the Mostess -- In a Dorm
'Tis the season of back to school. My eyes always light up when I see the fun and colorful patterns of the Twin XL bedding selections in stores. While I won't be decorating a dorm this year, I can share with you what made my dorm one of the most social rooms on campus.
-Buy an egg crate mattress cover. They are cheap and can give your bed an extra cozy feel
-Floors are dirty. Sweep and then put an area rug down if you don't have carpeted floors
-See if your bed is loftable and to what degree-with most dorm beds you can loft them at a number of different heights. Make sure to plan out how you want the bed lofted. Consider bunking the bed with your roommate and dedicate the opposite side of the room to social or study space. For rooms short on closet space, hang a closet rod under your bunk. See example
-Instead of having two TVs in the room, consider a compromise to have one larger TV. HDMI cables enable users to stream anything from the internet and display it on the television screen. You can buy a 6.5 foot cable for about $10 on Amazon.
-Don't forget pictures! Hobby Lobby has a good selection of all kinds of decor and a lot of times they have sales between 40% and 60% off regular prices. Their clearance section can go up to even 80% and 90% off.
-Padded type message boards can work well to display notes from friends, awards, or greek correspondence - if you're too lazy to make a board you can find one at an outlet store like Ross or Marshall's for about $15.
-3M Command strips can be your best friend!
-Make sure to get an over the door hook, they work great for hanging up towels.
Once you have your dorm organized, invite your neighbors over for a movie night! It's a great way to get to know those living around you. Pop a bag of popcorn and open the door, the aromas of popcorn always get people curious to stop by and say hello, what's cookin'?
*UPDATE* After posting my photos I realized another genius trick, hanging an over the door shoe rack from my bed, you can barely see it in the picture below! :)
Photos courtesy of C. Scharton
-Buy an egg crate mattress cover. They are cheap and can give your bed an extra cozy feel
-Floors are dirty. Sweep and then put an area rug down if you don't have carpeted floors
-See if your bed is loftable and to what degree-with most dorm beds you can loft them at a number of different heights. Make sure to plan out how you want the bed lofted. Consider bunking the bed with your roommate and dedicate the opposite side of the room to social or study space. For rooms short on closet space, hang a closet rod under your bunk. See example
-Instead of having two TVs in the room, consider a compromise to have one larger TV. HDMI cables enable users to stream anything from the internet and display it on the television screen. You can buy a 6.5 foot cable for about $10 on Amazon.
-Don't forget pictures! Hobby Lobby has a good selection of all kinds of decor and a lot of times they have sales between 40% and 60% off regular prices. Their clearance section can go up to even 80% and 90% off.
-Padded type message boards can work well to display notes from friends, awards, or greek correspondence - if you're too lazy to make a board you can find one at an outlet store like Ross or Marshall's for about $15.
-3M Command strips can be your best friend!
-Make sure to get an over the door hook, they work great for hanging up towels.
Once you have your dorm organized, invite your neighbors over for a movie night! It's a great way to get to know those living around you. Pop a bag of popcorn and open the door, the aromas of popcorn always get people curious to stop by and say hello, what's cookin'?
*UPDATE* After posting my photos I realized another genius trick, hanging an over the door shoe rack from my bed, you can barely see it in the picture below! :)
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| As a shoe lover I have devised many ways to store my shoes |
Everything you posted is correct! I love buying things for my apartment. Mattress covers, 3M Products, and Hobby Lobby are my best friends. I love shopping at Hobby Lobby and making my room unique and fun! Do you have any pictures of your dorm? I would love to see how you decorated it!
ReplyDeleteYou have some really great ideas! I am really interested in the idea of a egg crate mattress cover, which of these ideas have you personally tried?
ReplyDeleteI do have pictures of my dorm on the first day I moved in! They are on my other computer so I will have to hop on there to post them, but stay tuned and I will post them!
ReplyDeleteJoy, I have actually done all of these things except to be honest, I am really not the "social butterfly" type so my roommate was usually the one to do the hosting!