It’s that time when students across the nation will be moving into their dorm rooms, creating that home-away-from-home. Here are seven tips for turning your dorm room into a place that reflects something you love and feels like home.
1. Room theme
It can be so much fun to coordinate a dorm room theme with your roommates! You can bring wall hangings, pictures, desk ornaments, and more, to go with the theme. Discussing your favorite colors and picking a few that look good together can go a long way in preventing décor or bedspreads from color-clashing. In fact, a few coordinating colors alone can serve as a room theme.
2. Bedside shelf
A bedside shelf or floating nightstand can be a great addition to a dorm bed. Especially for those with a top bunk, it can be quite a pain to have just settled down in bed to study or sleep and realize that you need to climb down that bunk ladder yet again to get just one more thing. Instead, you can store everything needed on these bedside shelves, which come with adjustable clamps for the side of the bed. Various styles have cup holders, a place to hang headsets, and even slide-out compartments. They are great for storing your water bottle, snacks, tissues, phone, Bible, and more, keeping them handy for whenever you need them.
3. Potted plants
Potted plants really bring that fresh pop of life and color into a dorm room. Not only are they good decorations, but some have health benefits, as they purify the air and absorb humidity. Some dorm room plants that don’t require much watering are the Chinese Evergreen, Spider plant, Pothos, Philodendron, Aloe Vera, Air Plant, and Cactus. Placed on your windowsill or desk, these plants can go quite a way in bringing freshness into your room. You can even add cute details to the room with the pots you chose for the plants.
4. Pet fish
Fish are the only pets allowed on PHC’s campus, and quite a few students have adopted some of these little guys as dorm room buddies. If you’re down to research fish habits, feed them every day, and clean the tank, then this could be just the thing to add that bit of life and entertainment to your dorm room.
5. Window curtains
Curtains spruce up a dorm room and give it that breezy feel. They can also play a major part in adding to a room's theme. Despite PHC’s rules about wall damage (not putting anything larger than a tack into your dorm room wall), there are still ways to hang up curtains in your room. All that you will need are two large Command hooks, a curtain rod, and the lightweight curtains of your choice.
6. Wall collage
A wall collage with pictures from home or photographs that fit the room's theme is a great décor option. You could also go for a goofier version, like putting up all the out-of-context quotes you run across from students, professors, or roommates. Or, if you're more into memes, the same applies.
7. Artwork
Artwork plays a major part in adding to a room’s mood. If you are a talented artist, then this is a great opportunity for you to create artwork that fits with your theme (if you have one) and showcase it in your dorm room. And for thrift-shop lovers, here’s your chance to browse for unique frames and artwork that fit your room theme. You never know what gems you might find!
Happy decorating!
Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.