Turn Your Dorm Room into Home

Living in a stuffy dorm room? Turn it into someplace you’d want (your second home — or better yet, the place you want to be instead of home). Make the most out of your living space while you have it. If you’re not sure how and you’re super busy with classes, getting internships, or work study jobs, that’s where I come in.

So how do you make the best out of your space? If you’re in a small room or have a roommate or two, you won’t have unlimited space to store your stuff. Chances are you won’t have a lot of space at all. You can buy containers online or at your nearest department store. Some college stores also have good containers suitable for dorm room accommodations. You can usually find anything from futons to media storage to cabinets. Yaffa Blocks are very popular among the college crowd.

You can also find college-sized sheets (twin extra long!) at stores online, especially Campus Linens. Most of the sets are perfect and can save you a trip to your local Bed Bath and Beyond. You can get color-coordinated sheets, pillowcases, and towels, as well as a really nice comforter.

Get inspired with organizational tactics from sites such as Lifehacker or Real Simple. These tips will allow you to maximize your space while still feeling like you have a lot of room.

The next stop is to decorate. I personally like dorm rooms with personality: posters, photos, pictures, and the like. You can get a lot of decorating ideas online. Some of my favorites: take old pictures of calendars and put them on your wall. I also find that the Have a Day poster is one of the favorites in college dorm rooms. Add paintings or glow-in-the-dark stickers to your wall. You can even go crazy with some crazy college furniture.

Without a doubt, if you have the mind to decorate and you want to, your dorm room can be more than just a place to sleep at during school. It can be your humble abode, your castle, your mansion. And why not make the best of it while you have time? There’s nothing stopping you from exercising your creativity, so just do it and relax.