From uniform to unique: one student’s guide to dorm decor
3 min readBy MACKENZIE HARD
Staff Writer
Before move-in, campus is filled with a bunch of the same dorm style residence halls. The same couches and chairs, the same beds and desks and the same kitchens. It is all very uniform but it is a blank canvas for us to make our own. I turned my own apartment into a comfortable and cozy place for me to stretch my feet out on the coffee table. Along the way, I learned the importance of having a budget and an idea for how the space will look. It is much easier to decompress after a long day of classes when I’m coming back into a room that makes me feel comfortable and welcome.
Above: I went with colors that I felt worked well together. I found the tassels at Target and the arrow at Hobby Lobby. The pillows are from Amazon. I put up group pictures of my roommates, to make it more homey. We’re like a family so we have family pictures.
Above: I painted the pineapple and the “Home” sign over the summer. In Virginia, the pineapple is the sign of hospitality. We also had a poster of one last year and I decided to recreate it. The image of the Monroe fountain was one that I found on Etsy that was taken by a UMW alumna. I once again added a picture of myself and my roommates. When it comes to putting things up on walls, I try to make sure that I am putting them up in groups of odd numbers (threes, fives, sevens, etc). To make this happen we have a cork-board next to our white-board and we also put up a weekly schedule of everyone’s classes.
Above: In our kitchen, I tied together all the colors that are also above our white board. The canvases above the breakfast bar have the coordinates of all our hometowns. Three of us are from Virginia and one of us is from Rhode Island. I thought that it was important to incorporate all four of us into something. On our kitchen counter we also have out salt, sugar, flour and butter because of all the cooking we do. It is also just easier to access those ingredients if we have them out on the counter. We found the wooden holder, fruit bowl and butter dish at Target all for under $12 dollars.
Above: I love quote canvases, photos and monograms. I made the canvases myself and added quotes that I found on Pinterest. They were fairly easy to make, along with being cheap. You’ll notice the faux headboard that I made behind my bed. This was another something that was really easy to make. I used a thick poster board, sponge backing, and fabric. I then used spray adhesive to make sure the backing and poster board stuck together. I then stapled the fabric to the back of the board. This was another cheap project that cost me about $20 dollars. For my desk space, I usually have my computer and planner out so I can work on whatever is due that week. My desk also functions as my bedside table.
