Back to School: Dorm Design

With school starting back up and college students moving into their dorms, I thought I would put together a few dorm room design looks. Dorm rooms are pretty much a blank slate; white walls, a wood frame bed and a matching desk. This was how my dorm rooms looked at least; pretty plain and pretty ugly. 

The most important thing to do with the room is to add color anyway you can. This can be done with a colorful comforter, pillows, a chair, pictures on the walls, however you can. 





Each of these designs has some sort of color. Bright comforters or bright patterned rugs (the first design has a reversible rug) are an easy way to bring in some sort of color to brighten up the space.

In the first design I incorporated a storage cube. These are great for a dorm room because storage is definitely at a premium. Get creative with storage. Utilize the under bed space and add decorative baskets.

In the second design I focused more on adding decorative touches to the walls. These cute Live Laugh Love arrows are the perfect addition to blank white walls. The bird cage picture collage is also nice. I love these string lights too. They are a mixed pattern design, which is popular right now. 

The third design is a bit more subdued in color. The color mainly comes from the rug, which goes nicely with the pattern on the comforter. Gold is a popular color right now, so I added some gold touches. The white chair is simple, but with the gold legs it makes it pop. The string lights are mirror glass which is something unique, and the added light is never a bad idea. 

 

The guys' rooms are where it gets tricky. Typically guys don't care as much if their room is decorated nicely and if they have things hung on the walls. However, it is still nice to make the rooms look put together. 





As with the girls' rooms, color is important. The guys' dorm rooms are also plain and empty to start with.

In the first design I used the comforter for the added color. A simple blue comforter is something any guy would like. Every school is different with what they will allow and also the size of the rooms, but if you are lucky enough to have a larger room why not use that extra space and add a futon. It's extra seating and a nice alternative spot to read rather than at the desk. The chalkboard is a great place to write down assignments and their due dates or upcoming events. 

The second design has a bit more color with the red rug and the green arrow shelf. The blue rugby striped comforter is simple but not plain and adds some interest to the space. Speaking of interest, look at this chair! I have never seen a chair like this. It has a galvanized metal look with stitching that reminds me of a baseball. How awesome is that?! 

All of these designs are great ways to add interest to an otherwise plain room. Remember, color is always a good thing, get creative with storage solutions, and if you're lucky enough to have extra space use it! 

Good luck to all those starting a new school year!

Thanks for reading!