Heading off to college is a big step with mixed emotions of excitement, fear, independence and a whole other host of feelings with high hopes of a future. Living and decorating a college dorm room with furniture and décor can be a challenge in the best of circumstances.
As early as possible, try to get measurements of your dorm room then attempt to determine how much of that space will be yours.
When trying to find college dorm furniture there are a few things to consider.
Your budget to what you can invest into dorm furniture
- Consider the actual move, how many flights of stairs will you need to carry the dorm furniture?
- What are your furniture needs exactly?
- Will your roommate (if you have one) already have some shared furniture? You don’t want to duplicate!
When you’ve narrowed down your college dorm furniture needs, time to go shopping! You can try used items of course at used furniture stores, thrift stores, craigslist, if your school has bulletin boards, be sure to check those out as well.
Some of the best dorm furniture solutions will be those items that can serve a dual purpose. Consider a futon, daybed or hide-a-bed that can double as a couch and a bed. A desk area could be as simple as wood or plastic box crates stacked with a table top on top, thus creating a workspace and the crates can be storage space for books, paperwork and other household items.
Do some serious organizing and keep the amount of stuff you need down to a minimum. The more stuff you have, the more you have to find place for it and the harder it is to keep a small space clean. With small dorm rooms, any small thing out of place can make it feel like the dorm has been hit with a tornado. All the clutter that can accumulate can easily translate into mental clutter especially for a visual learner.
Choosing dorm room colors, wall art and storage options
Try to stay in a one or two color max color theme. Choose colors that make you feel happy and productive, again it’s very easy for small rooms to feel even more closed in than they are and disorganized. It’s difficult to live in and thrive in chaos.
Choose small sized wall art that really motivates and inspires you. Find items also that help you calm down and focus for studies and homework times. Perhaps a desktop small fountain hearing water trickle is a peaceful sound to you, or maybe just a simple app for your phone that can do various white noise or other soothing sounds.
For closet space, use stackable cubes to stack underneath hanging clothes. Or use closet organizers that have multiple shelves. Hangers that allow multiple pairs of pants to be hung in the space of 1 hanger are also great.
Think lightweight also, as college students tend to have to move around a lot in the 2-8 years they are attending classes. Some moves will be easier than others, but if you have to carry dorm furniture up many flights of stairs, you’ll be grateful for the lighter weighted objects.
There are so many creative options out there for dorm furniture, shop around and enjoy the process, this is an amazing time of life that will be very memorable.
Valerie Garner - Hi, I'm Valerie a midlife lady who loves to learn new things, photography, reading, writing, and drinking coffee with friends. I've ...
