Personalizing and decorating your dorm room is an essential step in making a small, sterile space feel more like home. However, between the limited square footage and strict residential life restrictions, it can be difficult to know exactly how to decorate your dorm room without losing your housing deposit. According to a study on environmental psychology from The Journal of Higher Education, personalizing a living space is directly linked to increased student retention and a higher sense of belonging on campus.
1. Use Command strips and hooks. Most dorms strictly forbid putting nails or screws into the walls. Fortunately, you can still hang your favorite items by using adhesive-based solutions. Command strips and hooks are a staple for any college student. They allow you to hang picture frames, heavy posters, and string lights without leaving a trace behind. When it is time to move out at the end of the semester, they pull away cleanly, keeping the paint intact.
2. Add a rug or carpet. A small carpet or rug is one of the best accent pieces for a dorm room, especially if your school provides uncarpeted tile or linoleum floors. A rug adds texture and warmth to the room, making it feel less like a hospital wing and more like a bedroom. This is also a great way to hide any pre-existing stains on the floor that you’d rather not look at all year.
3. Keep your workspace neat. It may be tempting to decorate every available inch of your new space, but you should keep trinkets on your desk to a minimum. Excess decor on your desktop will create unnecessary clutter and can limit the area you have for studying or using your laptop. Instead, opt for a few meaningful pieces that don't interfere with your academic work. A tidy desk leads to a tidy mind, which is vital during finals week.
4. Get creative with temporary materials. The restricted space in a dorm room means you need to get creative in your approach. Use washi tape to make your desk pop or to "frame" pictures directly on the wall without the weight of a traditional frame. You can also create a large photo collage on your wall using lightweight prints. These creative methods help the room feel like home without adding bulky furniture that won't fit in a small floor plan.
How to Decorate Your Dorm Room Walls with Mixtiles
If you want a more polished look for your walls, Mixtiles are an excellent solution. These are framed photos printed on foam board with plastic frames that stick to walls without damaging them. The tiles are incredibly lightweight and can be removed and reattached multiple times. This flexibility is perfect for students who like to rearrange their space frequently throughout the year.
Mixtiles come in several different styles to match your aesthetic:
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Black or White frames for a classic gallery look.
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No frame for a sleek, modern finish.
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White "mat-look" borders to give your photos a professional feel.
To order these tiles, you can use the Mixtiles website or the Walnut app. You can upload photos directly from Facebook, Instagram, or Google Photos. Once you've chosen your favorite memories and provided your payment information, they ship directly to your dorm. They are easy to hang, have a strong adhesive, and are guaranteed not to damage the paint.
Dorm Decks and Hack Decks®
Transitioning to college involves much more than just figuring out how to decorate your dorm room. It is a major life shift that requires new social and organizational skills. Dorm Decks are packs of 52 prompt cards designed to make that transition much easier. With ideas ranging from meeting new people to class scheduling and decor options, these cards provide a wealth of knowledge in a small package.
Each card offers a bit of help that, cumulatively, makes college life a breeze. The information in the deck is crowdsourced from students who have already survived their first year on campus. Giving a Dorm Deck as a gift to a first-year student provides them with a "parent's watchful eye" of encouragement without the hovering. It is the ultimate tool for helping a new freshman find their footing and soar.
