Personal Touches for Bleak Dorm Rooms

As I mentioned in my Best Of: Posters & Prints when you dorm, you get a blank canvas, quite literally. My walls were white with no texture, no personality, nothing. My furniture was sparse (a dresser, a bed, a desk and a chair) that was all the same: a light wood with black metal. The floors were a dark carpeting that showed every bit of blonde hair. The room was, to put it nicely, terribly boring. I'm sure that this is the same for most people, no matter where they are going to school.

It's weird going from a colorful room at home that you've spent your entire life (or something like that) decorating and adjusting to your ever-changing tastes. My room at home had knick knacks I've collected over the year, wall art that I made at the beginning of high school, and was a vivid shade of turquoise. It was a weird adjusting going from my bright room at home to a bland dorm in a city that I wasn't very familiar with.

Transitioning from a comfy home atmosphere to a stuffy and foreign dorm atmosphere is hard enough as it is. Factor in classes, a pinch of homesickness, and you've got yourself a trifecta.  In order to make myself feel more comfortable in my dorm, I had to do tweak a few things.

1. Personal photos

I had pictures of me with my friends and family in frames around my room to make everything more familiar. When I came home for a long weekend, my friend had rallied together some of my other friends to make a photo collage that I kept on the wall next to my bed so I could always see some familiar faces when I was relaxing.

2. Corkboard/Inspiration board

This might just have worked for me, but in front of my desk at home, I had a massive cork board and to mimic the feeling of being at home working at my desk, I got one for school and decorated it accordingly. Maybe you have a large piece in your room that you'd like to recreate in your dorm room to make it feel like you're home.

3. Favorite colors

Including your favorite colors into your color scheme for your dorm will make it more comfortable and all around just more you. Pick out pillows and comforters that are aesthetically pleasing to you! Find posters and prints that fit your style and that you'd like to look at for the rest of the year.

4. String lights

Some dorms don't allow string lights (boo!), but I swear putting these up in your rooms is such a great idea. It's a cute light source and instantly transforms your room without having to follow a color scheme (though Target had some cute decorative ones, like birdcages and paper stars).

What's your favorite way to personalize your room?