by Abby Way

Created on: February 07, 2009   Last Updated: April 11, 2009

Creating the perfect dorm room is simple and fun. With a bit of effort and some money spent (but probably not as much as you're thinking), you can have a theme that makes wows people.

-Themes and Colors-
With the limited space of most dorms, having a central theme or color combination can stop your room from becoming a haphazard clutter zone of mismatched stuff. Your theme or color scheme is limited only by your imagination and personality. Think about your interests and hobbies - do you like animals? Ballet? Butterflies? Rock music? You can use these for your theme.

If you're going for a color combination (which is less restrictive in terms of other stuff you can use in your decorating, you probably want airy, refreshing colors to welcome you home after a long day of studying. If you have dark-colored items, balance them with some brighter colors. Avoid too much color (it makes the room seem smaller), or having everything the same color (it's boring). Pick a classic combination like blue and green, ocean colors, or brown and pink, or you could have a room like a star and go metallic. Again, only your imagination and personality limit your choices.

For help finding themes and colors, look here.

-Storage-
Ask any college student what they need more of, and "storage space" is bound to come up right below "food" and "laundry money". You might rely on your parents for these last two, but you can find more storage space by yourself if you're creative. Stacking milk crates to make a bookshelf or raising your bed on cinder blocks so you can fit cartons underneath are popular choices, but check your residence rules first. Don't forget to look up, too - you could hang a line for extra clothes, or use plastic hooks with removable sticky backs to hang your purses from (and maybe incorporate them into a theme).

If you can hang things up, you have many more options. You could add extra clothing rods in your closet, put shelves up in the corners, and hang a pegboard or corkboard.

You can use the back of a closet door to hang one of those "shoe pocket" holders, but don't just store shoes - anything that will fit is fair game!

For more ideas, look here.

-Walls-
Don't let those walls stay sterile white - that's one of the fastest ways to kill a great room theme. Check rez regulations on what you're allowed to use to stick up your stuff, and then go wild. Posters are a cheap and fun way to personalize your room fast, or tie together a vague theme. Look for some that express your favorite

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