^my little sister’s freshman dorm room this past year 🙂

It’s almost back-to-school season! I have been receiving a lot of emails and DMs lately from girls who are gearing up to go back to school and planning out their dorm rooms. I have always LOVED decorating and setting up my dorm room each year. And since I’ve sadly graduated from the dorm life, I decided to share some of the tips I’ve learned over the years that helped make my dorms as pretty, comfortable, and practical as they were.

These tips, and the places I always turned to to shop for my dorm, really made all the difference and helped turn my dorm into a bedroom. They’re tried and true so read through them and comment if you have any questions! xx

MY TOP 5 DORM ROOM TIPS:

See a look back at my college dorms in this post.

1. Put Up Curtains– This is such a game changer in a dorm room. Adding curtains makes it instantly feel so much homier and much less like a dorm room. We’ve always gotten mine at Country Curtains and just played around with expandable suction rods to get them to fit into the dorm windows. These are the curtains I have in my apartment now that would definitely work in a dorm as well!
2. Add a Rug– I’ve had a white shag rug in my dorm room for every year of college (not the same one though, that would be gross, ha). When I moved in we would always spray it well with Scotchgard so if anything spilled on it throughout the year it would come out easily. Having a cozy rug makes everyone want to sit down on the floor instead of your bed (which I personally like better) and acts as additional seating when you have a few friends over, since dorm rooms seriously lack good seating for having people hangout! I can’t tell you how many countless nights my girlfriends and I sat in a circle on my shag rug and talked forever…
3. Bring a Side Table– I have always like having a side table to use, in case the room didn’t come with a nightstand, or to sit a TV or tray table on. You also lack surface space in dorms, so it doesn’t hurt to bring a little side table for an added place to put things! I personally love this acrylic side table or this white side table.
4. Add Twinkle Lighting– I have pretty much always had some sort of twinkle lighting in my rooms over the years. It just makes the room so sparkly and cozy, especially in the winter months. I know it can sometimes take forever to put up the lights with little command hooks, but it really does make all the difference once they’re lit. Here is a whole selection of white twinkle lights.
5. Personalize It– I’m all for putting little personalized touches into your dorm room and making it as YOU and special as possible. Your dorm is the place where you spend so much time getting ready, sleeping, hanging out, etc., so it should reflect your life and personality. Therefore, throw a few monograms in there, bring memorabilia from your hometown, have a bulletin board full of all of your favorite photos from growing up… You can also never go wrong with monogrammed pillows for you and your roomie!

BEST PLACES TO SHOP FOR BEDDING

*If you want a more layered bedding look, then add a quilt on top of your duvet and have at least 3 additional throw pillows in front of your pillow and sham, ha!

Anthropologie

 PB Teen 

Roberta Roller Rabbit

Serena & Lily 

Urban Outfitters

BEST PLACES TO SHOP FOR DÉCOR

*Try to decide on a color scheme with your roommate before you move in so both of your sides of the room will coordinate and look more put together.

 Etsy

HomeGoods

Target

BEST PLACES TO SHOP FOR STORAGE

*Utilize the space under your bed and make it higher off the ground with risers. Also, don’t be afraid to put a mini plastic dresser inside your closet for additional drawer space.

Container Store

Target

Wal-Mart

A FEW OF MY PAST FAVORITES…