How to Decorate a Dorm With School Colors: 5 Easy Ways to Make It Yours
A dorm room can feel like a plain box when you first move in. The walls may be white, the furniture may look the same as everybody else’s, and there might not be much space to work with. A few colors from your school can change the room fast. These ideas for how to decorate a dorm with school colors are simple, cheap, and easy to change when you move out.
A simple plan for how to decorate a dorm with school colors
Shopping for school can be expensive. Before you buy anything, pick one main school color and one smaller color. If your school colors are red and white like mine, you could use red on the bed and keep the walls mostly white. If the colors are blue and gold, use blue for bigger items like flags and add gold in. This keeps the room from feeling too crammed. It also helps to look at the colors already in your room. Your desk, chair, and bedding take up a lot of visual space. You do not have to make every item match. Just repeat your school colors a few times so the room feels connected. A blanket, one poster, and a pillow can be enough. Also the reason I am interested in speaking about this topic is because I came into the first years of college with boring rooms and not the best accessories.
Use your bed as the easiest starting point
The bed is usually the biggest thing in a dorm, and in some cases with smaller rooms maybe the only thing in your dorm room. Use a normal comforter in a school color, or keep your comforter neutral and add a school color with a throw blanket. A throw blanket (which I just learned about) is useful because it can sit at the end of the bed, cover you during a late study night, or come with you to a game. Like a classic Tuesday night MACTION game on a chilly fall day. For how to decorate a dorm with school colors, a blanket with a simple inspired design can bring the colors together without making the whole room look like a store. You can also fold it over a chair when you are not using it. If you share a room, a blanket is an easy way to show your own style while leaving the other side of the room alone.
Bring the colors onto the walls
Dorm walls are a good place to show personality, for example I always do a sports team flag or some type of Pink Floyd poster. But check your housing rules before you hang anything. Some schools do not allow nails or tape that can tear the paint. Easy hooks or poster putty may work better. A poster, or a few photos can make a wall feel more personal without taking up floor space. You could add a school schedule, pictures from a game, and a small sign in the same area. I have a calendar on my wall to keep track of things like tests and my roommate's birthdays. If you have a lot of colors in your poster, that can make your room come alive. An example of something I have down below.
Make small things do the work
Pillows, things on your desk, a laundry basket, even a water bottle can all add color. You do not need to buy a full matching set if you don't want to spend the money and save it for things like panera at your student center. Most rooms can look more like you when the items are a mix of things you already own and a few things you chose on purpose.
Keep it comfortable and useful
Dorm decor should still help you live in the room. Leave more than enough space to open drawers, walk to your closet, something that has helped me a lot through the years is store extra junk in a bin or under the bed. A comfortable room is better than a room that looks nice but is hard to use. Think about what you actually do in your dorm. If you study in bed, keep a blanket throw nearby. If friends come over to watch a game, make sure there is a place to sit. If you spend a lot of time at your desk, add one school color there with a notebook or small photo.
Decorate without spending too much
It can be very easy to spend too much on dorm stuff when stores make their room displays look like you need everything. You really don’t. Set a budget and figure out what you actually want first. And get everything before you come to school so you don't have to make last minute Walmart runs because from experience the whole school will be there.Use what you already have from home, and check with your roommate before buying things you might share, like a lamp or rug. You can also make your own decorations. Print a photo from a game, put together a collage in your school colors, or frame a few ticket stubs. Those little things can mean more than expensive decor because they remind you of good memories. Your room should feel like you, not just look like a store display.
