How to Decorate your Common Room
This is so exciting when you get to the time in your college career that you have a common room! You finally are not just living in a bedroom. That is also where you sleep, eat, study, and hang out. Not to be dramatic, but you will be so thankful that you have another room to use while living in this apartment or dorm room. It is also another space to decorate and enjoy spending time in. Honestly, it will be so lovely to have friends over to hang out, eat or watch a movie without people having to sit on the floor or in your bed!
Couch Covers
If you’re lucky, the most common rooms include a couch given to you by the school. Usually, these couches are older and gross looking and are not very pleasing to the eye. Chances are, the sofa the school gives you will not match the aesthetic that you were aiming for in your common room. Therefore, I highly recommend buying couch covers. You can find these off-Amazon bed baths and beyond; they come in different colors and materials. I’d pick a solid color and something that matches a lot of your decorations. I would probably stay away from white and lighter colors because you’ll be able to see any dirt that comes into your common room, especially if you and your roommates wear shoes or go somewhere where it rains a lot. It’s snowy, you’ll bring in a lot of this dirt and mud, and it will be easily seen on the couch covers. If you decide to go with a lighter color or the caps covers, get dirty, these are easily washable. Just unzip them off your couch, tuck them from your cushions, and throw them in the washing machine with some detergent; they should be fresh, clean, and good to go. Couch covers are also lovely because if your roommate gets sick, the flu is going around, or you spill something, they can easily be washed. And this might even help prevent sickness spread. I think a couch cover is a must for any good common room because it will complete your room’s aesthetic and allow your couch to be comfortable and cute.
Bean bag
I think that every good common room has multiple places to sit. Bean bags are the perfect addition to your common room. Chances are you’ll be given a couch that will probably only sit comfortably for two to three people. If you want friends over to watch a movie or chill out, they’ll have to sit on the floor, which is super uncomfortable. Hence, I highly recommend buying a bean bag you can store in your dorm. I would pick something that goes with your couch covers and decorative pillows. Bean bags are lovely because it offers places to sit in your common room, ensuring that everyone is comfortable, and it adds to the overall vibe of your common room.
Decorative pillows
In my opinion, decorative pillows are a must in a common room. You can bring bright colors and match them to your posters and other decorations in your common room. You can find decorative pillows anywhere from Target, Amazon, HomeGoods, bed bath and beyond, and any other website that sells dorm furniture. These are great because they make your common room feel homier and more comfortable. And it makes your common room look way more put together and sophisticated. In my opinion, decorative pills are a must because they will pull your whole common room together, pulling in colors from your posters, your rugs, and any other decorations you may have.
Posters
Another fantastic way to decorate your common room is to use posters! You can find beautiful signs from sites such as Etsy, Redbubble, Amazon, and any other website that sells dorm accessories. Posters are a fun way to make your common room have personality and color! These are also fun to pick out with your roommates before school starts. And they can vary based on your personal preferences. Some of them look like pictures and scenery from Italy, others can be cute little sayings, others can be pretty patterns, some can be graphics of alcohol, or you can even make personalized posters from Etsy! Posters in your common room are a great way to add color and personality to create the perfect living space!
Led Lights/ Signs
Please always have extra lighting in your common room. A fun way to do this can be from LED signs or LED string lights. These are fun if you like to host people in your apartment or want to set the vibe when watching a movie and cuddling up with your friends in blankets. This lighting can add to the core and color of your common room. If you have LED signs, they don’t exactly have to be lit to add to the ambiance of your room, As they come in fantastic shapes, patterns and designs! When it gets dark, or you feel like turning them on, they light up into all different bright neon colors such as pink, purple, yellow, blue, green, you name it. These LED lights and signs are a fun and unique way to decorate your common room!
It’s always fun to decorate a new part of your dorm room! And when you get to the time in your college experience that you finally have a common room, this is so exciting. You will finally have another place to sit other than your bed, desk, and floor! You also don’t have to make your friends sit on the floor in your bed; they can finally have a place to sit in your apartment or dorm room! So, make sure that when decorating your common room, you take aesthetics and functionality into the mix! I am sure we will want our common rooms to look adorable, but it’s also important to remember that this is another space that can be used for hosting, so make sure you consider this! I hope you have fun decorating your new common room!
