15 Sneaky Decor Tips To Make Your Dorm Feel Bigger
It can be quite stressful when figuring out how to arrange and decorate your very first dorm room. It’s crucial to organize your belonging strategically in order to maximize the space you’re given. Typically, freshman dorm rooms aren’t very big; but if yours is, I’m hoping you can still find some useful tips in this article! Keep reading to find out my 15 innovative tips to make your dorm feel bigger and look amazing. Good luck and welcome to freshman year!
1. Cart Organization
Using a cart to organize products is a clever and efficient way to save space! It also frees your room or desk from unnecessary clutter. An assortment of beauty products including makeup, brushes and nail polish would be just one example of what to store in the cart. Glittered mason jars, small aluminum pails, and smaller makeup organizers are not only adorable, but can also be used amongst the shelves to maximize space.
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2. Bed Risers
Bed risers are KEY!! These are used to lift your bed (pretty self explanatory), which creates much more space underneath it. This is a perfect place to store bins of shoes, larger clothing items like sweatshirts or jackets, and things not needed on a day-to-day basis. Bed risers come in different heights and colors to suit any decor. If you’re lucky enough to have scored a 10 foot charging cord, some bed risers come equipped with electrical outlets for phones, a TV, or even an overhead lamp.
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3. Choosing The Right Colors
One of the most crucial tips to making your dorm room feel larger is selecting the right colors when decorating. Light colors are known to open the space and create the illusion of a larger area. Recommended colors are white, cool blues, and greys. Feel free to choose a bright pop of color as an accent that will make your room stand out from the others.
4. Hidden Storage
There is not going to be all that much space in your room for open bins, so hidden is helpful. Obviously, the best place to hide stackable bins and buckets is under your bed. Be sure to get your bed lifted, or use risers to find the ideal height that works for your needs. Hidden storage is key to keeping the room TIDY!
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5. Over The Door Shoe Hangers (But Not For Shoes)
Although this can be used for shoes, it can also be used as a creative way to store snacks! Obviously, you’re going to be eating in the residence dining halls at school, but since those aren’t always open, it’s best have a hidden stash of goodies for those late nights of studying, hanging out with friends or just watching Netflix. The shoes holders are the perfect size for single bags of chips, granola bars, and microwave popcorn; and the clear pouches make it so easy to grab what you want.
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6. Multifunctional Furniture
Try to find a table or an ottoman that also functions as a storage unit! There are many different options out there that can help out with storing blankets, boots, or hard to store items.
7. Adding Mirrors
Mirrors can do three things to a room when they are used correctly:
1. Brighten The Room -Mirrors create more natural lighting, along with artificial light in the day and night.
2. Great Decor And Highly Functional – Having a mirror in your dorm room is quite the necessity. You don’t want to have to walk all the way to the bathroom to comb your hair or apply your make up!
3. Open The Space – Larger than normal mirrors create an optical illusion and make the area not only feel, but appear bigger.
8. Keeping The Clutter To A Minimum
This tip may sound obvious, but it is IMPORTANT! In college, you will find that you have more time to yourself than ever before. Make sure you use some of that free time to tidy up your room a few minutes each day. Along with your dorm room feel bigger, it will help keep you motivated with your academics as well. It is nearly impossible to study in an overly cluttered, messy room.
9. Simple Wall Decor
There are SO many options when it comes to decorating your walls. Everyone wants to bring as many pictures from home as possible, along with fun canvases, posters and keepsakes. Try to find your favorite pictures and arrange them unframed, in a single horizontal line over your bed. By placing them like this, it gives you lots of room to play with other ideas. Over your bed use unfinished or painted letters to spell our your name, order a vinyl, removable monogram or hang a poster size enlargement of a favorite photo. Maybe also think about buying wooden letters or your monogram for above your bed. This is such a cute look that is simple; however, everyone always loves it!
10. Using Command Hooks And Strips
Command hooks/strips are the best invention EVER! You can use them to hang almost anything. Take advantage of this product and use them for hanging hats, keys, jewelry, cords, light weight storage buckets and anything else that comes to mind.
11. Cascading Hangers
This triples the amount of space you will have in your closet. TRIPLES! Even if you start with just a few sets, you will be so much happier that you did.
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12. Space Saving Organizers
Back of your desk chair – Ideal for printer paper, folders, pens and pencils.
Side of the bed – Best invention ever when you are too tired to drag yourself out of bed. Plenty of room to store whatever it is you are done with in bed!
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13. Standard Hanging Shower Caddy
These don’t only need to be used for the shower! Instead of holding shampoo, conditioner and soap, you can hang one on the wall to store school supplies, extra toiletries or anything else that you want. Amazing, inexpensive, space saving storage!
14. A Bed Shelf
Instead of wasting precious square footage with a night stand, just use a bed shelf! Adjustable and roomy, these shelves simply clip onto the side of your bed in whatever position you wish. It’s a perfect spot to store your phone overnight . You can keep your phone, laptop, books, and whatever else you need close by in it!
15. Take Full Advantage Of Your Closet
Make sure you use every square inch of your one and only closet. Besides hanging your clothes, you can put storage bins/baskets on the floor. You can also see if you can install a shelf above the hanging rod. Purchase hanging sweater cubes and store anything in them; purses, boots, whatever you like! This will prevent you from having to store your clothes in a dresser or under your bed!
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Be sure to visit websites such a Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, and Ikea when looking for the perfect solutions to make your dorm feel bigger! Please feel free to ask questions about any of these products in the comments below. Good Luck!!
*This is a sponsored post all opinions are my own.
Featured Image Source: pinterest.com
"Alexandra is a student at Rutgers University, and is a member of the dance team. Alexandra has always had a thriving passion for staying healthy, being up to date in the fashion world, and working on photography projects. She has always dreamed of getting into blogging, so she is extremely excited to be a part of the Society 19 team! “Be kind, work hard, stay humble, smile often, stay loyal, be honest, travel when possible, never stop learning, love always.” - unknown Follow my instagram! @allie_leland"