10 Unusual Bedding Ideas That Will Set Your Dorm Room Apart

Dorms can be really boring, and if you don’t make them home-y, they can feel a little bit like a cell. Luckily, these unusual bedding ideas are both cozy and fun, so there is no chance you’ll have a dull room. Instead of putting an elephant tapestry over your bed or purchasing a basic bedding set, why not choose something a little more unique? Your dorm room is such a great place to showcase your personality, and these unusual bedding ideas are sure to do just that!

1. Calmly Textured

Neutral colors don’t have to be boring! If you’re a person who doesn’t like too much flash, you can dress up your dorm room bed by choosing some fun textures. The patterned stitching on the throw and the pillows, as well as the little tufts on the pillows, give so many places for your eye to look without overwhelming you. Although neutrals can be really boring, you can pick unusual bedding in neutral tones to strike a nice balance.

2. Colorfully Quilted

A beautiful and colorful quilt makes any bed look cozier, while also adding a nice dose of optimism. This specific quilt is from Thompson Street Studio, which is known for lovely quilts with simple yet asymmetrical designs. You can go a step further with your bed’s new look and choose sheets that bring out the lovely colors in your quilt!

3. A Little Eclectic

This unusual bedding might look intimidating because it’s pictured with a coral-colored wall behind it, but in reality, it’s a pretty simple color palette with a few throw pillows grouped together. Here, it looks like the inspiration for the color scheme mostly came from the simple rainbow design on the front pillow.

You can also choose a center pillow and make your color scheme from there- pretty simple! A black and white graphic will help to ground an upbeat color palette such as this one, so keep that in mind if your bed starts to feel a little too over the top. Having an extra blanket at the foot of your bed is also a nice touch for when you want to snuggle up and watch a movie, but not climb all the way into bed.

4. Nostalgic Retro

A retro afghan throw in nostalgic earth tones is sure to be a hit with anyone who likes listening to music from the ’60s and ’70s. If you identify with hippies, punks, or with some other counter-culture, consider getting a vintage afghan in a print you love. Not only is it vintage, which automatically makes it cool, but it’s a sweet print. Way better than that tapestry you were about to use, I promise!

5. Many Different Stripes

Stripes are cool, obviously. Stripes aren’t necessarily unusual bedding, but if you pair three different kinds together then they certainly are. You don’t have to do this with stripes though; any pattern that you happen to love can be combined in different sizes, shapes, widths, directions, and colors. This is a great place to show your complicated yet curated personality.

6. Subtle Tie-Dye

Upstate mainly makes ethically dyed silk pillowcases (win!), but they also occasionally make other things, like bed covers! You can choose to keep it simple with beautiful tie-dye pillowcases, or you can choose a whole set for your sweet little dorm room. Whatever you pick, it won’t be that cheap tie-dye you find at smoke shop type stores. Instead, this is about the actual art of tying and dyeing, which is way cooler.

7. Personality Pillows

You can keep it easy with your sheets or not, but check out the cute pillows at 54kibo like this little lady on the phone while her cat tries to get her attention. Relatable? A fun pillow will add personality to your bed without you having to coordinate and complicate the whole picture. I love the amazing graphic on this pillow below, but the best part about personality pillows is that you get to choose one that you feel really represents you and your own personality. No extra steps required.

8. Super Bright

This unusual bedding doesn’t just look bright because of the wall color, the bright and colorful zig-zag pattern is totally out of this world! Retro in a whole new way, an amazing blanket like this one doesn’t just say ‘I’m cool,’ it also says ‘I’m fun.’ Although you can be fun and into calmer shades, you know that someone who has a blanket like this one would be up for having some pretty wild nights! Stay uncomplicated with the rest of your bed, or bring out the best, brightest, and wildest shades to your heart’s content.

9. Subtle Prints

More stripes? Why yes, you can just make your bed one pattern entirely. With a beautiful blue stripe like the unusual bedding pictured below, you will be far from cookie cutter. Plus, these exact sheets from Linoto are linen, so you are way more unusual than the classic jersey bedding that every college student comes to school with. How did you get so far ahead of your time, anyway? Find sheets in a nice print and put it everywhere for an easy and unusual bedding look.

10. Soothingly Vibrant

This unusual bedding look seems to be drawing inspiration from the vibrant yet soothing painting of a landscape hung behind it. You can easily do the same thing in your dorm room! Find a beautiful, big picture that you like and feel is soothing (it can be a tapestry, but extra points if it is in an actual frame), then pick out some colors from that art and use it on your bed.

I especially like how there is so much pink used below- like a warm and sandy beach under the water. Just two teal accents is enough to refer back to the painting, without overwhelming the design. As shown here, you can even dare to add some simple printed pillows that fit your color palette!