Decorating Tips From Real Dorm Rooms

Photos of Melody You’s room by Melody You

1. Urban Forest
Name: Melody You
Hometown: Atlanta
School: Boston University
Class: 2020
Major: Advertising and marketing

For Melody You, now a rising junior at Boston University, it’s important to decorate the place where she spends so much time. She and her mom have shared an Architectural Digest subscription since she was in elementary school, and she considered interior design as a career at one point.

You participated in the university’s inaugural dorm-decorating contest last year because she felt that her room perfectly captured her minimalist style and her interests in travel and music. She received a BU throw pillow, pennant and mug for her tranquil design. “I was very grateful for the opportunity to win, and it’s made me even more excited to move into my new place and decorate it this upcoming semester,” she says.

Getting a room with good bones was an auspicious start — her Back Bay double had large windows overlooking the Charles River. Although she and her roommate didn’t coordinate on the furnishings, it helped that they’re both pretty organized, You says.

The Gamma Phi Beta member also demonstrated her pride in her sorority with a pineapple-patterned banner opposite the forest tapestry, a small throw pillow on the bed and flowery 3D letters next to it.

With the main pieces of decor in place, You brought in details like fairy lights and picture frames. She made two vases by soaking the labels off bottles, then filled them with flowers.

Photos of Meredith Banks’ room by Temple University Photography

2. Boho and Aglow
Name: Meredith Banks
Hometown: Avon, Connecticut
School: Temple University, Philadelphia
Class: 2020
Major: Entrepreneurship and innovation management

Interior design buff Meredith Banks entered Temple University’s dorm-decorating contest as a sophomore last year after putting a lot of effort into — and getting positive feedback about — her room in a three-bedroom, two-bath university apartment shared by six women. Since she and her roommate had different styles, they didn’t try to match their sides of the room, but they did communicate to avoid having multiples of certain items. Banks’ third-place finish netted her $25 in campus cash.

Show off your golden ticket(s). The starting point for the design was her wall collage of graphics, slogans, photos and other ephemera. “I collect a lot of knickknacks from trips I take, and I keep everything, including birthday cards, handwritten notes and concert tickets. I think these personal touches really make the room your own,” Banks says. “Not many people can say they went to three John Mayer concerts in one summer, so I definitely wanted to put those on display. Speaking of John Mayer, my sister printed out my favorite picture of him on canvas, and that was guaranteed a spot on my wall. Also, anytime my friends go anywhere, I ask them to get me postcards, and I love hanging those up on my wall to serve as some travel inspiration.”

She picked up her favorite piece of decor, the Only Love Can Conquer Hate mini tapestry, in a boutique on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

For her photos, Banks wanted something different from typical 4-by-6-inch prints. “An app I came across called Parabo lets you order 25 square prints, and you only have to pay for shipping, which is usually under $5,” she says. “I think their photos look much more high-quality, and they also have a matte finish and a nice white border.”

Lighten up. Cozy comfort was Banks’ goal, and she achieved that through lighting and bedding. “I’m not a big fan of dorm lighting because it’s too harsh, so I like to bring in my own lamps to give the room a warmer feel,” she says. She could adjust the brightness and twinkle pattern of her string lights with a remote.

The pillows were a splurge, but she compensated for them by choosing neutral bedding that can adapt to changing tastes and spaces. “My gray comforter easily fit in both my freshman- and sophomore-year dorm rooms,” Banks says. “A lot of things you can reuse each year or repurpose in a different way if they don’t match your new preferences. Finally, dollar stores have some good options for room decor. The throw blanket on my bed was only $4, and I absolutely love it.”

The bedding’s mix of textures and patterns — with a touch of fringe — reflects Banks’ “classic bohemian” style, she says. “I would say the room is very me. I like to travel, take pictures and I enjoy fashion. These things are clearly reflected within my decor, and I think it’s most important to make a room feel like who you are so it serves as your own personal sanctuary.”

Beneath the raised bed, Banks stored clothing and shoes in a wooden chest and plastic boxes.

This semester, she is moving into an off-campus apartment and eagerly anticipates having more walls for collages and a just-completed macramé piece. “I get so excited about room decor that I start collecting pieces as soon as school ends,” says Banks, who’s involved in Temple’s fashion and business club, entrepreneurial students association and business school philanthropic society. She hopes to work in a creative field after graduation. “Going back to school is so fun for me because it means I have a new space to decorate.”

Browse underbed storage boxes

Photos of Camryn Okere’s room by Camryn Okere except where noted

3. Texture Through Turf
Name: Camryn Okere
Hometown: Scarsdale, New York
School: Washington University in St. Louis
Class: 2020
Major: Leadership and strategic management

Camryn Okere’s dramatic single room in a four-person suite impressed the dorm-decorating contest judges last year at Washington University in St. Louis. The then-sophomore won “best overall room” and a $500 housing credit for her contemporary design with bold awning stripes and an earthy touch of green.

Okere swapped the university’s brown furniture for ready-to-assemble white furniture, which better matched her aesthetic. She also created inspiration boards to help her visualize the various design elements.

Dare to be different. Inspired by a Tommy Bahama window display, the unexpected accent wall of artificial turf next to her bed was her big concept. “I had only seen turf used in sporty settings. I did more research into designs that had incorporated it into wedding art installations,” says Okere, who is interested in event planning, photography and international business. “I really like incorporating textures into my design so the room can appeal to other senses, not just the visual.”

The turf wall was also her biggest challenge, since the thick material was hard to install. She scaled back the extent of it and recruited friends to help attach it at the corners with a staple gun and fine staples.

Okere covered adjacent walls in removable black-and-white-striped wallpaper, a big-ticket item. “The paper itself was not that expensive, but you need a lot of it to cover the room. Wallpaper is not necessary, but I feel like it always takes the room to the next level,” she says.

When it comes to wallpaper installation, Okere suggests having a step stool or ladder to reach the ceiling, a squeegee to smooth out the bubbles, a friend to help and lots of patience, both before and after. “When I was moving out, it was hard to take everything down because the wallpaper had to be removed very carefully and slowly,” she says.

Find removable wallpaper

Photo by James Byard for Washington University in St. Louis

Like You and Banks, Okere is a fan of underbed storage. She supplements that with a Lynk double-hang closet rod and, in dorm rooms where closet space is really tight, an additional clothing rack. Using ultrathin hangers is also key, she says.

Know the limits. She cautions against buying more than one sleeping and two throw pillows. “When they are not on the bed, they have to be stored somewhere!” she says.

Photo by James Byard for Washington University in St. Louis

Okere doesn’t regret the hours spent planning and budgeting. “For me, it is just worth the effort to have a space that is truly your own on campus. It can make all the difference in making a new school feel like home,” she says.

Okere has taken design classes in college and has sought out design-related work in retail, as a photo stylist and as a home stager. “I am extremely excited to one day decorate my own home and, eventually, I would love to use my eye for design to brand and decorate a hotel.”

Photos of R. Austin Huber’s common room by Sarah Jennings for Haverford College

4. Uncommonly Mature
Name: R. Austin Huber
Hometown: Pennington, New Jersey
School: Haverford College, Pennsylvania
Class: 2019
Major: The growth and structure of cities

Austin Huber’s bedroom, the smallest of five singles in his Haverford College suite, wasn’t spacious enough to showcase his design skills, so he put them to use in the common area, with the blessing of his suitemates. For his first-place finish in the school’s dorm-decorating contest last year, he received a $100 gift card.

Get the lay of the land. Planning started before the semester. “We strategized about what we wanted to have in our common space and kitchen nook. For example, someone brought a mini fridge; another bought cleaning supplies,” says Huber, who also recommends bringing extension cords and a tool kit. “I made sure to visit the suite to evaluate the common room, inventory furniture and take photos and a couple of measurements. This made collecting, purchasing and installing the furniture and decoration extremely efficient.” If a visit isn’t possible, many colleges publish floor plans to help students visualize the rooms and what fits in them, he says.

Huber then worked with the college-provided furniture — love seat, three armchairs, and coffee and side tables, all from This End Up — to find the ideal arrangement and assess what else was needed. The “unsightly, and likely unsanitary, ’80s cushions” went into storage, to be replaced with outdoor fabric ones, “which are both durable and on sale at the end of the summer,” Huber says. “Aesthetically, the design evolved from the navy-and-red color scheme of the outdoor cushions.

“In designing the common room, I placed a strong emphasis on creating a gathering space that felt both comfortable and mature, and suited both the men and women living in the suite. Ultimately, this was achieved through a balance of more refined elements — framed wall hangings, old library books, table lamps — and more eclectic, contemporary pieces,” such as the coffee table covering, bookshelf accessories and round mirror, he says. “Many of my friends remarked that the common room felt like a real home, which I found really gratifying. Over the course of the year, I was happy to see the common room develop into an inviting space that encouraged people to hang around, chat and enjoy each other’s company.”

Spruce up a hand-me-down. Regular entertainers, the suitemates hid extra folding chairs behind the love seat and the patterned curtains, which echo the rug casually draped over the coffee table. They stored glassware on an old kitchen cart with two folding leaves (shown below the framed blue poster in the previous picture), which Huber got from his neighbors and then cleaned, painted and outfitted with new hardware.

As he enters his senior year, Huber is wrapping up his major, which is similar to urban studies with a focus on architecture and architectural history. He’s also co-president of the college’s architecture club. Through his studies, he says, he has learned to appreciate clean lines, well-proportioned spaces, natural light and rich architectural detail — features that can be elusive in a dorm, with its fluorescent lights and alteration rules.

“Lighting is arguably the most important element of any well-considered space, so I pretty much refused to turn on the college’s lights. To work around this problem, I found inexpensive tabletop lamps that cast a much warmer and inviting light,” Huber says. “To hang anything while keeping the walls intact, I purchased the strongest Command strips I could find — the Velcro strips are most effective.”

Find table lamps