Student room décor ideas to make dorms feel like home

Your surroundings, particularly the way you decorate a dorm room, can play an important role in your college experience. Make your university room feel like home with these fun and easy dorm room ideas. We’ve got 10 dorm room decorating ideas to make your space feel extra cosy!

1. Adapt your lighting: dorm rooms can often be lit very harshly, and this can create a strange atmosphere. Bring your own lamps, and even some fairy lights, to soften it up. Try and use different lights for different purposes: a bright desk lamp to encourage focused study and softer accent lights for ambience when relaxing or watching films.

2. Bring little pieces of home: photos are the perfect accessory if you’re looking for student room ideas because they’re easy to transport, to put up, and to take down. Choose family holiday snaps, pictures with friends, or anything that makes you smile.

3. Movie/art/music posters: use posters to display your favourite things. This helps personalise your door room décor and can be a great talking point when meeting new people. Why not get a checklist poster to help you watch the 100 greatest movies or read the 100 greatest books?

4. Plants: if you’re looking for cheap but effective student bedroom ideas, why not try plants? They look great and also produce extra oxygen to fuel your brain. Choose something low maintenance but pretty, like an orchid. They love indirect sunlight and only need to be watered roughly once per week.

5. Display your books: it’s nice to put your favourite books on a shelf and this will also give a cosy feel to your student room décor. As with posters, use the books as conversational starters with fellow students.

6. Add colour with rugs: there’s a tendency for most college room décor to be pretty bland. Avoid this by bringing a colourful rug, throw or cushion.

7. Bring a pillow from home: when looking for uni room ideas, the goal is for your space to look good and also feel like home. The best way to do this is to bring your own pillow for immediate comfort and style!

8. Build in some storage: you’re likely to have a lot of stuff to fit into a small room, so, if you have a choice of furniture, be sure to go for something with space for your clothes, books, folders etc. If not, think about under-bed storage or foldable organisers that you can add to drawers or units to make better use of space. Corner shelving units are great for a variety of objects and can give you extra room to keep things without cluttering up the place.

9. Check permission before doing anything drastic: most dorms have strict regulations about what you can and can’t do, but some might let you put up the odd shelf or repaint. Check your local guidelines before any major redecorating. Use adhesive hooks instead of drilling holes if adding items to your walls – look for the varieties that can be removed without causing damage or leaving any greasy residue.

10. Take inspiration from other people’s rooms: student room décor is an ongoing process, so if you see someone else’s room that looks nice, it’s OK to steal some of their ideas!

These are our favourite student room ideas to help make any space cosier and home-like. A bit of effort can really change how it feels, so follow our top tips to help you settle in.

No one wants to live in a dirty dorm room, so be sure to take some multipurpose cleaning products with you, such as Handy Andy, and give your space a wipe down every so often.

• Get some atmospheric lighting.

• Put up posters and art that reflects your personality.

• Add colourful cushions and throws to make it feel like home.

• Keep the space clean with the help a multipurpose cleaner like Handy Andy.

If you’re bringing your own electronic items, like fairy lights and lamps, make sure to get them electronically tested to prevent fire risks.