Diva Dorm Rooms

August has been sizzling with back-to-school excitement! There’s no better time to practice expressing your inner design diva, especially if you have dorm room to decorate. Here are some basics to help you get started on the road to fabulous interior design with your own personal flair.

Pick your bedding first. Bedding is the focal point of any dorm room and should reflect your unique personality. Whether your style is preppy, modern geometric designs, whimsical Lilly Pulitzer florals, fearlessly bold color, or muted color with a focus on textures, you can find bedding that reflects your inner design diva. Personalizing your bedding with monograms can help avoid confusion at the laundry mat. Try sites like PBTeen, Target, Garnet Hill, Bed Bath and Beyond, Urban Outfitters, and DormCo for the latest styles.

No diva dorm room is complete without a unique bulletin board creation. Pick up colors and accents from your bedding and add fun push pins and accents. Make it a command center to keep your semester organized or go artistic with a collage. There is no right or wrong here – just make it a reflection of you.

A 3x3 board like this one from PBTeen can get you started on a fabulous bulletin board.

A 9 block board like this one from PBTeen can get you started on a fabulous bulletin board.

Try sites like WallPops, PBTeen or Dormify for peel & stick wall decals in the latest trendy styles. Deck out a wall with your monogram, dry erase shapes, photo frames, quotes and art of all kinds – even your favorite #Hashtags. Or go rouge with Japanese washi tape and create your own designs.

The key is to be uniquely you and have fun with your design. For more dorm room inspiration, check out our pinterest board.

Dreamy Dorm Rooms

College students everywhere are settling into their home-away-from-home dorm rooms this fall and trying to make a trend-setting style statement on a dorm room budget.

I was recently asked “If you could go back in time to your first dorm room or apartment with the decorating expertise you have now, what changes would you make?.” What a fun question!

Here is a dreamy dorm room design that is funky and fun, a perfect place to study or have a get-together with friends!

dreamy dorm collage

Bedding set from Macy’s; mirror, side table, and floor lamp from Modani Modern Furniture; ‘Tech Tools’ bookends and ‘DeLonghi’ cordless kettle from Amazon; butterfly chair from Walmart; area rug from IKEA; alarm clock from Bellacor; storage ottoman from Kohl’s

I love the bright, cheerful colors, the stylish functionality of the storage ottoman, the side table that can slip over the bed for a late-night snack or laptop table, and the articulating arm on the floor lamp for a perfect reading light. The butterfly chair comes in a wide range of colors and folds up when you don’t need it.

How would you decorate your dorm room differently if you had it to do over today? Are you helping college-age children make that perfect new nest this fall? Check out my pinterest board for more fun dorm room styles.