Margaret Bauer
Under $100
Decorator: Sarah Baicker
Decorating a dorm room on a $100 budget? Surely a difficult task for even the most resourceful and frugal student. Yes, it seems daunting, and yes, it will take much more work and creativity than decorating with $300 or $500, but it’s totally achievable. What follows are a handful of items that will add a cool and comfortable feel to your “home away from home,” that friends and roommates will envy, and that won’t make much of a dent into your savings.
Crucial to anyone’s dorm room is a way to incorporate photos of friends from back home. Sure, it’s easy and inexpensive to just tape a couple pictures to the walls, but why stop there? This year, I’m using a frame I found at Ikea, and it’s easily the coolest and most unique way to incorporate 21 photos I’ve ever come across. It’s like a cross between a film reel and a photo frame, called “Drops,” and it costs $9.99. Unfortunately, the closest Ikea to St. Louis is in Chicago, but-never fear!-it’s available on Ikea.com.
Crayola makes “Window FX Washable Markers” that are great for doodling all over windows, mirrors, or other similar surfaces. For only $4, they’re not only a creative way to add personal flair to your living space, but they’re inexpensive, especially because they can be reused again and again.
Looking for a free and unique way to cover a wall? Try postcards! Many companies use free postcards as advertisements for their products. These postcards can usually be found in restaurants and shops in most cities, and often they’re really funny, clever, or at least cool to look at. Try covering an entire wall (or two or three) with a postcard mosaic. My best friend at BU did this her freshman year, and her room was easily the coolest I have ever seen.
Okay, okay, I’ll admit that using Christmas lights in a dorm room is a far-from-unique idea, but I’m going to suggest it anyway. Christmas lights are cheap, especially now in the off-season, and can be found at Target for $5, or possibly less. They definitely add a certain feel to a room, and can create a very cool, very “party-ish” atmosphere when it’s dark.
If you ask me, one of the most important things to do when you’re living in a dorm room is cover the bleak, stark-white walls. Forgetting to do so can definitely leave your room feeling institution-like, and really, who wants that? Ideas like postcards and photos can only do this so much, and this is why I’m a fan of the tapestry. A tapestry, for those who don’t know, is like a big, flat sheet, usually with a cool pattern or colorful picture on it. The one I use is from Urban Outfitters’ sale section, and a variety of them can be found there for $15.99 on their Web site, www.urbn.com.
Another way to add color to your room is to put up curtains. You can get them for $15 at Target. This idea might seem insignificant, or even unimportant, on a $100 budget. But, to be honest, I’ve gotten more compliments on the inclusion of curtains in my room than on some of the other stuff I wish people had chosen to remark on; they really complete a room. For $5 more, you can get a plastic, expandable rod to hang them up.
I’ve focused a lot on walls in this list, but covering bleak walls is certainly not all that’s necessary to complete a look. So, returning once again to Ikea, I’m going to have to recommend the plethora of brightly colored, crazily patterned sheets and bedspreads they offer, for $19.99 each. I don’t even have a favorite; I like them all, and they’re all comfortable, too.
Another way to add personal and expense-free flavor to your living space is to use Microsoft Word (we all have it anyway) to make your own calendar. You can include pictures of friends, family, pets or just random photographs of anything you can think of. This is definitely much more fun and creative than going to K-Mart and picking up whatever calendar you find there.
So, we’ve come down to the final $25. I’m going to have to suggest the “No Boundaries” floor lamp from Walmart (I know, I know, but work with me-we’re on a tight budget here). It’s really cool, colorful, and provides the extra light that you’ll need, especially if you’re living in one of the new dorms with flickering, buzzing lights.
There you have it… a decorated dorm room for a total of $98.96! Good luck, and remember: putting together your room is supposed to be a great, creative way to express yourself. Have fun!
Under $300
Decorator: Adrienna Huffman
Your dorm room has just become your second home, and before the year really takes off, you might as well as make it a place of your own. Even with just $300, you can do plenty to clothe those naked walls, beautify functional storage containers, and mask the bright fluorescent lights.
Designing your room with a neutral color scheme will appeal to a mass of appetites and styles. Lately, stores are featuring more minimalist furniture and designs, some of which I’ve incorporated into this dorm room enhancement. So, I would call the decoration inspiration for this dorm a natural, Asian-minimalist approach.
To begin this transformation, Bed Bath and Beyond, in the same shopping complex as Target, sells beautiful wall tapestries that will cover any large wall since they run 72 inches wide by 108 inches long, for only $19.99. They come in all sorts of patterns and colors to suit an array of tastes and the tapestry alone will add a bohemian flavor to your dorm room while covering a wall, or even the ceiling, for less money than several posters.
Extra seating is a must, especially for friends and visitors, and Bed Bath and Beyond sells comfortable yet space efficient seating, called “Slinky Chairs,” moderately priced at $39.99. These too come in distinct colors, to match your bedding and tapestry.
Our next stop is Target, for a practical yet pleasing 5 by 8 foot jute area rug, made by Bali for $69.99. Its neutral color will suit the wall tapestry and chair, while giving a homey feel to the room.
Following our neutral theme, Target also sells an Asian themed floor lamp with a rice paper shade, for $29.99, that would harmonize perfectly with the jute rug and tapestry while brightening the room, so you won’t have to use the dingy overhead florescent lamps. In addition, some natural colored window shades, for $27.99, and a decorative window rod, for $19.99, complete the natural, earthy feel.
For storage, I recommend three rectangular dark brown wicker baskets, also at Target for $29.99 a piece, which will add plenty of extra, decorated storage space while complementing the other room accessories.
However, the lack of color in this room design could be dull and bland for some students. An easy solution is that all of the room decorations chosen come in an array of colors and patterns. So instead of the neutral colored jute rug, your tastes might be better suited to a patterned rug of distinct colors, or window shades that, instead of detracting attention from the eye, bring a viewer’s focus to the only natural light in the room.
And for a grand total of $298, your dorm room could look and feel like a home away from home, with just a trip down the red line and a two-stop shopping spree.
Under $500
Decorator: Kristin McGrath
The negative effects of stress are numerous and include lowered immunity, lowered concentration, and a lowered sex drive. So rejuvenate your ever dwindling sanity with a room full of cheerful colors and soothing d‚cor. Serenity now!
Replace the prison-cell-chic of your cold tile floor with the playful exuberance of a giant jigsaw puzzle! The colorful foam pieces, available for $14.99 at Target interlock to cover any floor.
Liven up the white cement void that is your ceiling with a groovy tapestry from Sunshine Daydream Imports on the Loop. For $19.99 you’ll have something fun to stare at while procrastinating.
Your bare room is like an empty canvas, so decorate it with colorful Gel Gems ($10.50 at Dry Ice in the Galleria). Available in assorted shapes, they adhere easily to your wall, ceiling, mirror, or roommate.
Studies say that watching fish in an aquarium eases stress. How appropriate, then, that a mini desktop fishtank from Petsmart ($19.99) fits right in next to your computer.
Once you sit in one of Target’s plush, form-fitting Dish Chairs, it’s virtually impossible to leave. For $28.00, you can make lots of new friends!
Revamp your window with a cascade of color. With the Beaded Curtain Rainbow from Dry Ice in the Galleria ($29.00), you can brighten up those gray venetian blinds.
Upgrade from the average beanbag chair to a velvety, foam-filled Poof Chair from Futon Express on the Loop. At $149.95, the chair is a small price to pay for having the most popular room on your floor.
Adorn your bed with Sand-filled Moshi Pillows available for just $9.99 at Linens ‘n Things. They come in cheerful colors and cute animal shapes, and, best of all, have the texture of a stress ball!
Your professors will make sure you spend lots of time sitting at your desk. Make this experience less physically damaging with a comfortable swivel office chair ($47.49 at Best Buy).
Tending a Zen Garden is said to clear the chaotic mind. A desktop Zen Garden for $19.99 from Bed Bath and Beyond includes sand, a rake, and stones. You provide the chaos.
Your dorm d‚cor reflects your personality. So add some flavor to your desk with something unique, like a funky lamp from Phoenix Rising on the Loop for $66.
Just because your bed looks like something you’d find at summer camp doesn’t mean it can’t be elegant. Dress it up with a flowing canopy from Linens ‘n Things for $39.99.
After transforming your room into a cozy sanctuary, counter the buzzing radiator and your neighbor’s midnight confessions with a Nature Sounds clock from Bed Bath and Beyond. For $24.99, you can fall asleep to birds chirping and wake up to cathedral bells.
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