The Art of Living in a Dorm Room

Although living in a dorm room is hardly the epitome of style and luxury, it is possible to pull it off with a certain degree of panache. By using a bit of creative thinking and planning, you can often transform a ho-hum dorm room into a truly cozy living space. Fortunately, there are plenty of decorating tips that you can implement even on a student’s meager budget. If you’re ready to perfect the art of dorm room living, here are a few tips that can help get you started.

Think Small but Smart

Maximize your available storage space by keeping furniture pieces proportionally sized. For example, by using a space efficient loft style bed instead of one that utilizes a queen-sized mattress, you’ll use your floor space more efficiently. Utilizing your wall space wisely can also help you maximize your living area. Even if you are not allowed to hang wall shelves, you can still use a full height bookcase to provide plenty of vertical storage space. Furniture pieces that incorporate hidden storage space, organizers that can be hung over doors, and decorative storage bins are all great ways to make the most of a small dorm room. Find ways to use smaller furniture pieces to save space without sacrificing functionality. For example, a couple of two-drawer filing cabinets combined with an old door or a piece of plywood can create a desk that provides more work and storage space than many much larger desk units. A futon usually takes up less space than a sofa, but can be used as an additional sleeping area when needed. A small table with chairs designed to push compactly underneath can be just as efficient as a large table, without taking up too much floor space.

Peaceful Cohabitation

Living with a roommate is certainly one of the challenges of dorm life. Many times you may find that your tastes, interests and decorating styles are quite different from your roommate’s. It is important to find a way to express yourself, while still providing this same freedom to the other person. If you discuss your decorating plans together, you might just find that you can find some common ground. If you simply can’t, then it’s important to find a way of dividing the room so that both of you can still express your own sense of style and comfort. It’s also important to take your roommate’s social, personal and study needs into consideration. For example, if you enjoy listening to music while you study, don’t automatically assume that your roommate feels the same way. Use earphones when listening to music, playing video games, or while watching television. By doing so, you’ll still be able to enjoy yourself without infringing upon the living style of your roommate.

Decorating with Pizzazz

From a style standpoint, your average dorm room can often seem pretty boring. If white walls and a neutral color scheme are getting you down, don’t despair. Add bright splashes of cheerful color with area rugs, throw pillows, storage bins and furniture throws. You can also hide white walls by hanging posters and other paper art using wall-safe adhesives.

From The Living Room To The Office

Tired of finding colored pictures among your invoices? Have you ever discovered random lego pieces among your inventory? If so, you must own a home business, and you must be working from anywhere in the house but your very own office. So you need a home office. How does a home business owner move successfully from the living room to the office?

First, the home business owner needs to establish his or her own space for an office. Find a spare room or a room you can easily concert into an office. Even a corner of the garage will do for a first-time home business owner. Remember to start small and invest little at the beginning, and then when you can afford it, you can build or create the office of your dreams. If you do not have your own space, however, you will be doomed forever to finding peanut butter smeared on important documents, and you will sacrifice the professional look that you need to exude to have a successful home business.

Secondly, once you have your space chosen and established, organize your goods. Invest in some organizational materials like shelves (cheap from the hardware store), categorizing materials like labels and sharpies, colored boxes, and a filing cabinet. Once you know what you need for organizational materials and invest in them, organize your office with two frames of mind: organize it so that it makes sense to you, and organize so that if something should happen to you and those you love most would need to find important documents quickly, they would be able to. So your system should not just make sense to you, but it should make sense to just about anyone. It should be simple enough that your fifth grader can understand it.

Finally, establish and maintain office hours. Certainly you chose to come home or establish a home business so you could earn a living with minimal family sacrifice. However, if you do not establish and maintain office hours, you will lose the business you dreamed of. Consider the best times for these office hours. If you’re a stay-at-home mom, then establish those hours at times when your husband is home and can watch the children or when you have a regular play date established with the neighbor’s children. Maybe you want to work during your child’s regular nap or individual play time in the afternoon. Regardless of what you choose, establish those hours, and then train your family to respect them. Otherwise you may never finish your work.

Ultimately the success of your business lies on you, the home business owner. If you can establish a specific place and time for your business, you increase the odds of success. Keep your business in the office, and resist the temptation to take your files to the living room so you can watch the most recent re-run of Law & Order with your spouse while looking at documents. Inevitably you will lose an important document and not discover it until you move the couch for the carpet cleaners six months down the road.

Funky Pillows For Your Living Room

Last spring, I changed the shower curtain in my master bathroom. Frankly, I was sick of the old one. However, I always liked the fabric and pattern, which was heavy and golden with intricate blue threading, so I really didn’t want to throw it away. Instead, I laundered and ironed the curtain. Then I stored it in a trunk and almost forgot about it.

More recently, it happened that my tired living room needed some updating. The matching sofa and loveseat were in a high traffic area, as they hosted many a guest at the fireplace as well as the television. The set definitely had a lived in feel to it, but it was still in good enough condition to remain useable. As well, I truly did not want to make a major investment in new furniture. It was time to apply some tried and true home interior decorating ideas.

First, I changed the accessories on my mantel. I placed two green pillar candles-one tall, one short on either side of a grouping of hard covered books. Next I hung an antique mirror and framed painting from my great grandmother that I had kept in the attic for years. Finally, I added a few plants.

By then the room felt a lot better, but I still hadn’t done anything about the sofa and loveseat except rearrange them. I tried to think of something I could do inexpensively to freshen up the look of my furniture. I thought about slipcovers and throws as I went shopping. While mentally dreading the thought of spending a few hundred dollars, I somehow remembered my old shower curtain.

With my creative energies now being tapped, I borrowed my neighbor’s sewing machine. Knowing I did not inherit my seamstress mother’s gift or love of sewing, I could at the very least try my luck at a straight line. I took two throw pillows from the old couch set and measured my shower curtain around them. After a few botched attempts, I managed to cover the old pillows with the old fabric, thus creating two new and I dare say chic accessories. I could feel the gratitude emanating from the old sofa and loveseat as I proudly displayed these beauties on them. My entire living room was updated and I was happy. I also saved a bunch of cash to boot.

For the icing on the cake, I lightly misted the room with Tangerine Organic Essential Oil (20 drops added to 3 ounces of water in a spray bottle). This transformed the atmosphere of the room from drab and tired to warm and uplifting.

The moral of the story is: with a little imagination, you can make something new from something old. Also recycle your old shower curtain if it is made of a cotton-blend fabric. If you don’t want to transform it into a throw pillow, you can at least cut it into squares for your rag bag and use it to clean your living room and bathroom.

123456789101112