Dorm Room Decorating: Great Tips for a Great Room

by Serene Acloque

So it's been a few weeks into the semester, the only items in your room are the ones you found there, and 23 out of the 24 hours of your day, you find yourself salivating over the trendy, cool new look your neighbors have going in their room. If this sounds like you, it also sounds like you're in need of a crash course on dorm room decor.

Residents from Waldo Hall master the art of decorating their rooms down to the 'T'. With vibrant colors, brilliant wall trimmings, and warm comfy floor accessories, they manage to bring the "there's no place like home" theory right to their dormitories. But don't fret. You, too, can achieve that cozy setting, with lots of space to spare!

Carol Zilinskis, a sophomore rooming in Waldo 219, knows the importance of obtaining space, something much craved by residents everywhere.

Her solution? She and her roommate bunked their beds. "Everything is roomier so you have a lot more space to work with. And we put in this great couch. It makes the room inviting; makes people want to come in and hang out." Zilinskis is right about that one. The talk of the dorm is bunking your beds to get more space for extra furniture. According to the residents, it makes the room more "homey," and "comfortable." But Zilinskis offers more advice to dorm decorators. "Without wall decorations, the room looks like an institution, so pretty it up as much as possible."

It's all about the bedding, baby! According to Nyasha Brown, a junior rooming in Waldo 207, bedding is the easiest, but also one of the most important things to start with first when decorating a room. Hers certainly makes the grade; a bright colored Smurf set from the 70s given to her by her cousin. There is a wide variety of stuffed animals blanketing her bed. With all the Care Bears, Tasmanian Devils, and Aristocats, one has to ask why she'd choose this child-like setting for her bed. "I wanted a more girlie feel to my room. You can tell I'm a cheese ball by looking at my bed, but I don't care. I love my animals," Brown said looking at her bedding selection with a soft smile of adoration.

Now just because we are completely jealous of the amount of space that our Resident advisers get, does not mean that we should leave them out of this course on dorm room decor. RAs need suggestions too, and they can certainly take some tips from Elvin Ramos, a 4th floor RA in Waldo. He explains that as an RA, you automatically have an abundance of space, due to your lack of a roommate, and the problem then becomes deciding what to do with it. "The first thing that I did was put my two twin beds together. It became an automatic king-size bed, and that's pretty cool," he said, with a laugh. The day he moved in, he couldn't really do much to his room because of the blackout that occurred, but as soon as it was over, he took feverishly to the task at hand. The first thing he did was re-arrange the furniture. Having two of everything made things more difficult, but Elvin found a spot for it all. His desks, for example are on opposite sides of the room, one serving as a computer desk, one serving as an artistic expression, topped with a colorful fish tank (but no fish) and other items of decor.

Ramos also put in extra furniture in his room. He brought in a futon, which was a gift from his parents, and a leather office chair, which he uses for his computer desk instead of the chairs Resident Life provided. "I bought the chair, myself, from an internet site. It was $139 but the discounted price ended up only being $60," he added. For those looking for a cool and comfy leather desk chair, the internet site is www.unlimitedchairs.com.

Now, not all college students can afford to have their rooms looking like the bedrooms pop stars have on MTV Cribs. There are many ways around high prices, and many places to get trendy items to spice up your room. National Wholesale Liquidators, for example, on Hempstead Turnpike has great discounts on carpets, rugs, and posters. If you're looking for cool lamps or rope lights, try Spencers at Roosevelt Field Mall. And if its bedspreads and blanket throws that get your heart racing, try Linens and Things, Target, or Wal-Mart.

Zilinskis, Brown, and Ramos all participated in one thing that I'm sure will suit your inexpensive needs. They used items they received from Adelphi events to decorate their rooms. Zilinskis' wall is presently decorated with an inflatable pineapple balloon she stole from the Luau that S.A.B. threw weeks ago, Ramos has Frisbees up as well artwork he got from last week's C.A.L.I.B.E.R. vintage event, and Brown has an immense number of pictures from campus parties up all around the room. So, dormers, sometimes price isn't even an issue!

All of this information might be a bit overwhelming, especially if you have to start from absolute scratch, but don't worry. You can take a deep breath, pick the simplest thing off the list that you can get, and take your time with it. Start with rearranging your room for space, then put in a rug, take time with your bedding selection, decorate your walls, and then go for the lights. If you can afford a sofa or futon, go for it! But whether or not you have one, guaranteed, with these suggestions, your room could be the talk of your dorm too.