Dress up your dorm room

Hi Smoothies,
as a student I live in a dorm room and you probably all know those room aren’t very big. I’m actually one of the lucky ones I guess because mine isn’t so tiny as most dorms are (ca. 30m²). Anyhow, spending a lot of time there makes a 30 square meters not that big. This is the first step to having your own place and to me it’s important that I create a cozy and warm place that feels like home.
I’d like to share a few tips to decorate small places like a dorm room or any other room you want to freshen up to your own taste.

- white white white

work with light colors. Dark colors make your room look even smaller. A light color on your wall can give the room a much larger look. If you don’t know a great shade that fits with your furniture then opt for just white. You can never do wrong with white as it always goes with everything. If you want to have a more sophisticated look than choose a white with an undertone of another color. Maybe you like white with an olive undertone or maybe you like it with a yellow undertone, which reflects the natural light even more btw.
Here are a few examples of light shades to use


Before you start painting your walls ask your landlord if you’re allowed to do this because some can be difficult about it. If you’re not allowed to paint your walls opt for light colored furniture ( Further there are some more tips on furniture)

- Keep it low

whenever you buy furniture for a small space try to avoid high closets. they downsize your room. Instead, choose for lower cabinets that aren’t higher than your lower body.
   

-see trough

add some transparent furniture or decorating stuff. This way, the piece will not block your sight and your room will look much brighter and far less messy.

- My mirror staring back at me

putting a mirror on your wall makes your room appear bigger. Put it on a wall facing the window so it reflects natural light and it's like you're having another window in your room ( = more light = room appears to be bigger)

   

- hide your stuff
When you live on only a few square meters, your room looks already messy when only a few things are lying around. So hide your stuff behind closet doors. Go for a closed wardrobe instead of an open one. Maybe you might find an open wardrobe nicer but when your wardrobe is not perfectly clean it gives a sloppy look.
When you’re like me and you spill out your clothes over the room after a long day, then buy a clothes rack so you can lay on your clothes of that day and put them away later.

IKEA valet stand

- Try some diy decorating
The fun part about decorating is having an unique piece in your room made by yourself. And when your girlfriends come by and say “whooo what a cool vase” yep that’s the moment you can proudly say “ I made it myself!”. And yes I already had those moments and yes it felt very rewarding.
You don’t have to be such a handyman to do some creative DIY projects ( nope I’m not a handy person). Just use your inspiration!
e.g. When another jar of Nutella is empty from one of my inmates in my building I wash it out and use it as a candle holder. During the Autumn I add a few chestnuts or acorns to decorate. Now I have some candy in it to decorate. Just notice that I use led candle lights as it is much safer especially when you use crafty materials in it like me, but basically the reason why I use led candle lights  is because it’s not allowed to put candles in my room. Another idea is to put lace paper around the border, you know the kind of paper your grandma puts on a cake stand or something. ONLY do this when you use led candle lights!

 

As a girl you probably have a lot of jewelry like me. I have a beautiful jewelry box in which a few of my jewels are stored (as it is way too small to store all of it) but you probably recognize the situation when you’re in a hurry and want to change something but you don’t feel like putting it away in your jewelry box and you just lay it there on your nightstand or somewhere else it can get lost? Anyways, this situation happens  a lot to me and as I don’t want my beautiful earrings to get lost I took a few cups of my mom’s old china that she doesn’t use anymore to use it as a jewelry cup for those times when I’m in a hurry.

 

 

I hope I helped you out with some inspiration for your dorm room.
If you want to get crafty but don’t have some old china or an old closet to paint than take a look at your local second hand store. I love to wander at the local second hand stores for antique here in Ghent. In Ghent there are a few on the afrikalaan such as Ecoshop and Tweedehands Shop. But also at the Kringloopwinkel you can find some nice treasures.
http://vintage-tweedehandsshop.be/nl
http://www.ecoshop.be/
http://www.dekringloopwinkel.be/
or take a look at a local flee market, no doubt you’ll find a unique piece out there!

What are your tips for dressing up your dorm room?

Céline .x