When I was a freshman in college I had zero sense of style. I'll be honest, I had no real clue about what looked good together besides maybe buying things that were similar colors and hoping for the best. I was also a brand new college student in 2012 and things were pretty low key and basic back in those days (can anyone say melted crayon art canvases as far as the eye can see?) If I could go back I would have skipped all the painted canvas craft nights and gone straight to some seriously cool DIY's like the three pictured above. Let's take a peak at the "five year old goes to college" decor I surrounded myself with my Freshman year... Coming straight out of a high school that really encouraged art students like myself to boldly and brightly express themselves, you can see that I really took that to heart when it came to my decor. These pictures were taken about an hour after I had moved onto campus and by the end of the week my walls were covered in posters from my HS and my desk was covered in colorful flyers and knick knacks I had picked up on campus. I had completely adopted a mis-matched, unique sense of style in my life (don't even get me started on my wardrobe...) I wouldn't trade my Freshman self for the world but I could have used a little bit of help in the design department! Fortunately, my younger sister recently moved back into her dorm at UNCG and it gave me the opportunity to check out what dorms look like now for Freshman/Sophomores in 2016. I saw a lot of function over fashion and simple eye catching pieces that tied each room together. A few things that I try to incorporate in my own spaces even now as a post grad. I have been living and working in a small space for the past few months and I'd like to share a few pieces of advice when it comes to living in smaller spaces; whether it be single rooms like mine or dorms like I know many of my readers are currently living in! Don't over accessorizeAs much fun it is having a whole space just to call your own and decorate however you like, don't go overboard with it! Half of the stuff I bought to decorate with my first year of college ended up living in a plastic tote at the bottom of my desk. I quickly found out that I didn't need 3 decorative "catch all" trays (that didn't even match my room) to place around to catch all my loose change, rings and what not. I didn't need to go over the top decoration shopping to "change up my decor for the seasons." I also learned that a lot of my favorite high school knick knacks collected a lot of dust and only took up space from stuff I needed room for on my desk such as homework, lamps, books, etc. It was nice to have those things with me, but they didn't add much to my space and I ended up taking most of them home during Winter break. Instead, use a cork board to pin a few memorable high school snapshots to hang up and keep the decor simple! It's time to make new memories! Designate a space for homework, a space here and there for some decor such as books or plants, and keep your drawers pretty empty. I'm sure that my college readers realize now that you collect a lot of goodies your first week at school that can be kept in desk drawers all year long! Also, invest in a side cart for your desk for even more cute organization for the year. You can get the one featured below at Ikea for $30.00 and you can use it again and again for bathroom storage or kitchen storage later on! It's good to invest in pieces your first year so that you can reuse them for the next four. Focus on your comforterNow I know that sounds a little weird to say but hear me out. Your comforter or whatever you use as a top blanket for your bed is going to be one of the biggest eye catchers in your room, so work around it when it comes to colors and decor. Mine was grey with white polka dots, simple and neutral. I would still use that same comforter but would jazz it up a lot more. Get some fun throw pillows to have around to make your room light up and to provide some comfort to old wooden desk chairs. If it's a solid color then add some fun graphic posters on your wall that show your personality and pull out the same color as your comforter in the details of the poster! If you've already haphazardly thrown together your bedding for this year then try adding some blankets on top or swapping out some pillows for an updated look. Make craft nights work for youI can't tell you how many canvases my roommates and I went through during our painting craft nights. It seemed as if painting was the only affordable craft out there for us to do and that we could do together. Wrong! There are so many crafts you and your roomies can bond over! Make things that will spruce up your common area or that you can both benefit from having around. Here are a few DIY dorm crafts that I would put at the top of my to-do list: So there's just a few simple tips and tricks on how I'd put together a dorm room! There's tons more and I'm sure plenty I've never even thought about or heard of before so I would love to hear about how you make #dormlife livable for you! All the images used in this post are from Pinterest and you can find all the links to them on my #dormlife Pinterest board here! Also check out all the other boards I've made if you want to see DIY projects I hope to do myself as well as the dream wedding I've been planning since High School (yeah I've been on Pinterest for quite some time now, no shame!)
I hope you enjoyed taking a peak into my past and got inspired to start working on some fun projects for your dorm! Send me pictures on Facebook or tag me on Instagram in any of your dorm pics this year so I can show you some social media lovin'! I'd love to continue posting about dorm decor throughout the year or help you all DIY some projects of your own. If you'd like to make my #dormlife post into a series of future posts then let me know via any of my social media accounts! Thanks for reading and I can't wait to hear from you all! -K
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"A room should never allow the eye to settle in one place. It should smile at you and create fantasy" -Juan Montoya AuthorHi! My name is Kristen and in 2016 I got the crazy idea of starting a blog and diving headfirst into the world of interiors. I hope you enjoy the content you'll find on k.space and find inspiration to change your space and tackle all of your DIY projects- big or small! Archives
March 2019
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