Dorm Coziness

It can be hard to imagine your dream dorm when you start off with 4 white walls and an empty room. However, there are so many ways to make your dorm feel like home! Since you'll be spending a lot of time in your dorm, you want to make sure it's your own cozy little sanctuary.

Lighting

The first step to making your room cozy is lighting. The overhead dorm light is super harsh and bright, so it’s important to get some soft lighting in your room! One thing I always love to use is white Christmas lights. They can be easily hung up on the wall with command hooks and instantly create a cozy vibe. Another thing to remember is a desk lamp. This will come in handy for those late-night study sessions when you don’t want the big dorm light on. Something else you can add is a cute night light or lamp. I always keep one of those Himalayan salt lamps by my bed – it makes my room feel so much more homey!

Bedding

Another way to make your dorm cozier is to decorate your bed. Adding elements such as a mattress topper and plenty of blankets is the perfect way to spruce up the entire room! TJ Maxx is the best place to find blankets in any color or pattern. Adding a ton of pillows is another great idea – look for body pillows, decorative pillows, and backrest pillows. Here’s a picture of what my dorm looked like last year. Although the space was small, I loved spending time in it because of how I decorated and made it feel like home!

Walls

Decorating the walls of your dorm is a great method to making it more homey. I’ve noticed that the less bare walls that are showing, the better! Hanging up a tapestry like in the picture above is something I’ve always done. It’s super easy, and instantly covers up the plain white wall. The best place to find cheap tapestries is Amazon. Something else you can add is a mood board, canvas wall art, or pictures of your friends and family from back home. All of these things are great for covering up the wall and making it seem cozy.

Finishing Touches

A few other details can help with the atmosphere of the dorm. You aren’t allowed to have candles, but having some type of air freshener will definitely help get rid of the stale air that usually occupies the room. An oil diffuser is a great idea too. You can get different essential oils depending on the type of day – lavender for bedtime, peppermint for studying, etc. Adding either a large area rug or a small rug beside your bed is a good way to cover up the bare floor.

Creating your cozy dream dorm is the perfect way to avoid homesickness. You have complete free reign over choosing your decorations, so go big! My favorite places to find cozy dorm essentials are TJ Maxx, Target, and Amazon. I hope this blog was helpful to you! Packing for college is both an exciting and stressful experience. You already made the best first decision in college – coming to WEPO! 

Emily Webber

Team C Mentor