Freshmen Dorm Decor

By Grace Carballo ‘17

After the shock of graduating high school starts to wear off, you may find yourself freaking out about your impending transition to college, especially in regards to your new living situation.

Whether you went for the random roommate option or have met your future cohabitant several times already, the best way to calm your nerves is to communicate with him or her. You’re going to be living with this person from August to May and trust me, you’ll get to know each other well, so you might as well get the ball rolling. Your dorm is going to be your home in this duration so you’ll want it to be homey and awesome, too.

Who does this girl think she is telling me what to do with my dorm or how to interact with my roommate?

Well, my roommate, Alana, and I were voted *officially* best female roommates of Birnkrant 7th Floor when we were freshmen. That’s a fact and you best believe I have that on my resumé. 

In order to establish this reputation, we welcomed a steady stream of visitors, all drawn by the ambiance we had created. 

Decide What You Like

You’ll first want to peruse various college dorm websites so you know what’s out there and can make informed purchases. If you want to be thorough, it’s probably time to make a Pinterest board of dorm ideas; there’s all kinds of great stuff out there. I just reconsulted my own boards and found this gem, which seemed like a good idea at the time but the low ceilings weren’t conducive to this ingenuity.

Bedding

Sometimes roommates try to coordinate their bedding and get similar duvet covers (pronounced doo-vay… I graduated high school still not knowing this and said dove-it) or stick to a color scheme. My roommate, Alana, and I had different favorite colors entirely, I was into blues and greens and she favored reds and pinks. We tried coordinating at first, but both ended up just getting what we liked and the contrast ended up working out. My side was like the ocean and hers was like a sunset, if you will. 

Bulletin Board

Picture below is my side of the room and you’ll notice that many of the freshman dorms have massive bulletin boards built in. When we visited for Orientation, my sweet, innovative mother measured its dimensions and then I bought scrapbook paper and stapled it to the whole thing. It’s basically wall paper that you won’t get fined for because not defacing the room!

I printed a ton of pictures before I came, as well. Be on the lookout for photo deals at your local Walgreens or similar, because you shouldn’t be paying more than $0.10 per print unless you’re made of money. I am a sentimental soul so I truly pinned every memory I cherished on that massive board. One of my best pals from high school made me a calendar that I also hung up with pictures of everyone I love in it and reminders of their birthdays and obscure holidays. Having a decorated bulletin board can also be a great conversation starter, especially on move-in day when everyone sort of bops around like tumbleweeds.

Curtains

These were our claim to fame courtesy of my roommate’s mother, Mama O. All the birthday decorations, which we left up until I was nearly 19 ½, were a surprise courtesy of my mother via Alana. Never decline parental support, especially during the dorm decor process.

Most dorms, at least in my Birnkrant experience, do not come with curtain rods so you will have to get creative because the permanent blinds leave something to be desired. Another pair of roommates made thicker curtains that could make their room really dark whenever they wanted to sleep in. 

Layout

While I recommend leaving the layout of your room as it is the first few weeks, you are not obligated to keep it this way (as long as you move it back by the end of the semester). If you have a plan to maximize floor space or just feel like changing things up, nothing is stopping you- as long as you run it by your roommate. Alex and Evan moved one bed and desk and I liked their new layout so much I did it to our room, too.

Flags

With just a few push pins and a flag, your room will already have a lot more cred. Flags are amazing decor and look great if you pin them to the ceiling, as my friend, Alex did in the photo below. I got a Cuban flag for Christmas last year and really love what it does to my room. You can get flags inexpensively on Amazon- I ordered my roommate this year a Chicago flag for her birthday!

Posters

If you have any posters already, you should definitely bring them.  Start a collection, even! You can’t see in this photo, but my friend, Evan, has a great Saved By The Bell One (before your time, probably) as well. This photo not only shows his great posters, but also his use of the aforementioned flags.

A Collage for College

Odds are good someone on your floor will subscribe to a magazine, and after they’ve read it, you can ask them for it, cut it up, and make a great collage on the wall next to your desk or wherever. I gave Evan pages from People and this is just the beginning of what became truly an artistic piece of wall art before he had to peel it all off (just use Scotch tape) at the end of the semester. 

OTHER DORM DOs

- Get a mattress pad! (My bed looked awesome but was not nearly as comfortable as others with better mattress pads).

- The Container Store rocks. If you live far from USC, like I do, you can go to your local Container Store in your hometown, register for everything you need, and they will have your boxes ready for you at the nearest location to campus where you can pick up on move-in day.

- There’s also a Target super close to campus, right downtown, for last minute purchases. It gets very crowded around move-in day though.

- Make sure you and your roommate are sharing the load. I can bring this, if you can bring this… 

FIRST STEP: Orientation

If you want to do curtains or personalize your bulletin board in some extreme way, definitely bring a measuring tape or something similar to Orientation and check out what a typical room in your building looks like.

I also recommend coordinating with your roommate which orientation session you attend, if possible, especially if you have never met. It might be nice to sleep across from a somewhat familiar face that first night rather than a complete stranger.

Not convinced? Look how much fun Alana and I had together all lanyard-around-the-neck night-on-the-town chic! SO College!

Good luck preparing for the fall and I hope everyone has a fun, relaxing summer. Remember, freshman year is nothing to be afraid of and will be an amazing time once you get adjusted. Channeling your nervous energy into decorating your dorm may be just the productive outlet you need until then. 

Rest easy knowing if I could go back and do it all again, I would. Get excited for the best days ahead!

Fight on, 

Grace