There are tons of low-cost ways to make your college residence hall feel like home. Here's how to decorate your dorm room without busting your budget.
Plan it out. “Know how much you can spend on your dorm room, what your essentials are and shop around for the best deals,” says Hal Lublin, director for Referral Marketing at Swagbucks, an online shopping rewards site, via email. “If you don’t have a budget going in, you’re much more likely to overspend.”
Make sure you know the dimensions of your room, so that you don’t bring anything that won’t fit into your assigned space. Understand what furniture will be provided — for example, a desk, bed, chair and closet — and what you’ll need to bring on your own, including decorations, storage containers, bedding and extra seating.
During back-to-school shopping, don’t forget to forgo forbidden items, such as candles, air conditioners, cooking appliances and other prohibited products. Spending your dollars on these unwelcome items, only to have them confiscated later, is a total waste of money. (Thinkstock)
[See: 12 Shopping Tricks to Keep You Under Budget.]
(Getty Images/iStockphoto/alfexe)
Getty Images/iStockphoto/alfexe
Talk to your roommates. Avoid redundant purchases by coordinating with your future roommate or roommates. You might be surprised at what you can share: A first-aid kit, a hair dryer or an over-the-door organizer. Not only will this conversation prevent you from showing up with two identical minifridges, it’ll give you a chance to get to know your future bunkmate, Selander says.
Another word on roommates: There’s sometimes pressure to impress a new roomie by overspending on swanky furniture. Don’t fall into that trap, experts say. After all, you’ll be living in this room for less than one year, and you can find cheap decorations that will make your room feel homey without the financial hangover.
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Bring something from home with you. You don’t need to buy all new items, just because you’re moving into a new room.
Pack up your favorite blanket, pillows, photos, wall art and other decorations from your childhood home. Not only is repurposing these items cheaper than buying new, it’s also comforting. “Transitioning to college can be tough, but bringing some familiar items and posters from your room at home to your dorm room saves money and makes your new surroundings feel more familiar,” Lublin says.
One frugal way to bring a bit of home: Divide a houseplant and bring the new plantling to live with you in your dormitory, says Annie Karr, assistant director for marketing and conferences in the Department of Residence at the University of Northern Iowa, via email. Hey, it might be the next best thing to bringing your family pet with you to college. (Thinkstock)
[See: Basic Money Lessons You Missed in High School.]
(Probably)
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Search for inspiration. There is a gold mine of budget dorm room decor inspiration online on home-design websites and social media, including Instagram and Pinterest, experts say. You can even look beyond dorm room decor and check out tiny house design ideas for decoration and storage inspiration, Karr says.
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Check out thrift stores. Not every item of dorm room furniture needs to be brand-spanking new, experts say. Log on to Craigslist and eBay to find secondhand furnishings and decorations. Check out local secondhand stores and thrift shops to find used furnishings, fabrics and decorations.
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Get crafty. There are tons of low-cost ways to personalize and decorate your dorm room. “There are so many creative and fun things to do with cardboard and fabric and things like that,” Selander says. For example, you can use those supplies to fashion a faux headboard or a piece of wall art. Wooden crates can become bookshelves. Discount fabric or secondhand scarves can also be used to create chic curtains or add privacy as room dividers.
Consider using paint swatches — you can grab them for free at a home goods store — and make a creative mural, Karr says. Or print a simple design using your printer and frame it in an unused picture frame, she says.
(Thinkstock)
If you’re looking to spend money on dorm room decorations, you don’t have to look far.
“There’s so much targeted advertising,” says Julie Selander, director of One Stop Student Services at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. The office provides a financial literacy and money management initiative for students called “Live Like a Student.” “This time of the year is so crazy.”
While retailers may be aggressively hawking their beanbag chairs and twinkle lights, smart college students will ignore them because overspending on dormitory furniture is a mistake. Think about it: As a college student, you have limited income, potentially high tuition expenses and may only spend about nine months in your dorm room. If you’re funding your furnishings with student loan disbursements, the costs are even higher. For example, a $200 bookcase, bought with unsubsidized student loans at a 4.45 percent interest rate, will accrue about $40 in interest by the time you graduate four years later, according to a student loan repayment calculator from FinAid.org. And that’s just one item.
So, don’t fall for marketing messages when it comes to personalizing your dorm. There are tons of low-cost ways to make your college residence hall feel like home. Here’s how to decorate your dorm room without busting your budget.
