Freshman Forum

I’ve been talking a lot about getting ready for college recently, and for good reason! My move-in date is August 17, and the first day of class is the 22. While I’m really excited, I’ve also got to get my stuff together! Buying bedding, towels, decorations, and living essentials can be really hard and frustrating, but I’m hoping to help you out with that process a little bit.

We’ve talked about packing, lighting, and more, but here’s the fun part…decorating. I’ve been working on decorations for my dorm room for a few weeks now, and I do have a general concept going. Because my room is so bland and institutionalized-feeling, I want to mimic the outdoors as much as I can. My décor is going to center around that.

In a recent paper crafting article, I mentioned this adorable little DIY apple idea. I plan to make a garland of them to hang on my wall. But a thought also occurred to me: why not make them functional and cute?

So I decided to mix the apple garland with this.

In essence, I’ll have a garland that has cute apples and the ability to hang pictures or important notes, or even my keys! You can also do variants of this by putting hooks in empty picture frames and hanging them on the wall. You can hang your bag, keys, or anything else on the hook and it’ll be in sight and adorable. Something like this also comes in handy.

Since I’m going to be mimicking the outdoors, I also want to have a little plant in my room. Dwarf trees are great for this and I’ll probably choose a lemon or pear option. If you want to see other great dorm room plant ideas, check out The Daily Green.

Chalkboards come in handy for all kinds of things, and this DIY shows you have to make one of your own. You need chalkboard paint and a little innovation; that’s about it! You can use frames, pretty silver trays, boards, and even DIY headboards as chalkboards! Just be sure to hang them properly in your room.

If you still need more ideas, check out this book. This is a book chock-full of decorating ideas! And of course, you can always turn to Pinterest. I have a board dedicated to college and dorm room ideas, and you’re more than welcome to steal some of them from me!

Stay tuned for more college articles and for tips on surviving your first year!