Since college is a home away from home, many students have taken to decorating their dorm rooms in the way that best suits their way of living. Throughout the dorms, strategies for decorating differ, but a common theme of cozy community permeates.
As far as inspiration for décor goes, most people differ on what brings them their ideas, but a few agree on what works best.
“I like to look on Pinterest for great dorm room ideas,” Steggy resident Emily Van Gorp said. “I also like going into other girls’ room on my wing and combine the aspects in our room.”
Darby Skillern, another resident of Steggy, agreed.
“I search for dorm décor on Pinterest, and then I look through things that would actually be obtainable,” Skillern said.
Though everyone has different general ideas, there are a few noticeable trends running through the dorms.
“I think tapestry and Christmas lights are really big this year. They get rid of white space and make rooms homier,” Van Gorp said. “Also, stuff that girls make themselves, like those canvases with Bible verses on them, are a big trend.”
For the male dorms on campus, tapestry and canvases are not as big of a trend, but rather the general layout of the room.
“I’ve noticed a lot of people either making one sleep room and then a community room, or getting a room by themselves so they can have a bunk on top then a couch underneath to use the space well,” Hospers resident Joseph Tolsma said. “Those rooms generally become the ones people hang out in, but you never feel like you’re intruding. They really bring people together.”
One common décor theme in the dorms seems to be the use of lights.
“The overhead lights are really harsh, they’re like hospital lights, so the Christmas lights are a good alternative for warmer, more welcoming light,” Tolsma said. “A lot of people put either flags or sheets over their lights, too, to kind of dim the light or give it something other than the harsh fluorescent look.”
Though male and female dorms may have different décor vibes, they both have similar ideas when it comes to setups. A big trend on campus has been arranging furniture in rooms in order to split the room into two parts.
“In our room, we like having the futon and bed next each other in the same section for a lounge area. It’s like two separate rooms, and it lets us have the light on in the morning,” Van Gorp said.
Though Tolsma himself does not have his room set up in this way, he thinks it is one of the more efficient design trends on campus.
“There’s a group of guys in the dorm who have their beds lofted above their desks, and then they have a TV that swings out on a swivel from the wall,” Tolsma said. “It’s a really cool space saving option, and it creates three sections of the room, with having a living room, upper sleeping room, and a study nook.”
Dorm décor differs from person to person, but one trend seems to exist throughout the dorms: the cozier, the better.
