While living in a new space can be intimidating at times, a stylish dorm room can help a college student make friends, feel comfortable, study efficiently and be happy. If you want to decorate your space, these dorm room ideas will transform your living area. Whether you want a cute ideas for girls or cool elements catering to guys, these amazing dorm rooms will inspire you to create a personal sanctuary.

Cute and Cool Dorm Room Ideas


Build a Desk Hutch

You don’t have much space to play with in a dorm, making a desk hutch a fabulous way to store your stuff. You can purchase pre-made hutches from retailers or channel your inner DIY goddess and put something together yourself. Not only will having an organised space at your desk encourage you to study, but you can jazz things up with washi tape, stickers or graffiti to make things personal. If you’re feeling super creative, keep a light-up mirror tucked at the side of your desk to transform your desk into a vanity for getting ready.

Go for a Boho Theme

For college students with a free and easy style, boho-themed décor is the perfect way to add color to your space. Like these bohemian decor examples, hanging shelves are a great place to start getting creative with cacti plants and small trinkets. But it’s worth investing in woven tapestries, cozy fringed blankets and muted desk lamps to create next-level cozy vibes. You don’t need to stop there either. Grabbing a few indoor houseplants (real or fake!) will instantly brighten your room and make things feel homey. Throw in muted bedding, a few kitsch pillows and a handful of LED lights, and you’ll have a boho-chic space that any college kid will envy.

Use Rugs and Plush Ottomans for a Cozy Feel

Area rugs are fantastic decorative pieces if you need to cover drab floors, but they can also add a distinct air of coziness if they’re teddy or woven cotton varieties. Just make sure to purchase something machine-washable to avoid any stress when it comes to the dreaded spring clean. To further improve your space, grab a velvet-top ottoman with a top that lifts. Not only will this give you extra space to store everything from shoes to knickknacks, but it gives you options for guests to sit down if you ever have a dorm room party.

Best Dorm Room Ideas

Best Dorm Room Ideas

Add Wall Organisers For Décor and Storage

If you’re travelling to college with tons of jewelry, it’s worth attaching a cute hanging jewelry organiser to one of your spare walls. As well as giving you easy access to your favourite pieces when you’re running late to class, these decorations are also easy to hang with no-damage command strips for hassle-free removal at the end of the year. Whether you want a chic storage solution for a bedroom or just need to organise, it’s a great idea to grab a hanging organiser with a shelf on top to give you space for watches, small candles, nail polish and other small trinkets you have lying around the room. These organisers work beautifully just above a side table if you have wall space but are also gorgeous next to a desk if you want glittery eye candy while working toward midterms.

Brighten Things Up with Lights

From hanging LEDs to adorable battery-operated touch lamps, it’s always fun to experiment with lights to lift your space. You’ll want to avoid turning on the main dorm lights as they’re usually bright and intrusive. Instead, choose large bedside lamps with warm energy-saving bulbs to give the entire room a pleasant glow. If you’re sharing a room, lamps and low-key LED strip lights are a perfect way to keep your space bright without bothering your roomie. If you want to add a hint of theming to your space, consider colored lights, twinkling stars, pretty hearts or cute lanterns that will showcase your individuality.

Best Dorm Room Ideas

Best Dorm Room Ideas

Put Your Walls Centre Stage

The quickest way to inject your room with personality and color is by decorating your walls. You obviously can’t go nuts with paint, but there’s nothing to stop you from creating a photo collage, gallery wall or a cute pegged line of high-school snaps for a dose of nostalgia. If you struggle to remember what classes or appointments you have during the week, a large dry-erase or corkboard will keep you on the right track. For college students who want to push the boat out, try temporary wallpaper to add interest to your bland white walls. These nifty patterned sheets of paper peel and stick onto the wall without leaving a hint of damage and come in tons of different shades for the ultimate bedroom transformation.

Create Privacy with Dividers

You’ll probably have fun with your roommate over the year, but there’s nothing worse than having a bad day and having nowhere to escape. Although you’ll need to shell out a hundred bucks or so for a decent divider screen, they create the illusion of privacy by completely hiding your side of the room from a roommate. You can get slightly see-through screens made of rattan if you appreciate rustic vibes, but neutral picks will give you a sliver of privacy without clashing with the rest of your décor. To avoid overwhelming your space, get a folded divider that slips under your bed or stacks up near the door if you need to move it.

Consider a Loft Bed

If you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty with DIY, a loft bed can make your small space feel instantly roomy. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get a bunkbed into your space but using a plinth and a small set of makeshift stairs can help you channel your inner child without much effort. If you want even more privacy, you can make the underside of the plinth into a workspace with a desk, LED lights and a pull-across curtain which is ideal for introverts.

Decorate Your Door

College students looking to bond with their roommates might want to pitch in to decorate their door! You can certainly create a cute design that’ll work year-round with wall stickers and a chalkboard for leaving cute messages. But you could also switch things up every season to celebrate games, Christmas or Halloween! To spice up the inside of your door, try coat hooks and organisers for small items that are easily lost to make both of your lives easier.

Add Color with Plants

If you like beautiful and low-maintenance indoor plants,  nothing lifts a space like a bunch of greenery. Real plants are always stunning options for dreary rooms, but if you have dorm restrictions or struggle to water your plants regularly, fake alternatives like cacti, fig trees and small palms can be lovely. Once you’ve chosen your plants, feel free to dial things up with patterned plant pots and wicker baskets. If you don’t have much floor space to work with, experiment with hanging plants or stick small bunches of fake flowers to the wall right by your bed for a hit of serotonin every morning.

Best Dorm Room Ideas

Best Dorm Room Ideas