Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Dorm decor taste differences require big compromises

Emily Hagerdorn The Detroit News

The starkness of the cinder blocks smacks you in the face when you walk into the room.

White, cold, bleak blocks of nothingness, fluorescent light, bare-bones furniture and a prison-style mattress — not what you want to live in for the next eight months.

This might be what you see when you step into your dorm room, but this image doesn’t have to live long past move-in, say designers and veteran college students.

“You go mentally insane with white walls,” says Doris Yee, a resident adviser and dorm dweller at Wayne State University. “Put your heart on the wall.”

With some lighting, furnishing and maybe some lofting students can create home sweet home, decorators say.

Plus, decorating a dorm room doesn’t have to cost you your college tuition.

Lesson No. 1: A dorm room is a shared experience

Before moving in, many experts suggest contacting the roommate and discussing the motif. Because space is so tight roommates will want to avoid having two of everything, and shopping for dorm needs can be a pair’s first bonding experience.

“If you’re sort of Ms. Goth and they’re Laura Ashley you might want to find a little common ground,” Willdorf says.

If the roommates are complete opposites, Lee Snijders, host of HGTV’s “Design on a Dime,” suggests spreading the tastes around.

Instead of separating the Marilyn Manson and Britney Spears posters, mix and match them around the room.

Lesson No. 2: Make spaces less claustrophobic

“The first thing I would say is do not turn on that overhead fluorescent light,” Willdorf says.

Have lamps at least by the bed and desk, says Mindy Greenberg, owner of the New York City-based Encore Decor and frequent guest on HGTV’s “Decorating Cents.”

Plus, if you angle the lamp toward the wall, it makes the room look larger.

Colors can also spruce up an otherwise dull room.

Some of the designer’s hue cues include:

• Brights and darks can be overwhelming if exaggerated.

• Cooler colors alleviate anxiety.

• Blue suppresses appetite.

Lesson No. 3: If in doubt, put it up high

Space can also be gained by lofting beds — putting the beds on risers so a desk, entertainment or lounging area can fit under it.

“It gives the student three places to sit back and do his homework — the desk, the bed and under the bed,” Snijders says. It decreases the likelihood you’ll fall asleep while studying, and putting the bed up high can keep people off it when they’re in your room, he says.

Lesson No. 4: If you don’t need it, leave it.

Sometimes, first-timers will bring their entire bedroom including furniture — it only creates clutter.

Most colleges furnish a bed, desk, closet and dresser.

Joseph Ratcliff III, another resident adviser at Wayne State, suggests only bringing the clothes needed for the season and limit the amount of formal wear.

Yee’s 12 pairs of platform shoes and boots line the small hallway into her cozy abode.

“I don’t need half of these,” she says.

Lesson No. 5: Realize your restrictions.

No painting. No big nails. No changing blinds or carpet.

No toasters. No candles. No George Foreman grills.

Posters, tapestries and wall hangings — as long as they require no large nails or screws — are the norm for covering those hideous bare walls, Snijders says.

The limits on appliances also create a greater need for mini-fridges and microwaves.

Willdorf suggests new roommates make hunting down cheap appliances one of their first outings.

The final test: Be creative.

Yee and Ratcliff have seen residents decorate with foosball tables, couches, Christmas lights and fake palm trees.

Yee’s dorm room includes a long piece of black, plastic mesh she found on the street, which she uses to hang pictures from. Snijders built a putting green for an episode on dorm rooms.

“That’s a fun way to bring a fun thing into the room,” he says. The more you personalize the space, the more time you want to spend in it.

Remember, decorating a dorm is a process and through it you can discover your own tastes, many say.

“It is the time for a person to find out their likes and dislikes and comforts and tendencies,” Greenberg says. “It’s about your personality surrounding you.”