With such a short move-in period before classes start — and the looming knowledge that everything you move in will have to be moved back out less than nine months later — it can be easy to neglect to decorate your dorm room.
Despite the hassle it can be, fully personalizing your room is worth the trouble.
For most freshmen, college is the first time they’ve lived away from home long-term. Making your dorm feel like a home can do wonders in helping you adjust to being away.
I had every reason to opt for the easier route of keeping my dorm simple.
My hometown is far enough from Boston that I can only reasonably travel to and from BU by plane. This means I purchased a lot of my dorm essentials once I got to Boston and had to find a summer storage plan for many of my belongings. On top of that, I lived in a triple.
Regardless, I ultimately chose to prioritize making my room feel like my own, and it was so worthwhile.
The first rule I swore by was to have as little open wall space as possible. Try to cover your walls with something to avoid the stale, uninhabited vibe dorms often have when you first enter.
My room has always been my safe space. It is a sanctuary where I can be myself and where my interests, hobbies and goals take priority.
If you feel similarly, know you don’t have to sacrifice that just because you’re sharing the space with other people.
As long as you and your roommate — or roommates — are clear about allocating wall space, you should feel empowered to cover your walls however you want.
Back at home, my bedroom walls are covered in TV show and music posters, so I did the same for my dorm. This made my dorm feel just as comfortable as the room I grew up in.
My walls were also filled with photos of family and friends, which helped with any homesickness I felt. When I went to bed each night, I could look at my walls and see a highlight reel of my life — memories, interests, hobbies — and that really helped make my part of the dorm feel like mine.
In addition to an abundance of wall decorations, keeping your room comfortable is essential to making it feel homey.
I highly recommend secondary light sources like fairy lights or a desk lamp — both of which completely transformed the atmosphere of my room when I turned them on.
My bed was also a huge part of what made my room cozy. Several pillows, a comforter, a throw blanket and a healthy amount of Squishmallows made it the perfect spot for relaxation.
While these items can certainly be difficult to transport at the end of the school year, with the help of vacuum-sealed bags, they are a worthwhile addition that I would not advise passing up.
In addition to decorations, the furniture arrangement in your room can really make a difference in how your portion of the dorm feels.
When I walked into my dorm for the first time and saw that the two remaining open beds were parallel to each other and less than five feet apart, I knew instantly that wouldn’t work for me. I needed to have a space that was mine and had all my items within it — both furniture and decorations alike.
If possible, I recommend arranging the given furniture — typically a bed, desk and dresser — to build a mini area for yourself within the larger room.
My roommates and I arranged our room so it had a more closed-off floor plan, allowing each of us to have our own little corner. This created unspoken boundaries between shared and personal items, which was ultimately very helpful for us.
Instead of feeling like I was fully sharing a room with two other people whom I had met just days ago, I felt like I had my own smaller room within a larger space that we shared.
Though I would call my freshman year dorm experience a success, it was not without its struggles.
Moving into your college dorm as a freshman can be a daunting process, but you shouldn’t be afraid to make your space yours.
I had to have some awkward conversations with roommates. I made some compromises regarding my ideal dorm appearance. And, of course, I had to find a way to store all my belongings at the end of the year.
That being said, I don’t regret the extra time and effort I put into styling my dorm the way I like it.
Your dorm is your home for the year, and you should be able to make it feel like a home — even if that means having difficult conversations about floor space, an obnoxious amount of posters or even a few too many Squishmallows.
