Yes, getting clutter out of sight is a key to a nice looking room.
I like picking a colour scheme and going from there. Obviously you could use the colours on your bedspread. Once you have your colour scheme, when you are out shopping you can pick up little things that match.
Use lots of rugs on the floor, and drape fabric (or table cloths or napkins etc) over dodgy chairs and tables. Cover up as much on the undesirable stuff as possible! Or if you have your own dodgy furniture, you can paint it nice colours.
If you haven’t got things like cups and stuff yet, get them in a colour that matches your colour scheme and put them on display.
I hung a string of different coloured paper lanterns across my room, and people always commented on them.
Lighting.
Lighting can be decroative as well as funtional. There are all kinds of lamps you can consider that will give your room a unique look. Consider uplighting, or rope lights or undercabinet lights. Colored lights can ‘paint’ a wall for you too.
Oh, cool, now I can be an annoying, bitchy RA in the SDMB in addition to in real life.
I don’t know what college you’re headed to, but I’ll bet 99:1 that you can’t bring:
a tapestry, cloth wall paper, etc.
anything halogen
no coffee makers means no electric kettles either
no fricken’ candles!
Above all else, before you purchase your decorating supplies or lug them across country in a U-Haul van, look up the housing department’s policies on-line or call ahead so that you know what not to bring.
Now you want my humble opinion on decorating your dorm room?
Step one, get a new comforter. That thing’s ugly, and worse, it’s darkly colored. You’re dorm is likely going to be small, so you’re better off with a plain off-white duvet color etc. to both lighten up your room and make it feel bigger.
Invest in a mirror of some type that will make your room feel bigger. The provided mirrors have a way of always being conveniently placed behind a door where they’re impossible to use anyway.
Would you like me to make you a dream catcher for your room? If so, email me. My dream catchers are not the traditional leather and sinew style. Link to photos.
If that link doesn’t work, try this one and select the “dream catcher” album.
My bedspread looks almost like yours! I’ve put up matching drapes on the walls instead of the windows. Fabric on walls gives a warm feel, and also makes the room look less like a dorm.
Mirrors and lamps also create this effect, and make the room seem bigger, too. I bought a big cheap trunk from Walmart, threw some colorful (some-what matching) scarves over it, and voila! - a place to rest your feet, extra seating, or a mini table for get-togethers.
And I definitely want to try that Rasterbator thing now, too!
RE Stringing things up, mine were attached to the breezeways on top of the doors. If you don’t have them (very unlikely you would), I don’t know how you’d do it. Tie it to the light somehow? In a safe way!!
If you do the bunkbed from the ceiling ( and I don’t know why you couldn’t. It use to be The Thing To Do in all my friends dorms.) you can attach as much as you like to your wooden frame underneath and make it even easier by using a bunjee cord and cloth pins. ( easy to remove for ‘company’ or whatever.)
If you can’t do the bunkbed thing, utilize the under-the-bed storage area. You could probably fit three boxes specially designed for under the bed ( on wheels) and each one could be for different things: Clothes, books & supplies for school and miscellaneous.
Oh, and I second the Rasterbator. I was going to suggest that but someone much smarter beat me too it.
Another idea is to persue back issues of the great magazine Ready Made Magazine or Budget Living to get el cheapie, yet trendy decorator tips.
I like it, too. I chose it because I wanted bold colors (none of that florally stuff for me- that’s my room now, and I wanted a change) and because I didn’t want anything too light, seeing as I’m sure I’ll manage to get it dirty.
My friend has a an entire wall completely covered in posters, post cards, drawings etc that represent her. From band posters to books to movie posters and postcards from scotland They
're all stuck up on her wall. They’re not all straight up and down either, they all overlap at interesting angles that are very aesthetically pleasing. I’ve been trying for years to replicate my own, but I can’t think of enough things that represent me to put up on my wall.
I know that black and white is only 16 cents a page. Color should be no more than 20 cents. Remember to ask for them to only print on one side of the page! I had a 42 page rasterized file I took to Kinko’s today for my dorm and they printed on both sides of the page. :smack:
The woman also looked at me funny and asked if the entire file was pages made up of dots. I managed to keep from laughing by a slim margin.