How to create the dorm room of your dreams
By Hannah Barton

So you're back at school. Away from home cooked meals, away from Mom's comb and ironing board, or so anyone who pays careful attention to your wardrobe and the care thereof might deduce (though in reality, this standard high school graduation gift is tucked away in some forgotten corner of the closet).

Ahem, yes. Well, anyway, you are back at school. As you look at your predictable décor, drab walls and messy closet, you almost wish you knew Christopher Lowell personally. But it's a dorm room, right? And that means it is forever DESTINED to be very similar in decoration to an institution. Right? Besides, your roommate doesn't LIKE Pink Panther and refuses to buy a sheet set that matches yours (your decorating style and that of your roommate are like, well, two things that don't get along very well). And if that is not enough reason to forget decorating altogether, surely the cost of decorating is adequate deterrent. And who has time anyway?

You do! Come on-it can be the difference between the drab, colorless air of a hospital room and the comfort of home. Your room can be amazing with little effort and still less expense. There are only two things that are absolutely necessary: a great imagination and a lot of creativity.

As you begin to form a decorating plan, set no limits on your imagination. Choose a theme for your room. My roommate and I both fell in love with the classical yet ethereal style of a fairy tale forest. The outstanding feature of this is the outdoor/indoor feel. After agreeing on our theme, we set about bringing it to life.

First, find the things you already have which fit in with this theme and incorporate them. Last year we had selected a vineyard motif for our decorating efforts. We were able to employ the strands of greenery and grapes from last year in our new theme.

When you're ready to move on from what you already have, ask yourself, "If I had limitless funds and no restrictions on my decorating ability, what would I do?" As you give your imagination free reign, you will come up with some outstanding ideas. My roommate's philosophy of decorating is this: "The way we decorate our rooms reflects our outlook on life. When we stick with the ordinary for our rooms and refuse to think outside the box, that shows very little faith. Instead, allow yourself to be a visionary."

Look beyond the confines of your room to see its advantages and beauties. I live in Braxton, and we have beautiful arched ceilings with posts molded into our walls. One way we wanted to incorporate the architecture of our room into our scheme was to hang silk ivy on those columns. Our entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows also lent itself well to the sunny, "bringing the outside in" this whimsical look.

Other ideas we had for our room during late-night brainstorming sessions (which might have been more appropriately, though not necessarily more effectively, devoted to Spanish homework) included tile floors, curtains for the closet and windows, animal skin rugs, short Greek-style columns, painted walls and a canopy bed. Most of those things are impossible to do in dorm rooms. That's why the next step is to be creative in making your "pie in the sky" dreams a reality. We found that our slightly wild ideas gave rise to practical alternatives we wouldn't have thought of if we hadn't been willing to dream big.

Decide which décor items you want the most (just a note-tile floors are probably not a good starting point). Begin with one or two major accent pieces and then keep going. For example, one of our starting points was a lovely fairy tale map (from a book by one of our favorite authors) that we sticky-tacked to the wall.

If your "must-have" items are less doable than this, ask yourself, "Are there any alternatives to some of my ideas?" For example, instead of hanging expensive curtains, you can find inexpensive curtains or fabric to hang in the same manner. I bought most of my fabric on sale ($1 per yard) and then sewed my own curtains. My roommate accented the curtains with swags of tulle and ivy. Employing sheer fabrics gave us color and whimsy at the same time.

I wanted a marble-style column for my room but found they are rather expensive. Even plaster ones range from $15-45. However, when I was at Wal-Mart last semester, I came across birdbaths on clearance for $5. A little ivy around the bottom, blue glass rocks in the bowl, and voila! we have a really unique decoration for about a third of the cost of the original idea (I mean, how many college students do you know who have a bird bath in their dorm room?). And I did get my plaster column after all when Hobby Lobby, a craft supply store, put all pedestals on sale ($13).

Sometimes items of a higher quality are important. For these, try to catch a sale. A decorating store called Kirkland's in the Woodland Hills Mall has become a haunt frequented by both my roommate and me. Our recent accumulations (don't you love clearance sales?) from Kirkland's and Wal-Mart include a couple of black metal lanterns ($5 each), a small rock-look fountain ($7), four tall candleholders/lamp stands ranging in height from three feet to four and a half feet ($8-12), a wrought iron-look candle holder ($4)-the included candles are safely stored in our dorm director's office-and a plant stand (my trophy from a Dirty Santa gift exchange).

Details are important. For example, we sticky-tacked silk leaves and flowers to the ceiling, walls and cabinets to accentuate the forest idea. Also central to our theme are our three plants. Having heard that talking to your plants helps them grow, we both set aside 15 minutes each evening to…just kidding.

There are certain rules governing the decorating of dorm rooms and the items which students may and may not employ in said decorating. I have a large, framed Ron DiCianni print that I wanted to hang on the wall, but cement nails are not approved in ORU dormitories. I found, however, that I could stand the picture on a shelf, leaning it against the wall for a very modern look. This allowed the picture to be displayed "legally" and is even more creative than my original idea of simply hanging it.

Once you have planned a decorating scheme and have contrived a way to bring it to pass, you will find that things fall into place more readily than you would have thought possible. By decorating to your specific tastes, you can make your dorm room more than a dorm room. You can make it a home.

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