Most dorm rooms are only equipped with an overhead light, so you’ll need to bring in your own lamps for reading and studying. Decorating your lamp shades adds more color to the room, especially when the bulb is turned on and illuminates the shade. Add ribbon to a plain white fabric shade for a quick and colorful project. Or cover the shade with pieces of ribbon, laying them across the shade vertically and using a hot glue gun to secure the ends to the inside of the shade. Gluing beads and strips of fringe to the bottom edge of the shade also spruces it up in a hurry.
When you’re living in a tight space, organization is crucial. Decorating your storage boxes makes them look like part of the decor rather than taking away from it. Cover plastic or cardboard boxes with pictures from magazines or your own photos. Glue the pictures down first, then cover them with sheets of contact paper to keep the pictures in place. Alternatively, make your own storage containers for paperwork using detergent boxes. Use a box cutter to cut off the top third of each box. Then, paint the box or glue fabric to it to hide the detergent logo, and line them up on your desk.
When you’re away from home for the first time, being surrounded by familiar pictures may be comforting. Paint plain wooden picture frames with inside jokes, or cut up and glue small bits of favorite pictures to the frame itself. A memory board also allows you to quickly change the pictures you display. Stretch a large piece of cloth over a bulletin board, and staple the edges of the cloth to the back of the board. Run pieces of thin ribbon across the front with some pieces going horizontally and others vertically, and staple the ends in place at the back of the board. Slip pictures and fliers in between the pieces of ribbon.
Keys, loose change, ticket stubs, pens – you’ll need places to store all these odds and ends since clutter will fill up your desk quickly. Put a personalized touch on some wide-mouthed vases and bowls. Opt for plain glass containers; these may even be cheaper than decorated varieties. Use acrylic paints to decorate each piece of glass. Use a thin brush to write words on your bowls, or use a wider brush to coat the entire bowl with paint. Let the paint dry, and then add swirls and polka dots in a second shade.