Check dorm rules on painting, nails, staples and tape on the walls. Buy poster adhesive or an approved low tack tape instead.
Talk to your roommates and decide whether to work together on a room design or break the room into sections and have separate spaces. If you decide to separate your styles, set some rules for what decoration is and is not acceptable. Discuss your favorite colors and try to coordinate a color scheme if possible.
Shop at department stores and thrift shops rather than at expensive specialty stores. Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart all have sections specifically dedicated to dorm rooms. Look for surprises in other sections as well and always watch for sales.
Start with a sheet set and comforter that you love and build your space around it. Often beds are the largest furniture in a dorm room and show the most amount of color. Since your bed will most likely double as a study area or place to hang out with friends, make sure you choose something you like to show.
Get creative. Cut photos and words from magazines, paste them to poster board and stick them to walls, bed posts or around your computer screen. Hang brightly colored wrapping paper or butcher paper on the walls, using acceptable adhesive, to act as wallpaper. Buy lots of posters showcasing your favorite bands or use your own photographs to make a giant collage.
Find an old couch or chair at a yard sale or from a relative's basement. You can buy slip covers or a colored sheet to make old furniture look college-ready in no time.
Finish with accessories. Rugs, lamps and pillows are functional and also look great. For a creative challenge, make your own pillows using square handkerchiefs or "do rags." Use dry erase boards to communicate with roommates and friends. Fill colored crates or boxes with food and extra items for storage that looks clean and is visually interesting. Accessories make any room-especially a dorm room.