Can you guess which side is mine?? Read on to find out! :)
Hint: the stuffed animals on the beds gives it away!
I finished my freshman year of college on May 16th and boy it went by fast! At my college, freshman are required to stay in the dorms for a year. Since I moved out of my dorm, I wanted to show y'all what my room looked like. Just for funsies! I think it's fun to see how people decorate their rooms and can give great ideas and room-spiration. Many dorms are very small and space has to be used wisely. There are also many restrictions on decorating, so hopefully this can give you some ideas on how to decorate your dorm.
I shared my dorm with my roommate Cleo. After filling out a survey about our personalities and interests, we were paired together. Choosing a random roommate can be daring because you never know who you're going to get. They might not have the same values as you and you might not end up getting along. I felt like this would be a fun adventure though and I took a chance. I'm so glad I did. I got along so well with my roommate and we didn't have any problems. We also had a lot in common such as the fact that we were both gymnasts. There was a long hallway to get to our dorm so sometimes we had handstand walking races. Also, we were both organized and liked to keep our room clean.
This is the front of our door. It was boring and plain, so we decorated it with sticky notes that say inspirational quotes and silly sayings.
Each dorm gets their own sink. We only had to share the toilet and shower with our suite-mates. Also, that door was the main door to our room.
Our room was connected to another room through a bathroom, so we shared a bathroom with our suite-mates. At many colleges there are two room choices. 1. Share a bathroom with suite-mates or 2. Share a bathroom with the whole hall. To me, sharing a bathroom with a whole hall would be difficult because there are only so many showers and I'd probably have to shower at weird times. Also, I'd have to carry all of my clothes and shower stuff to the bathroom, which is a hassle. So if you're looking at staying in a college dorm, I'd recommend choosing the first option. Plus, if you lock yourself out of your room, you can ask your suite-mates if you can get into your room by going through their room and then the bathroom. I'm was always locking myself out of my room. You'd think by end of the year, I'd have learned better, but noooo. It was also nice because they had people that would clean our bathrooms every two weeks.
We had a blank wall so we used removable hooks to hang up our towels.
We had a shelf above our sink, which held: Glad air freshener/ soap/ hand sanitizer/ lotion.
Under the sink: Right side- Randa's stuff & Left side- Cleo's stuff
On the door their was a little holder where I kept my straightener. Then I had mouthwash and extra body wash/shampoo/conditioners incase I ran out. Then I had my pink shower caddy. It's essential when going to college to have a shower caddy. It'll make your life easier because it allows you to have all your showering essentials in one place. All you have to do is take it with you when taking a shower. In my shower caddy I have: body wash / shampoo / conditioner / face wash / shaving cream / a razor / shower cap / wash cloth / tooth brush/ tooth paste. ( I don't brush my teeth in the shower, it's just a handy place for me to store it :p)
Across from the sink was our closet. My roommate got one side and I got the other half.
In my closet, I had shoes lined up on the floor and then I had a hanging organizer. I recommend getting this because it creates a lot more space in the closet. This is where I kept my makeup, jewelry and hair products.
On this side I had my delicate clothes that needed to be on hangers. I also had a hamper and more shoes laid out on the floor.
In between our closets was a built in wardrobe that we shared. I got half the drawers and Cleo got the other half. This is where I kept my workout clothes and delicates.
Cleo and I stored our jackets in the wardrobe. Then I stored my nail polish, medicine and electronic cords on the top shelf.
Here is an overview of my side of the room! I chose to lift my bed to the highest setting, so that I could have more room for storage. Also, I placed an extra chair in the room so guests had a place to sit when visiting.
The room came with a dresser, which I stored sweats and t-shirts in. Then on the desk I had: Red Vines/ alarm clock/ Bible / earphones/ care package from my parents.
Under my bed I had a mini fridge and a microwave. My roommate and I shared these two appliances because there wouldn't have been enough room for us to both have them. Next to that I had a container filled with snacks. I had a meal plan so I didn't have to cook my own food. It was nice to have snacks though, especially when I'd have a late night study sesh.
Here's my bed! :) I bought a chair pillow so that I could sit up on my bed and be comfy whilst doing homework. I also had my panda pillow pet to keep me company. His name is Tucker!
A great way to decorate and brighten up a room is to add Christmas lights! We had lights strung all the way around our room. It gave our dorm a cozy feel and looked really cute!
Next to my bed, I had my desk. This was the only part of my dorm that I really hated because it was squished in the corner. Under my desk I kept some magazines and the game, Apples to Apples. Then there was a compartment with a lock, where I kept my valuables, like my camera and my purse.
On top of my desk I had: my computer/ a lamp/ headphone/ perfume/ glasses/ planner. The lamp was useful when my roommate wanted to sleep, but I still had homework to complete.
At the foot of my bed, I had a small fan because it got really hot in our room. Then above my desk I had my heart collage. I have a tutorial on how to re-create this. Click HERE to find out how!
Here is Cleo's side! As you can see our tastes are very different.
In the corner she had a coffee maker that we shared. We got a ton of use out of it and by the end of each day I was practically sweating coffee.
We had a little T.V. that she kept on her desk. We got this T.V. second semester, which is when I began to feel less motivated. This is probably the reason why! That T.V. was such a distraction. An even bigger distraction though, was Netflix. It was a problem! Having unlimited shows and movies at my fingertips was too much power! Too much!
Cleo and I on our last day of Freshman year. This day was so bittersweet! On one hand I was one year closer to being done with college, but on the other hand, I was really going to miss my roomie! We had grown so close over the past year.
Have any of you lived the dorm life? Was your experience good or bad?
