How to make your dorm room feel like home

By John Kaegi

After my fourth year at Bethel, I feel like I know what it takes to make a dorm room feel more like home. Here are some tips that can turn any boring dorm room into the ultimate hangout spot.

Be careful though, because you may not want to leave your dorm room after applying these cheap ideas to your lifestyle. After seeing my room you will agree that it is the ultimate bachelor pad!

First of all, let me give you a rundown of what makes my room one of the coolest rooms on campus!

• 32 inch flat panel television that converts to a computer screen for group projects in my room. Every member of the group can see what is being typed or created.

• All lights are controlled with a remote and can be turned off or on from any point in the room or hallway.

• Surround sound system that makes any movie night feel like you’re in a movie theater.

• Beer coaster border with some coasters coming from different countries.

• Couches and Lazy Boy chair all recline to provide a great place to relax after a long lecture or practice.

• Stain-treated carpet so liquids just bead up on the surface leaving absolutely zero stains.

A lot of college students don’t have adequate funds to create a cool dorm room, but there are inexpensive ways to show off personality and creativity.

Posters and lights can be found at places like Wal-Mart and Target and can give your dorm room a feeling of home.

The first step in creating the ultimate dorm room is developing a comprehensive floor plan.
A floor plan is the bird’s eye view of your room, and knowing the dimensions of your room is a plus.

Plan out next year’s dorm room on a piece of paper this summer and measure your furniture to make sure it will fit where you want it to. This plan will save you a lot of furniture-moving in the future.

It is much easier on move-in day to know exactly where you want tables, beds and dressers. Make sure your television is the focal point of the room because most hangout nights involve watching movies or TV.

Furniture is expensive, but there are alternatives to that too. Go to the local thrift store or Salvation Army store and browse their couch selection.

Most couches are around 30 bucks at these places and are still really comfortable. If they are ugly as sin, you can buy a ten-dollar slipcover from Wal-Mart and the couch will look brand spankin’ new again.

The next step in making your dorm room feel like home is to find ways to eliminate the concrete look and florescent lighting. If you can loft your bed, this is a great place to put Christmas lights and it gives off a cool glow at night. Two strands of these lights can also be placed around the ceiling and the glow will give you a better feeling of home.

Another cheap form of alternative lighting can be just a simple lamp from home. This can give off enough light to do homework with and you will never have to use those boring florescent lights again.

The next step in creating a home-like dorm room is carpet. You can find a small piece at any carpet store. Just ask for what they call remnants, which are the left over pieces from previous house installments.

Most carpet outlets have a ton of these and are happy to get rid of them for a small price (usually 45-75 dollars). Just make sure you use your negotiating skills to get a good price!

Carpet completely transforms the look of a dorm room and can cover up things like Ethernet cables, power cords, speaker wire and even those nasty stains from previous students.

Lighting and carpet is the best way to give a dorm room the feeling of home, but you won’t have enough space for your friends without good organization. Here are some good ideas for better organization.

A simple box can provide a place to put stuff in. You can then take that box, put a bed sheet over it and it doubles as classy looking table for your lamp and magazines.

•Milk crates are great shelves for storage and can be stacked so they save room.

•You can buy hooks that go over your door to provide a place for shoes, towels, etc.

•Stack electronic devices to save space. For example, I stacked the subwoofer, microwave, surround system, DVD player and printer in one stack.

•A lofted bed provides the greatest amount of space in a dorm. Put the couch or your desk under it to save space.

•You can purchase an additional towel rod at various lengths and it can twist to become longer or shorter. These work great in the mods in front of the closets because the concrete sticks out just enough to place it there. You can take this idea further and place a sheet over the bar to cover up the unsightly closets or keep your friends out of your snack supply. This gives a real sleek look and is very inexpensive.

There’s always one room on each floor of a residence hall that stands out from the others as being “the room” that everyone wants to spend time in. Make that room yours!

After a long, hot summer, you will soon find yourself heading back to Bethel for another year of classes, and the time to start planning your awesome dorm room is now.

The ideal setup will be a place that allows your personality to shine, while incorporating all the necessities of dorm room living.