dorm life: top places to outfit that small (but awesome!) space

so, i happened to be at my local target the other night (and this past weekend, and last week too), and i noticed a group of three adorable college students, who were scoping out the aisles for what could only be dorm room decor. no joke, they were carrying adorable cork boards, organizational funness (not a word, i know!) + pillows, which made me: 1. reminisce to those target trips when i was in college, and 2. feel the need to pull together some cool + awesome ways to organize + decorate dorm rooms! i mean, first off, having your own dorm room (all 8′ x 10′ of it for three people) is kind of the teenage equivalent of having your own 2,000 square foot house. (at least it was for me!) let’s just say that you do not need to stare at vanilla painted cinder block all year!

i know my mom spent bookoo bucks at target, every single year of college, because i wanted my room to be “just right.” (thanks mom!) but the awesomeness that we have now, that we didn’t have then, is pinterest. oh yeah….pinterest. and, not to mention the home décor retailers who are launching college + dorm décor extensions of their lines….trust me, there’s no shortage of ways to make that small space feel just like home!

so, here’s a little round-up of some of my favorites, and if i was decorating a dorm room today, where i’d go to get lots of inspiration + ideas!

1. better homes + gardens “creative dorm room decor”: this is such a great, great resource for capturing some of the basics for decorating that cinder block room that you’ll call home. with everything from ideas on bedding, organization, and one of my very faves: softening all of those concrete walls. i absolutely love their recommendation to bring fabrics in to the room (and i don’t mean covering the walls with them!) add varying textures to the pillows on your bed, overlay fabric on the top of a bookshelf, or make a fabric covered cork board (which you can see over on my pinterest page….more on that in a minute!)

the re-nest studio pinterest page! which just happens
to include a college spaces board!

2. pinterest (duh): seriously, if pinterest had been around when i was in college, i would have been in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. i’m fairly certain i would have spent the majority of my time making things + not actually studying! but now that college is waaaayyy behind me, i still love seeing what people are doing now with their dorms. which is why i have a college spaces board over on pinterest! (shameless plug!) some of my faves: the fabric covered cork board (super easy!), the wire/clothespin photo collage, decorating with scrapbook paper + if you’re really ambitious, a slipcovered headboard!

the zig zag stripe value comforter set in pool
from pbteen.com

3. pottery barn teen. now, i know that this might seem a little out of range, but after some deep diving into the dorm section of pb teen, there’s actually some pretty darn cool stuff, and some great values. first up, if you think you might want something, anything, from here, be sure to sign up for their student discount program. it’s 10% off your order with any valid .edu e-mail address or college i.d. presented in-store. that’s pretty sweet, right? then, when it comes to bedding, they have value sets….as in, remember “bed in a bag?” it’s basically that, but with a ton of color + pattern options. and, i’d super suggest that if you will have a college freshman in the fall of 2016, shop now. and, of course, since it’s pottery barn, there’s a whole host of other cuteness for your dorm space….lighting, décor, organization. lots + lots of cute stuff to check out!

the danya b bicycle iron book ends from target.com

4. target. can you blame me? on any given day, at any given target, there is more than enough great home decor style to outfit any dorm room. am i right? i mean, there’s this adorable chalkboard banner that adds some easy, space-efficient personalization to any room! and, what about these super-cute bicycle book ends? seriously, the possibilities at target for decor + organization are pretty much endless. they were when i was in college, and they are still today!

tell me: what did your college dorm/apartment/sorority room look like?

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