Although classes and clubs at the University of Connecticut have begun to settle in, there’s still time to partake in one of the most fulfilling aspects of the early fall semester: dorm decorating!
I’ve always been the kind of person to fill her time with activities and side projects, so my freshman dorm room was a little lackluster and could have used some spark. This year, I’ve made it my mission to have the coolest dorm I can, one decorating session at a time.
The first step to having the best-decorated room on campus is to make sure you have the space for it. You’ll want to have some wall space for posters, lights and other decorations, so it’s important to arrange your room accordingly. As a resident of West Campus, this meant lofting my bed more than five feet off the ground so I could take my desk out of the closet and put it underneath.
Bed lofting is always an interesting experience at UConn, and I didn’t have family around to help me this time. Thankfully, my upstairs neighbor and The Daily Campus’s Associate Opinion Editor Patrick Minnerly, came by with a mallet and an extra set of helping hands.
For anyone else who lofted their beds to an uncomfortable height, it’s a good idea to buy a hanging bedside pouch. You stick it underneath your mattress and let it hang over the side, and those pockets are perfect for holding your phone and other essentials. You can also attach a charging block, either by tape or Command Strip, to your bedpost so the charging cords can reach your bed.
I’m personally a huge proponent of BYOLS — Bring Your Own Light Source. Lighting and sound are key to crafting the ideal cozy vibe, especially since the fluorescent lights installed in every dorm hall can be harsh and bright at times. I personally have a set of LED curtain lights, which I got at Target for a cool $17, and those offer a more relaxing environment.
If you’ve lofted your bed like I have, I highly recommend the curtain lights because you can slip them into that space between your bed in the wall. If you have ones that are long enough, they’ll hang down in the area under your bed and can display any posters or art you may have tacked up on that wall. You can also do this with fake leaves or vines, beads or other hanging decorations.
As for sound, I’ve got white noise in the form of a tower fan. I’ve yet to start up a record collection, so this is the world I live in for now. For those who do enjoy vinyl, Newbury Comics is selling an exclusive collection of color vinyl, and I’m tempted to grab a few just for the sake of it.
Speaking of Newbury Comics, that’s the perfect world for dorm decoration if you’re a nerd like me. There are posters and vinyl galore, with all sorts of trinkets, figurines and magnets to spice up your space. The “you need to nerd out” trend going on right now only confirms the idea that the weird side of pop culture is in right now.
On the topic of magnets, they’re a side of dorm decoration that I don’t think everyone has caught on to yet. UConn’s metal bed frames and metal stabilizer bars are completely magnetic. If you’ve got yourself a magnet collection or some drawings to display, that’s the place to put it.
Furthermore, the idea of lining my bed frame with sticky notes has started to consume my brain, and I just need the time to execute it. I have plans to get some multi-colored sticky notes that I can cover in doodles and little Zentangles when I’m bored or don’t feel like reading my physics textbook.
If you do decide to paper your walls with art, posters and other decorations, I highly recommend getting the Velcro Command Strips instead of the regular sticky ones. The college dorm room is a temporary one, and Velcro strips mean that you can extend the longevity of anything you hang up. When the time comes to move out, you can easily remove posters from the wall without rips and put them up somewhere else with ease.
And on my final topic: cable management. Finding a place to tuck away your various cords and cables is essential, otherwise those will clog up your space. My solution in my own dorm was to prop a power strip up onto my bed’s stabilizer bar, which sits directly behind my desk. I can shove the cables down into that space between the desk and the wall and pull them out when I need them.
While your college dorm room has a short shelf life, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth decorating. Having a space that is uniquely yours is the best way to feel comfortable and secure during your time at UConn.