How to Design a Beautiful Dorm Room Without Breaking the Bank

Summertime means shopping time if you’ve got a kid heading to college in the fall. Whether they’re moving into the dorm or an off-campus apartment, a stylish, comfortable bedroom offers the home-away-from-home they crave. 

Designing a space where students can study, sleep, and hang out with friends might be a tall order given the not-so-aesthetic design of traditional campus residence halls. But with some creativity and savvy shopping, it’s possible to help your student create the dorm room of their dreams without a price tag to rival the tuition bill.

Here are some tips from college parents who pulled it off. 

First, Consult With the Roommate

Debbi Winogracki of North Carolina had no doubt she’d find bargains online or at a department store for her daughter Nicole’s comforter, rug, and accessories. However, to help her design a room she would really enjoy, Winogracki recommended that her daughter collaborate with her new roommate.

“I encouraged my daughter to find some photos online [of dorm room items] to share with her future roommate,” she explains.

Once the girls settled on the styles of bedding, decor, and accessories, they chose different colors. Winogracki added that this made the shared room much more cohesive.  

Shop Thrift and Dollar Stores

Laura Fitton is a single mom of her “stylish” Smith-bound daughter, Sue. Shopping second-hand saved the day, most notably shopping at Savers.

Fitton says they snagged brand-new, high-end bamboo towels in her daughter’s exact color scheme, plus a comforter and cover in a pale pink her daughter loved. They added velvety beaded curtains and coordinating throw pillows for a dreamy design. 

The dollar store was another go-to spot for great deals on essentials like coat hangers, a shower tote, and other items on the school’s recommended packing list. They even stocked up on ramen noodles, snacks, and candy.

Don’t Skimp on Sheets

Sleep is important for a busy college student. Laundering bedding, however, might not be. As such, Patty Mathews of Port Chester, New York has packed her son off to his Rhode Island college with a few sets of sheets for when “he isn’t doing laundry as much as I like.” 

Mathews says she gets XL twin sheets that are deep enough to fit the mattress pad underneath. PeachSkinSheets are her “go-to sheets” for both comfort and affordability, and she buys them with a matching duvet.

“They keep him cool in the early fall nights in a hot dorm room, and they look great,” Matthews says.

Raise Up Furniture to Optimize Space

If the dorm room is small—and let’s face it, most are—use bed risers to create more storage space beneath, says Francesca Weber of Oceanport, NJ.

“We bought white, plastic three-drawer bins at Target (on wheels), and they were great for extra clothes, shoes, and even food and essentials.”

They also added risers to her daughter Lucy’s desk, which also doubles as her vanity area.

Hang Unique Wall Art

Concrete walls don’t make for the most interesting aesthetic, and they don’t make it easy to hang anything on them, either. Weber and her daughter found the perfect workaround to liven up the four walls.

“We chose fun prints on Etsy, printed them at Staples, then bought a four pack of inexpensive gold frames on Amazon and framed them ourselves,” Weber says. “We hung them with foam tape and Command strips.”

Choose a Rug That’s Easy to Maintain

When shopping for area rugs, select a bold rug that catches the eye without catching too much dirt and dust. Weber and her daughter shopped at Amazon and selected a low-pile carpet in hot pink. It packed plenty of punch but was easy to vacuum and hid stains well, she says.

Rent Furniture for Off-Campus Housing

If you thought campuses had strict rules about move-in day, wait until you experience the joy of off-campus housing. Especially if your student is studying in a big city, this could involve anything from restricted elevator use, to certificates of insurance, to carefully coordinated furniture move-ins—not to mention furniture assembly. It’s a headache to think about all that work for what might only be a year-long lease.

To avoid that very headache, Ben C. of Austin, Texas, rented furniture from CORT for his New York City-bound daughter. They placed the order online, and the company coordinated a delivery date and handled the elevator and certificates of insurance.

“Best of all, at the end of the year, my daughter did move, and they came back and picked everything up,” he said.

More Tips to Design a Great Room on a Budget

Here are a few more tips that will save you time and money when helping your student move in at school.

• Shop on campus: Weber recommends scoping out yard sales or second-hand markets on campus for desk risers, extra shelving, fans, and more. “We ended up getting a lot of necessities [at school] when we realized we needed more storage,” she says.
• Order online for easy returns. Weber relied a lot on online ordering, which made returning anything they didn’t use or need that much easier.
• Shop early for the best deals. Fitton says she was rewarded for getting a head start on shopping. “Start early so you can find sales,” she says. “[My daughter’s] beautiful bamboo sheets came off Amazon months in advance because I saw a great deal.”
• Ship items directly to campus. Winogracki suggests inquiring if there’s a place on campus to store deliveries until students arrive on campus. In the long run, it could be more efficient since many retailers offer free shipping. It’s also a way to save room in the trunk as you load up for the trip to campus. “We had matching headboards sent to the school ahead of time, saving much-needed room in our car,” she said.