Hey there! As I write this, I’m sitting in my dorm room between classes, drinking a mug of hot chocolate, and I thought I’d post a quick update about the state of things. I’m finally back at college finishing up my last semester. Last week was the first full week of class, and in the midst of shuffling syllabi and catching up with old friends, I finally got around to organizing and decorating my dorm. Grab yourself a cup of tea and come on in—I’ll give you a look around.
Let’s start with an overview. Even within the confines of a dorm, there are endless ways to express your personality. I naturally gravitate towards soft pink and florals, so I hung up this summer sunset tapestry framed with string lights, and most of my decorations are some variant shade of pale pink, gray, or soft blue.
Originally this was meant to be a triple room, but a few days into classes, our third roommate transferred unexpectedly to another college. With the extra desk, my roommate and I decided to make a coffee/tea station. Here, we keep an electric tea kettle, French press, collection of mugs, a jar of honey, and a few very necessary succulents. In the drawers below, I keep snacks and a selection of teas. The tablecloth and bamboo tray were recent additions that help visually organize everything.
Over beneath the window is my desk, cluttered with a collection of crystals, candles, lotion, picture frames, and a salt lamp. That’s Sookie hiding over behind the rose quartz, and my hedgehog, Alexei, is perched on the candle.
This week I’ve been reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits, and in one of the early chapters he talks about associating habits with certain locations. I know I won’t be able to get much focused work done in my dorm, so I’m establishing regular study hours at the library after class. I want my dorm space to be relaxing and restful. For that reason, I keep all my textbooks, notebooks, and binders here, but I only take with me in my backpack the things that I’ll need that day.
In the top drawer, for easy reference, I keep my planner and notebooks near the front. In college, there are so many deadlines, events, social activities, assignments—unless you’re keeping track of it all in a single place, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and disorganized. The planner is a life-saver.
Tucked behind my planner, I keep my Bible, my current journal, and whatever book I’m reading at the moment. Right now I’m reading Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle and rereading The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater.
To keep my papers in order, I currently have two binders. One is for academic paperwork, like transcripts and forms. The second binder is for all my classwork, where I store handouts, study notes, and syllabi. The first one stays in my dorm desk, but I carry the classwork binder with me every day.
This second drawer is dedicated to study supplies: a hole punch, tape, eraser, index cards, post-its, stapler, and pens. The usual. Since this drawer is right next to the bed, I also keep chapstick, lotion, and headphones within reach.
The very bottom drawer is just for miscellany. Extra lined paper, a few more notebooks, stationary, a camera, and all the rental textbooks that I keep in a stack down there because it’s definitely not worth it to carry all of them around in a backpack all day and I am not a dedicated enough English major to bring a bookshelf to school like I should have, so there my textbooks remain.
Last and least, we come to the closet. There are a couple hooks on the inside of the closet doors where I keep my bag and my towel. I’ve hung up my wardrobe on the right side, above the hamper. Not much to see here.
On the left side of the closet, the drawers have plenty of space for sweaters, linens, and towels. In the top drawer, I keep all my makeup and toiletry items. Above that is my makeshift bookshelf of non-academic books, along with the toiletry items I grab most often: my toothbrush, hair product, facial moisturizer, and rosehip facial oil.
Now that I’ve shown you around, here are my top closing suggestions for creating a cozy dorm room of your own:
- First of all, lighting changes the whole tone of the room—hang up twinkly lights and set up a lamp to create more ambience. Regular dorm lights have all the ambience of a jail cell; avoid them at all costs.
- Choose a color scheme. I naturally gravitate towards white, grey, dusty blue, or rosy pink; my roommate loves dark lavender, navy blue, and charcoal gray. Choose one or two accent colors, and the whole room will become coherent.
- Hang a tapestry or collage of photographs on the wall to give the room a focal point.
- Get in the habit of putting things away and tidying as you go.
- Keep some fresh flowers somewhere in the room. A little dash of color will always cheer you up.
There you have it: the complete dorm tour, Spring 2020 style. And with that, it’s time for me to head off to my next class. Thanks for stopping in!
Until next time,
<3 Olivia Grace
