“6 Tips for a Cozy College Dorm Room or Apartment” is written in collaboration with The Home Depot. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Moving into your first college dorm room or apartment can be scary. For many, it means leaving the comfort of your parents’ home to a new city, state, and sometimes country. When trying to figure out how I was going to make my tiny Manhattan studio feel like home, The Home Depot became my one-stop shop. If you’re struggling to make your new college dorm room feel cozy and like home, here’s six things you can do:
BUY ONE DUVET SIZE LARGER
Like the feeling of wrapping yourself up into a blanket burrito? Instead of opting for a duvet or comforter the size of your mattress, purchase one size up instead. If you have a twin bed in your dorm room, buy a full size duvet instead. Dorm rooms are known to get notoriously cold, and you’ll thank yourself in the winter months! This down duvet from The Home Depot has been my favorite duvet to date.
BRING PHOTOS FROM HOME
One of the best ways to bring a little bit of home at school is to incorporate pieces into your wall decor that mean something to you. For my gallery wall, I blended photos of my friends and family with vintage fashion photography to incorporate some of the people I love the most into my apartment in a chic way. I also included a vintage illustration of a lady slipper {Minnesota’s state flower} from a vintage store in Minnesota my sister and I discovered last summer, as well as a Vogue cover from February 1964 that I’ve been in love with ever since I came across it during one of my many hours perusing the vintage Vogue archives in the Minneapolis Public Library stacks. Instead of purchasing art prints to incorporate into the wall, I instead scanned and printed my own fashion sketches. Using your own photos and illustrations or scanning and printing vintage images for wall art is an easy way to save money while decorating your college living space.
ADHESIVE LED LIGHTS
The LED lights around perimeter of my apartment make it THE coziest vibes. Although they’re most commonly seen switching through bright colors such as blue, green, red, and purple, I decided to customize my colors to a deep warm orange, a soft golden shade, and soft pink. They change through slowly, and make my apartment feel so much warmer and cozier. The adhesive is removable and there’s no holes in the wall necessary, making them easy to take down and the perfect option for a dorm room or apartment!
MAKE IT FLUFFY
Would you rather have an ultra fluffy duvet rather than a large one? Purchase one size larger than your duvet cover to make it even puffier! Although this king size down duvet from the The Home Depot was really fluffy all on its own, when put into my queen duvet cover, it only got better. For ultimate levels of coziness, purchase one duvet cover size larger than your bed, and one duvet larger than the cover {i.e. full size bed, queen duvet cover, king duvet insert}.
THE WEIGHTED BLANKET
My weighted blanket is single handedly one of the best purchases I’ve made in college. College can be stressful {understatement of the year}. My weighted blanket has helped me sleep on those anxious, stressful nights preparing for an important project or test. Although weighted blankets should have a cover for cleaning ease, I get around this by placing my weighted blanket between my flat sheet and duvet. The blanket is still protected from dirt, oils, etc., but doesn’t need its own cover.
ALL THE PILLOWS
Throw pillows are a simple touch that can make the standard dorm room bed or apartment couch feel so much less bare. When selecting throw pillows, try to mix textures such as velvet with fur, sequins, or knit, while also including more subtle texture.
A few simple tips to keep in mind while shopping for your college dorm room or apartment make it easy to create a living space that feels all your own and truly like home! Visit the The Home Depot to shop everything you need for your new college space this year.
xx,
E
