College Dorm Walls

[verdemada]

I will be heading off to college in the fall this year, and I wanted to know if anyone has ideas for decorating the walls of my dorm.  I have a roommate, i think...so I guess that would be a factor in this, so if anyone has ideas that could incorporate her also that would be great! Of course any ideas would be great!

thanks!

ps - keep in mind i can't paint unfortunately 

[Icemaiden]

if you type 'dorm' into the search box,it should bring up heaps of previous threads,some of which may be of interest.

[evadedkiss]

tapestries, posters, rasterbations, collages...

You'll want a calendar and a cork board for important dates/projects.

If you have a lot of hats/scarves, get some 3m hooks and hang them up to add some color.

Use a beaded curtain above the head of your bed as a cheap alternative to a headboard. Use 3m hooks to place it where you want, then use a scarf or spare piece of fabric to cover the top.

If you get homesick, don't forget lots of pictures of friends and family from home!

[Starsview]

The Rasterbator!
http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/

[rusty spork]

BAH. starsview beat me to that website.

i know you can't paint, but here's a general tip my friend thought up...

buy some biiiig canvas, paint something nice and pleasant on it, add some rivets (waait grommits? i can't remember... the metal hole things) to the top and hang it (maybe with those 3M hooks) when you get there.

my friend is a very good painter, so of course this plan would work wonderfully for her - for me? eh not so much.

you could buy some fabric and hang that up...?

[Knitem]

One of my friends and her roomate drew on the walls with crayola washable crayons, course this requires you to wash the walls down at the end of the year and depending on how strict your school is you may have to wash them down at the end of each semester.  But it was pretty cute, just make sure and test it first.

Don't forget command hooks, they are the best for decorating, the come in all sizes too, my dad and i used the small command hooks and the plastic ties (occassionally used in movies as handcuffs because they don't come apart untill they're cut) to outline my closet in a rope light.  It was really cute and best of all no worries of coming into a dark room at night.

Also used command hooks to hold up fishing line and used cute, bright tiny clothespins to hang photos at the top of the wall.

Old fashioned scotch tape works pretty good too.  i like to skecth outfits and so i hung some of those up with it.  And hopefully my brother will finish his huge picture of Lothlorian and Rivendale so i can hang that up too.

Other than that anything bright and fun to liven up your bed including pillows, throws, and cute (odd or unusal) stuffed animals.

And if your closets are open like my school, you can spray paint a spring loaded shower curtain to match your stuff and hang cute curtains to cover it up.

Don't forget you can always add more throughout the semester.

[rusty spork]

another thing, just make sure that your school isn't strict about things before you hang it up.

if you know they're coming around and checking things, maybe take down the christmas lights before you get a fine hahaha

but rope lights? those may pass.


maybe get some postcards to decorate your cabinet/closet door with? my sister did that and it was pretty cute and better than crappy wood!

[aodhfionn]

Be very, very careful with command hooks. Only use the 3M ones, as the cheap ones have very little sticking power.
Last semester, I had these awesome old-fashioned large christmas lights. I made the brillant decision to string them above my bed, using cheap hooks.
Early the next morning, a Saturday, I awoke to a slight pinching, burning sensation. I moved my leg away, figuring that there was a pin in the sheets. A few hours later, I stretched out my legs again, and felt a searing pain on my shin. I jumped out of bed the find that the lights had fallen down into my bed, and I had several third degree burns.

I bought 3M hooks, and never had a lick of trouble with them.

Also, some places judge your damages based on a sheet you fill out before/after you inhabit the room. Ask around a bit to find out what the unofficial policies are. My school was very low key, so people would merely write that there were tack hooks when there weren't, and then they'd put in all the tacks they wanted.
Also, you can use white toothpaste or even a tiny amount of white spackle to cover tack holes.

And don't preplan too much. Allow yourself wall space (and storage space!) to accumulate more things. I didn't, and my room went from full to bursting within two months
And good luck!

[jellyfish8706]

i made a pretty cool memento board for my dorm room, I don't have any pictures, but here's a link to the site that i stole the idea off of.  I really like it because it works surprisingly well and you don't have to mess with any push pins.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1530&f=9167&q=memento+board&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1

Crate and barrel was charging about $35, but I made mine for 15!

[verdemada]

wowza!!! all the great ideas!!! i can't wait to move in so i can get started. thanks for all the ideas especially the rasterbator. im simply addicted already i've made like four since yesterday! thanks so much for all the ideas