While it might not quite feel like fall in Southern California your most recent run to Target will prove otherwise. For millions it’s back to school time. Kids dread it, parents have mixed feelings (yay the kids are out of the house, wahh my baby is growing up), and the consumer market explodes. While kids of all ages are headed back to school, this post will give thoughts and ideas to those "new" adults heading off to college. Though not many years out of college myself, my weekend trip to Target made me ridiculously nostalgic for cramped spaces and communal bathrooms.
Now most colleges have VERY strict rules on how one’s room can be decorated. This includes ways of hanging things, location of decorations, etc. Keeping this in mind, my first suggestion is to decorate the walls with removable wall stickers. You can find them at Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, Walmart, etc. They come in a variety of sayings, colors, sizes and with various options in neutrals they'll blend in with whatever bold, funky, fun bedding set you decide on as well as whatever your roommate's color palette winds up being.
The concept of wall stickers has taken another step into chic adulthood with Target's Devine Color removable wallpaper tiles. One $30 package will cover 24 square feet which would be more than enough. Don't feel like you have to plaster the whole wall, save yourself (and your parents) some money and buy a set and arrange them in a fun pattern. Try a chessboard pattern or small squares arranged in a line along the wall. The key is to make sure that it’s visually pleasing and, more than anything, THAT YOU LOVE IT!!
The key to making everything work is to pick a color palette and try and have your other design choices stem from that. While I hate to peg-hole anyone with a design style, mixing a few different styles while sticking to the same palette will help make a cohesive look. Plus if you've got it together on your side, your roommate will want to follow and keep their side stylish too!
Now that you've got style on the walls, why not take it up another notch and add some lights and decorations? I cannot recommend enough getting string lights and lamps to make your room seem more like home. No one looks good or likes those horrible overhead florescent lights anyways. With the advent of Command Hooks, college decorating was made a billion times easier!! I recommend buying them in a variety of sizes and in bulk. Command makes small clear hooks that are perfect for hanging lights plus if you can plan it right you might even wind up with a perfect end plug right next to your bed!
There are DIY blogs all over with varying degrees of difficulty to make your own string lights. I think my favorite is the standard Christmas string lights poked through the bottom of small Dixie cups. It’s as simple as it sounds!
Paper garland is in right now and looks exceptional on its own but also looks great strung up with your fancy new lights. Tie them off on a Command hook or simply tie right to the string, just BE CAREFUL that the light bulbs aren't too close to the garland as it can pose a fire risk and that's not awesome or fancy!
College will be your home away from home for the next four years so make it your own. As a newly christened adult try out bold patterns or funky prints. As you decide who you want to be decide on a style and vibe that matches. Just like fashion your style will change and evolve and that is what makes being in college awesome. Just remember at the end of the day if you do you, you'll be just fine.
Got thoughts, ideas, or tips of your own? Post them below and we can all feel like we're heading back to school.
Hope, pineapples, and all the best,
Jordan
Now most colleges have VERY strict rules on how one’s room can be decorated. This includes ways of hanging things, location of decorations, etc. Keeping this in mind, my first suggestion is to decorate the walls with removable wall stickers. You can find them at Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, Walmart, etc. They come in a variety of sayings, colors, sizes and with various options in neutrals they'll blend in with whatever bold, funky, fun bedding set you decide on as well as whatever your roommate's color palette winds up being.
The concept of wall stickers has taken another step into chic adulthood with Target's Devine Color removable wallpaper tiles. One $30 package will cover 24 square feet which would be more than enough. Don't feel like you have to plaster the whole wall, save yourself (and your parents) some money and buy a set and arrange them in a fun pattern. Try a chessboard pattern or small squares arranged in a line along the wall. The key is to make sure that it’s visually pleasing and, more than anything, THAT YOU LOVE IT!!
The key to making everything work is to pick a color palette and try and have your other design choices stem from that. While I hate to peg-hole anyone with a design style, mixing a few different styles while sticking to the same palette will help make a cohesive look. Plus if you've got it together on your side, your roommate will want to follow and keep their side stylish too!
Now that you've got style on the walls, why not take it up another notch and add some lights and decorations? I cannot recommend enough getting string lights and lamps to make your room seem more like home. No one looks good or likes those horrible overhead florescent lights anyways. With the advent of Command Hooks, college decorating was made a billion times easier!! I recommend buying them in a variety of sizes and in bulk. Command makes small clear hooks that are perfect for hanging lights plus if you can plan it right you might even wind up with a perfect end plug right next to your bed!
There are DIY blogs all over with varying degrees of difficulty to make your own string lights. I think my favorite is the standard Christmas string lights poked through the bottom of small Dixie cups. It’s as simple as it sounds!
Paper garland is in right now and looks exceptional on its own but also looks great strung up with your fancy new lights. Tie them off on a Command hook or simply tie right to the string, just BE CAREFUL that the light bulbs aren't too close to the garland as it can pose a fire risk and that's not awesome or fancy!
College will be your home away from home for the next four years so make it your own. As a newly christened adult try out bold patterns or funky prints. As you decide who you want to be decide on a style and vibe that matches. Just like fashion your style will change and evolve and that is what makes being in college awesome. Just remember at the end of the day if you do you, you'll be just fine.
Got thoughts, ideas, or tips of your own? Post them below and we can all feel like we're heading back to school.
Hope, pineapples, and all the best,
Jordan