Great style makes co-ed life so much better. Furnish your simple dorm room in bedding that’s positively lavish, furniture that speaks with the wisdom of the ages, and one-of-a-kind accessories that leave your friends secretly envious. It will make staying in and studying that much easier.
Impress the folks this semester by scouring alternative decorating sources that stay well within your interior design budget. Shop auctions and online bidding sites, local yard sales, upscale thrift stores and discount bedding suppliers to score big dorm room style at a negotiable price. And in the end, your parents, your friends, and your bank account will all thank you.
Bid On It
Auctions and estate sales are gold mines for picking up eclectic decor for a dorm room. There are online bidding sites that offer every kind of interior decoration you can imagine — from edgy new art for your dorm room walls to humorous quotes on your pillowcases. You’ll find just about anything at online auction sites.
If spending your money online isn’t your thing, pick up a weekend paper and scour it for local estate sales. Find a friend (or even a parent) who has a car and take a few hours one morning perusing the best in shabby chic styling. Estate sales will net you vintage furniture pieces, colorful old doilies and tons of kitsch at a fraction of what you would pay at a home store.
Hit the Yard Sales
The next time you’re home on summer vacation, take a few Saturday mornings off to run the local yard sale circuit. Some towns feature those mile-long babies that offer up all kinds of dorm-room possibilities — one-of-a-kind desk lamps, curtains, contemporary storage solutions, as as Oprah.com highlights. Swap meets and yard sales can sometimes surprisingly carry everything a bedroom/work area needs to become stylish, organized and effective. You’ll score a few points with the folks as well, if you let mom or dad accompany you on your yard sale journey to frugality.
Thrift Eclectically
Is there an edgy, eccentric thrift shop in your college town? Stores like these not only yield conversation-starting pieces for your dorm room, they’re deceptively fun to dig through. Grab a friend, and take a few hours to visit one nearby. You’ll have a blast digging through racks of vinyl records, vintage scarves, Beatles memorabilia and dusty old books. If you happen to score a ridiculously old alarm clock that looks totally boho chic in the process, so much the better.
Buy New For Bedding
Once you’ve scored big style on all the folding chairs, desk lamps, clocks, wall art and workable storage you can possibly use, go new on the bedding. Discount stores like JCPenney are your best solution for clean, comfortable and stylish textiles to add to your dorm room. Nearly every town has one and they offer reasonable prices on delicious comfort — quilts, high-thread count sheets, down comforters, fluffy towels, and thick, fuzzy rugs. These are the items you need to purchase new in the box for piece of mind and absence of bedbugs.
