It’s that time of year where college students back up to head back school, where many live in a shared, small space. But making the living space look and feel cozy and reflect your style and design doesn’t have to break the bank. We’re here with some great Dorm Décor finds on a dime from Goodwill of North Florida.
Add thrift shopping to your back-to-school shopping rotation to not only find great deals, but it’s a sustainable way to reuse items and keep them out of the landfills. Plus, with supply issues right now these items are in stock and ready to take home, no waiting.
Tip #1: Theme. Since thrift store inventory is ever changing and there aren’t multiples of everything. One tip I have is to think of a theme that will help build around. In this case, I found this huge canvas of black and white Paris photo, it’s from IKEA. I paid $14.99 for this, and it’s going to take up a lot of wall space and cover up a lot of institutional dorm wall. Once I had a theme, I found this two other pieces that look Paris shabby chic, both under $10, and this can be used to hang photo of family and friends back home. But make sure you bring Command Strips and hooks to hang art, many school don’t allow nails so just be sure what the rules are.
Tip #2: Dorm rooms have notoriously bad light, and notoriously few electrical outlets in convenient spots. Many schools don’t allow extension cords, so it’s good to find power strips for desk lamps, like this one, under $10 to give some nice light.
Tip #3: Add warm touches to help that give some coziness to the space. Nothing warms up a sparse-looking room faster than a cozy area rug. You can find some quality rugs that are just gently used or never used at Goodwill. This one was $7.99. Decorative pillow brighten up a space, and we found these that give nice color and texture and tie into that French shabby chic theme we’re using for this fictional college student. There are always great pillows at Goodwill for about $5.00 each.
Tip #4: Miscellaneous décor. Our fictional students name also starts with “M”, so we found these light up initials that can go on shelves- since there’s not a lot space those floating shelves and vertical space can come in handy.
Tip #5: Speaking of storage, there’s not much so thrift shops are a great space for under bed storage like this, at more than 60% less than big box stores like The Container Store. You can also find laundry hampers and bags. This one was $7.99 and has a little wicker style to add warmth.