No one wants the hassle of arguments over dorm room décor. Of course you can have lines of demarcation and simply split the space and decorate individually, with no reference to each other’s likes and dislikes. Or, you can agree on what to do. There are benefits in having a harmonious dorm room in more ways than one.
1 Respect Communal Areas
One of the best tips for decorating a shared dorm room is to respect the neutral vibe of the important communal areas. You may both have quite vibrant and distinct styles, but make sure there is even just a single part of the room that is representative of a calmer, more impartial atmosphere. Having an area or two like this will create a sort of middle ground that balances out both your and your roommate’s style.
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2 Plan Ahead
The worst thing you can do as a duo is to both just jump into the decorating process head first without thinking it out and consulting one another. Having clashing ideas about the decoration of certain parts of your living area can cause unhealthy and grudge holding arguments, so make sure to sit down and express your ideas before the first pot of paint or decorative throw is purchased!
3 Take It Stage by Stage
If you have a whole apartment to decorate together, then a good idea is to take it room by room with different plans for each. Trying to do everything all at once can be an extremely overwhelming and intense experience, so save both your sanity and your friendship by collaborating on one room at a time. Also, doing it this way gives you room to change your mind whenever you like.
4 Utilize Pinterest
This is the sort of thing that Pinterest was made for. Create a shared board with your roommate and in it, you will be able to display any kind of decoration ideas that you come across and enjoy. From architectural plans to paint color combinations to types of fabric, Pinterest is the perfect environment to suggest different aspects of decoration and be able to see them up against all of your other ideas in one neat place.
5 Less is More!
If there are two of you, or even more than two, there is sure to be a huge mixture of styles and preferences at play. In order to stop your new residence from becoming an explosion of color and jarring decorative patterns, try to stick to the rule that less is definitely more. I’m not saying you shouldn’t let your personality come through in your decoration, but be mindful of all of the other personalities that are around as well!
6 Avoid Color Clashes
There are certain aspects of a decorating journey that are easy to U-turn, like cushions or chairs or a particular table, but something that is much harder to rectify is the color that you choose for your walls. This should be something that you spend a lot of time on, as avoiding a color clash is probably the most important thing to remember when decorating a new place.
7 Think about the Future
When decorating, especially for the first time, keep in mind that your tastes may change over time, so don’t do anything that might make future adjustments and changes really difficult. A new set of built-in shelves might seem like a good idea right now, but do you think you might need that space for something else two or three months from now? Consult your roommate to see what they think!
Even roommates with wildly different tastes can cohabit happily with a shared décor scheme, or one that doesn’t clash horribly. Find a happy medium and that’s one potential area of conflict knocked on the head.
Are you heading to college with firm ideas of how you want your dorm room to look?
