With so many rules and regulations for dorms, it’s hard to know what you can do to personalize it without being heavily charged. Here are some small tips for making your dorm feel more cozy and look less dry.

1. It may seem obvious, but get TONS of Command hooks. For the bedroom, the kitchen, the living room, literally everywhere you can hang things that might take up more space on a surface. Hang up your spatulas, and your backpack to save some space!
2. Hang some posters, pictures, or a tapestry! There’s nothing more blah than having a blank wall with absolutely nothing on it in a bedroom. Hang your favorite band, or a tapestry with a nice quote on it! If you are an artist yourself, don’t be afraid to show off your work and hang it up, not only is it a conversation starter for you and your roomies, but it adds some personality to your room.
3. Look up! There’s not a lot of space horizontally in any of the dorms here at Columbia Chi, but there is a ton of height in most. Stack up your items in crates, or organizers to make the most of your space.
4. Speaking of organizers, get lots of those too. If you’re a person with minimal items, then that’s great, but for the majority of students, the accumulation of items is a norm. Get a shoe organizer that goes over your door, little pull out bins for under the bed storage and maybe a lamp with added storage for pens. If you have a lot of stuff, figure out ways to neatly put it away so that your room doesn’t become overwhelmingly messy.
5. Get a speaker to get the party going. A speaker can have lots of use throughout the day: in the bathroom you might use it to play music during your shower, you might use it to fill the bedroom as you take the day to clean it up, or you might need musical accompaniment while you cook. It serves well while you have friends over too! You don’t have to get one that’s super expensive but keep in mind that ones with great quality might be priced at $50 or over.

There you go! Five tips to make your dorm a little bit less blah, make good use of them!