Over the next few weeks, I'll be showing you ways to jazz up that drab dorm room. We'll go over color selection, bedding, floors, windows and walls. All kinds of ways that you can bring your unique personality to this new (or continuing!) adventure we call college.

One of the first things you need to think about before you start shopping for all of the fun stuff for your dorm room, is what color scheme can you live with for the next year or years? Are you a girly girl and revel in everything pink? Are you a sophisticate who lives on the cutting edge of fashion? Are you going to be a sorority gal, proud to show her sisterly style? Or do you just love your new school so much you want to splash your pride all over your room?

There are so many things to think about when it comes to color. One of the most important, and I can't stress this enough, is to think long term. You want to choose a color or colors that you won't be tired of in six months. You will also want to talk to your roommate and try to coordinate - you certainly don't want your half of the room to be pink and her half to be red! You don't have to have everything match perfectly, but at least get a sense of what you can both be happy with for the next year and go from there.

Once you've decided on the general color that you want to have in your room, the best way to get to your color scheme is the following: Find, Choose, Use.

Find - something that you love that has a pattern - good items to use are a throw pillow, or a rug, or any other item that you will be taking with you.

Choose - 3 shades. You want to find a dark, medium and light shade from your pattern to use in your room. It's a good idea to go to your local paint or hardware store and pick up some paint chips so you will have your palette with you whenever you are out shopping.

Use - When you finally get to your dorm room, you will want to divide your room up by the dark, medium and light shades that you have chosen.

• Dark shades are best for your accessories as they draw your eye to them. You can arrange your accessories how you they look best in your room once you are there.
• Medium shades are best for your furniture and windows. These colors will ground your room. Now you can't paint the furniture in your dorm room, but there's nothing to say you can't change the knobs on your desk, dresser and nightstand to add a splash of color. Add a swag of color over your window.
• Light shades are best for your walls. Since your dorm room will come standard with some plain boring white or off-white walls, you are already covered when it comes to a light shade. However, there are ways to add a light shade of color to your dorm room walls without painting, and we will get into that in a future post.

Most of all, have fun. This is one of the most exciting times in your life. Enjoy the preparation, and let Decor 2 Ur Door help you with details.

Labels: Color Coaching

Anyone who has either been to college already or is there now, knows just how utilitarian dorm rooms are. Understandably they have to be plain so that they will stand the test of time, but you don't have to make the time you spend in it living in a drab world. With a little work you can very easily take your dorm room from drab to fab.

Over the next few months I'll be sharing some ideas that you can use to transform your dorm room from boring to beautiful. These will be simple things you can do - you won't have to be a professional decorator to accomplish great things.

I'd like to show you how I took my daughter Amanda's boring, drab room and created a beautiful haven for her this year at college.

As you can see here, I definitely had a clean slate to work with ;-)! This room would have worked as a living space for the year, but really, why should you live with it when it is so easy to make your room a place you want to spend time in?
Here I covered Amanda's desk chair in some fun, bright fabric, and added some frames and accessories to match for her desk. We changed the knobs on the desk as well to add a little punch of color. A pretty light fixture really adds to the charm of her room.
Having a window AC unit can really be hard to work around. So I just added a dressing frame tied with some coordinating fabric to draw the eye away from the unsightly AC unit. There is a way around the rule that most dorms or rental units won't let you paint the walls - fabric! We picked a fun green to accent the walls, and in just a few minutes you have a completely different room!
We pumped up Amanda's bedding with some great throw pillows. Pillows are such an easy way to add some zip to your room.
It's still hard for me to believe that this is the same corner that we started with in that middle picture of before shots of this room. Now, instead of just being a unused corner, Amanda has a perfect spot to curl up in and read or study or chat on the phone. We added shelves to the wall, and some fun, colorful accessories and wall hangings to make this a homey little corner.

Amanda has truly enjoyed calling this room "home". I hope you can take some inspiration and make some little changes to help take your own room from drab to fab! Check back each week for some easy ideas to help make your home away from home feel fabulous!

Labels: College

Our children grow up so quickly. As the mom of 2 young women I certainly understand this. It seems like only yesterday I was bringing home a little bundle of pink and now one of my babies is off to college and the other one will be there before I know it.

As our kids grow, their tastes change. When they are little you have complete control over what they eat, what they watch, what they wear and even how their room is decorated. When our kids become teenagers their tastes can and most probably will change. They want their independence and one way we can help them achieve a sense of being their own person is to let them decorate their rooms. What if instead of giving her clothes or shoes for her birthday you give her the gift of a new room?

A few years ago my daughter Megan wanted Jeff and I to perform a Trading Spaces miracle in her room for Christmas. While Megan went to sleep in her sister's room on Christmas Eve, Jeff and I began the transformation process in Megan's room. We changed everything from the color of the walls to the curtains to the bedding and accessories. It was a lot of hard work, but the look on Megan's face on Christmas morning was priceless!

Back then I didn't have the benefit of having a Decor 2 Ur Door to help me decorate Megan's room - I had to come up with everything on my own. My experience is your gain. I've already compiled many coordinating rooms for your to choose from. All of the hard work is done for you. So whether your child loves all things pink, is a soccer-maven, or is just down to earth, there is something for her. Enjoy this special time with your child as she is becoming her own person.

Labels: Parents