Moving away from home and into a dorm room is a tremendous life change.
Luckily, here are some tips for making a dorm room feel like home you can work with to make the best out of this transition.
Bring Pieces of Your Past With You
The most straightforward way to make your new dorm room feel like home is by bringing some pieces of “home” with you. College housing is notoriously bland. Taking some favorite decorations or photos of friends, family, trips, or memorable events will establish this strange new room as your room.
You can also bring a favorite pillow or blanket. Look into mood lighting, like a childhood lava lamp or string lights. Anything that reminds you of home or is comforting to have is excellent to carry with you.
Use Your Space To Help You Thrive
Set up your dorm in a way that makes life easier and healthier. If you have trouble sleeping, get some black-out curtains, a comfy mattress pad, a nightstand fan, or some earplugs. Set up your desk however you work best: a plant, photos, office supply organizer, or nothing if that’s your style.
Living with another person in a shared room is squishy. If you need privacy, you can set up a curtain to separate the space in half. Keep your stuff organized and put away to make the room as spacious as possible.
Build a Respectful Foundation With Your Roommate
You’ll likely spend more time with this person than anyone else. You can form a solid friendship this way, but not always. What’s more important is that you are respectful and good communicators. You must always speak up about when you need the lights off or if one of their guests makes you feel uncomfortable.
A bad roommate situation is an energy drain, but a fantastic roommate makes you feel like you are in a safe home. Having someone with which you can share your basic needs will make you feel at home in your space.
Allow Your Journey To Unfold in New Ways
An unexpected tip for making a dorm room feel like home is to stay open to changing what you know about yourself. The first year of living away from your childhood home is a HUGE change. You might discover that you have interests, habits, and tastes different from what you lived with before. Just because you were around it before doesn’t mean it’s “you.” This could be as uncomplicated as falling in love with a new pattern of peel and stick wallpaper.
Treat yourself kindly when you mess up and learn that bouncing back is one of the greatest skills you can develop. Follow your curiosity while still prioritizing your health and well-being.
As you embark on this next adventure, remember that you are responsible for your happiness. You should make your dorm room pleasant to live in and a place to invest in yourself.
Image Credit: Tips for Making a Dorm Room Feel Like Home by Adobe Stock
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