How to make your dorm room feel like home | Articles

Living spaces are a reflection of personality. With one room housing a social life, work life and decompression time, deciding how to embody that through decorations can be intimidating.

Moving into a new place alone can be scary, but it’s also an opportunity for people to express themselves.

Anthropology freshman Apollo Anderson said they filled their room with all of their favorite colors after moving in, adorning the desk and other surfaces with different shades of green to make the room feel like home. 

Students can easily incorporate their favorite colors through table decor, small posters and tapestries and bedding choices like duvets and pillows. 

Anderson suggests finding decorations from businesses specializing in bright, colorful designs with many color palettes to match different visions. 

Arranging furniture is another way students can personalize their room, according to National Geographic. 

The ancient Chinese practice of feng shui can be useful for those living in close quarters like a dorm. 

Feng shui is the art of arranging objects and space in a way that inspires harmony and balance, allowing positive chi, or energy, to enter the space. 

Negative energies are said to be present in certain arrangements, like placing a bed under a window, while bright objects and things like tapestries, curtains, pictures and rugs inspire positive energies, according to The Chinese Zodiac website.

Psychology freshman Ky Perry said they dedicate a small section of their room to their favorite characters, complete with small posters and photos. 

Michael Eldridge, assistant director for marketing and communications with Auxiliary Services, said any poster around three to four feet is acceptable within the housing student handbook, as well as any other wall covering that spans 10% or less of a wall. 

Many stores, especially those in Arlington, have a student special in the days surrounding move-in, where UTA students can present their school ID and receive a discount, prizes and decor recommendations at select stores, Eldridge said. 

Bed Bath & Beyond, At Home and Target are some stores that offer specific UTA-oriented information, he said. For example, they can tell students what products are allowed at the dorms and which ones aren’t. 

Candles are one of the banned items in the UTA dorms and apartments due to fire hazards, but Eldridge said electric diffusers or any diffuser without an exposed heating element are allowed.

“Sometimes people are moving from across the world or are [from] different states or from different cities, and they’re just in a brand new space,” he said. “Just having those items can make you feel at home [and] can help make that transition a little bit easier.”   

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