Dorm Room Approaches for Girls from Our “Before” and “After” Dorm Room Makeover

Treat this as a field note from one working house, not a showroom checklist. Looking for dorm room approaches for girls? In just a few hours time we turned our daughter's dorm room from a super basic “before” to a stylish, comfy “after”! This post includes 8 dorm room approaches to steal for your own!

We had a blast scheming up plans for my daughter's dorm room in the weeks leading up to moving her into her freshman dorm (if you missed it, look at my post on dorm room essentials with all of our kept dorm room bath, bedding, desk, and decor pieces that we found in our search). There's definitely a night and day difference between what's available for dorm rooms now versus when I went to college!

My daughter wanted a boho chic vibe for her dorm room with gray and blush tones complete with settled pillows and throws. What she didn't want was for her space to be too over the top or take more than a few hours to put together (translation: I was not allowed to hang around setting up and decorating her room any longer than any of the other parents ). Done and done! We were both excited with how it turned out! (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})

Here's where things started – a pretty typical small dorm room with a loftable bed, desk, and chest of drawers:

And here's what it looked like a few hours later….

Tapestries are an Inexpensive Addition that Make a Big Impact: Dorm Room Idea #1

If I had to pick just one thing that had the biggest impact on the room, it would be {this black and white tapestry} that we hung on the wall – it's a stunner and took only about ten minutes to hang up. It's SUPER reasonably priced so has some serious bang for the buck impact!

We initially hung the tapestry using double sided velcro Command strips along the top but they didn't stick to the tapestry as well as we'd hoped so we ended up using {these Command clips} that worked beautifully.

And wall tapestries aren't just for dorm rooms either – if you have a bare wall in one of your kids' rooms, an inexpensive tapestry is the perfect simple decorating solution. Other places to shop for great dorm room tapestries include Pottery Barn Teen {here}, and Urban Outfitters {here}. Look at {this college packing list} for more dorm decor approaches. Tapestries also aren't just one of my dorm room approaches for girls, as there are plenty of masculine tapestries to warm up a space too.

Cozy Pillows Are Must for Lounging: Dorm Room Idea #2

Many dorm rooms are small enough that students use their bed as their lounging spot too. Be sure to get at least one large (24-26″) square pillow like the settled Euro pillow that we used in a powdered blush color. It provides a large comfy spot to sit up in bed for reading, doing homework, or just lounging.

Other options include a reading pillow such as {this one} or a headboard pillow such as {this one}:

And don't forget a throw too like {this super soft throw} that I have and love that comes in several colors and patterns:

Dorm Room Idea #3 Add a Clip-on Light to the Bed

My daughter has never been one to sit at a desk to study – she prefers a more settled spot! So we added a clip-on task light to the top rail of her bed so she has plenty of light when needed:

It should definitely be on your list of dorm room essentials! You can find similar clip-on task lights {here} on Amazon.

Dorm Room Idea #4 Take Advantage of the Space Under the Bed for Storage

Because dorm rooms tend to be so small, you need to take advantage of every square inch of space. Especially when we're talking about dorm room approaches for girls who tend to bring a lot of clothes. Under my daughter's bed, we pulled out the desk to place somewhere else in the room (I'll show you that in just a minute!) but left the chest of drawers and added three of these three tier storage cubbies:

The exact ones we had were from Pottery Barn Teen but are unfortunately no longer available but there are a lot of similar options out there such as {this 3-tier storage dresser}.

Get a Stool Plus Storage All in One: Idea #5

If your daughter is going to loft her bed, she'll want a stool to be able to hop up into her bed. We went with {this storage stool}:

The top opens up for storage which she's using for shoes to free up space in her small closet:

A storage ottoman like one of {these cube ottomans} would work well too.

Add Extra Storage Space with a Bedside Organizer: Dorm Room Idea #6

Another kept addition to this space is this bedside organizer that we hung from the foot of her bed:

It's well suited to extra storage at her desk area plus it's accessible from the top of her raised bed so she can slip things into the pockets like snacks, headphones, etc. The exact one we bought is no longer available but {this bedside organizer} is very similar.

Dorm Room Idea #7: A Large Pinboard Keeps Holes on the Board and Not in the Wall

Now on to the desk area – here's how this space looked originally:

We moved the fridge/microwave down to the left as far as possible, placed the desk that was originally under the bed here, and added in a few new things including one of {these no-nails oversized framed pinboards}. We somehow didn't look at the specific dimensions when we ordered it (it's a whopping 36″ x 40″) and when it arrived, it was so much bigger than we had envisioned but it ended up being a great thing – it's the perfect size for over a dorm room desk! It's lightweight and comes with adhesive strips already attached to the back of the pinboard so hanging it up was a simple as pulling off the covering on each piece of adhesive and pressing it onto the wall – so easy!

We outlined it in {these battery-operated string lights} that we simply taped onto the corners with clear Scotch tape. This pin board ended up being full of photos, magazine clippings, and mementos. Definitely one of the preferred dorm room approaches for girls!

Dorm Room Idea #8: Make Recharging Electronics Practical with a USB Lamp

On her desk, she has a desk lamp similar to {this one} that has a pretty cool hidden feature – a USB port built into the base:

Now she has an easy, accessible spot to charge her phone and never has to worry about losing a charging plug.

And one final little detail that's definitely the most special one – my daughter's grandma (Jeff's mom) cross stitched this pillow for her the year before she died – I know she's smiling down on her seeing that it found a home in her college dorm room

My daughter was so happy with how her dorm room turned out:

It's been fun having you all along on this little adventure – The household has gotten so many great pointers and pieces of advice along the way that I appreciate so much! Best wishes to all of you who are in my shoes this year getting your kiddos settled away from home and for those of you with younger kids, hold them tight – this day will come before you know it!

As you start shopping & packing for college, be sure to look at my college packing list that you can download and print for free! Also, look at my post on dorm room essentials!

XOXO,