how to choose and use a color scheme in your dorm room7 min read

Hey, guys!

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Decorating my dorm room freshman year still remains one of my favorite memories. Figuring out what colors scheme I wanted to go with, buying all of the decor (Amazon and Amazon Prime will be your new bffs, trust me 🤗), and then finally arriving on campus and making my visions come alive was so much fun. In fact, I wish I had taken way more pictures than I had. I guess it just goes to show how much fun I was having, since I am usually one to photograph every single thing.

Here is the color palette that I would have chosen if I could do it all again (though I do love how my dorm room turned out) —

bubblegum pink | light pink | white | silver | gold

Anyways, I want your dorm room decorating to not only be an absolute blast, but also super eay and stress-free. Trust me, you will want to make sure that you plan out everything in advance, so that move-in day can be as stress-free and anxiety-free as possible. There are going to be tons and tons of other college students, parents, and staff members running arounf crazily, so the more planning and thinking you put into how you want your dorm room to look, the easier this whole process will go. I promise!

That said, here are my tips and tricks on how to choose and use a color scheme in your dorm room all while adhering to the annoying (yet strict) dorm room rules —

figure out your color scheme and make a color palette 

Yup! This is step one, for obvious reasons. One thing you will want to keep in mind is that color palettes usually consist of 4-6 colors. This is nice, because then you get to incorporate more colors into your room. If you want to take a look at my freshman dorm room’s color scheme, you can go ahead and read that post here! I chose the colors that I did, because I have always loved pink and white and loved the idea of having navy blue and gold (they look really good together) as my accent colors. That said, you will want to pick 1-2 main colors and a few other accent colors. Of those accent colors, you will most likely want 1-2 neutral colors (beige, ivory, taupe, gray, black, and shades of white), so that things come together nicely and look good!

To make this a bit easier on you, I suggest asking yourself the following questions —

1. what color has been your favorite color for the last 4+ years?
2. what colors make you happy?
3. what colors do you never get sick of?
4. what is a neutral color (or colors) that you love because it goes with anything and everything?
5. what is a warm color that you love?
6. what is a cool color that you love?

create your dorm room’s color palette 

Once you have thoughtfully answered those questions, choose the 4-6 colors that you have come with and you have yourself a color palette for your dorm room! To make sure you have picked a range of colors, use the following color palettes as an example —

Super cool, right!? I know! Hopefully those 6 color palettes will help you ensure that you have a variety of different colors that will look good together. Because nobody wants a crazily-colored, mismatched bedroom. Trust me on that! Also, when I made my color palette, I took it a step further and used color palette templates. So, I made a couple for you, too —

Simply download the PDF file and use the templates however you’d like! Enjoy. 

figure out how you are going to implement your color scheme in your actual dorm room 

This is the most fun part! This is where you get to decide what colors are going to go with what and how your room is going to come together to match your visions and color scheme. If you like decorating, then you’re in luck, because now is the time to buy whatever needs to be bought to bring your dorm room to life!

Here are some things to consider when it comes to what all needs to be bought and “colored” —

1. your bed
   1. the twin xl comforter | usually (not always!) your main color or a neutral/light color
   2. the twin xl bed sheets + pillowcases | any color of your scheme, but a lot of times it’s the darker color of the palette
   3. decorative pillows | your accent colors
   4. decorative throw | your accent colors
   5. bed skirt | usually (not always!) a neutral color or a pastel
   6. headboard | usually (not always!) a neutral color or a pastel
   7. blankets and throw | amazon has an awesome selection!
2. your desk’s accessories | read about my desk accessories here + here 
   1. stapler
   2. tape dispenser
   3. pen + pencil holder
   4. desk lamp | usually a neutral or accent color (mine was gold + from target)
   5. trash can
   6. whiteboard/corkboard
3. wall decor 
4. non-univeristy furniture
   1. ottomans | any color from your color palette
   2. nightstands | usually a neutral or accent color
   3. chairs | any color, but usually an accent color
5. dorm organization + storage
   1. storage ottomans | a must have; amazon has a great selection!
   2. bins | amazon, target, and walmart
   3. baskets | amzon and target
   4. cubbies/storage cubes | check out amazon, target, and walmart
6. accessories
   1. floor lamp
   2. table lamp
   3. rug
   4. alarm clock

If you want some inspo, here are some dorm rooms wirh various color schemes that I think are absolutey adorable and super chic —

Like any of these dorm rooms? Let me know!

decide what you are going to do with your walls 

Lastly, because you can’t paint the walls (bummer, right!?), you have a few viable options that allow you to cover up the boring walls as much as possible. You can do any of the following (as well as looking at the dorm rooms pictured above) —

1. buy a tapesty | amazon + etsy + urban outfitters + aliexpress + dormify (love them!)
2. make a photo wall | check out pinterest for inspo!
3. wall gallery | check out pinterestfor inspo!
4. huge wall monogram (hang with heavy duty command strips) | etsy is the best place to buy wall monograms!
5. posters + prints | amazon + etsy + aliexpress
6. hang a really big bulletin board/corkboard | amazon + etsy
7. stringed lights | amazon + target + walmart
8. floating shelves (using heavy duty  command strips!) | amazon + target
9. canvas art | amazon + target + aliexpress + etsy
10. instagram wall | click here for examples!
11. wall decals (look at mine here) | amazon + aliexpress + target
12. washi tape (like this example here) | amazon + check out pinterest for inspo!
13. leave the walls bare (which is totally ok to do!)

And that is how you choose a color scheme for your dorm room, ladies (+ gents)!

Not too hard, right? I actually loved this whole process back when I was designing and decorating my freshman dorm room. It was a great experience and I loved every single second of it. And because I planned ahead, it was super stress-free, too! Getting there before my roommate helped, too, because I got to choose what side of the room I wanted and I got done decorating before she even got there. So, plan ahead and leave early. You’ll thank me later (hopefully lol).

please share this post on pinterest using the pinnable images above

If you’ve already chosen your color scheme, what colors did you pick? Let me know in the comment section below! I would also love to see more cute dorm rooms, so if you want to shares yours with me, please do so by emailing me at [email protected]!

Thanks for reading, lovelies. Love to you all and happy dorm room decorating 😘😘