When you’re decorating any room, including your dorm, window coverings should be a serious consideration and not an afterthought. And no, you can’t just sling up an old sheet to keep the peepers from looking in: not if you want to have any sort of style.
Actually the window treatments are a very important part of your room design because they will determine how much light enters your space. Since dorm rooms tend to be on the small side, you should choose a window treatment that allows the most light into the room. That will not only boost your mood, but it’ll make the space feel just a little larger than it is.
So, whenever I’m designing a dorm or another type of small space (be it a living room, bedroom or office), I like to make use of sheer curtain panels. Sheer panels let in the most amount of light while providing a soft cover of privacy for your room. If you feel you need more privacy, like if your room is on the ground floor or directly across from a room in the next building, you can choose a curtain panel with a little less opacity, but still try to go with something that lets at least some light in.
When choosing your curtains, you have to keep in mind that this is your dorm room, and much like a bedroom, you may be changing your clothes in this space. You don’t want people to be able to see it at all times. One solution for this is to hang solid curtain panels in front your sheers. This way, you can close the two solid panels whenever you’re changing, and keep them open to let the light shine in during the remainder of the day. When you’re sitting there taking your online accounting courses, you probably will appreciate the glimmer of light and not mind giving up a little privacy. When it’s time to hit the hay, close the solid panels again.
Dorm rooms vary throughout the country, but one thing remains the same: they’re small. Well, for the most part. Some students are lucky and have small bedrooms that open up to a common area shared between them and about three other rooms. This can really give you the feeling of sharing an apartment instead of being at summer camp. But, either way, you’re left to decorate your own room. There are definitely some tips and tricks you can employ to make your room seem larger than it really is (for example, decorate with bright colors, allow some natural light to shine through and keep your wall décor to a minimum). But since this is a room you’re going to be spending a lot of time in, you want to give it a cozy feel. Some people find this a little challenging to do without breaking the rules of designing for a small space (they think of rich colors and dark shades as being cozy).