Dorm Room Posters

Dorm Room Posters, What to Buy and What Not to Buy

You might be sharing it with somebody else, but the odds are that your dorm room is going to be the first place that’s really yours. You can eat when you want, sleep when you want, and if it matters to you then you can even decorate pretty much how you want. This list is supposed to help give you a few interesting ideas for posters and wall art, so you’re not stuck with the same old ones that everyone else is!

Before you buy

Bear in mind that whatever poster you pick out, there are a few things you have to think about before you buy it. This is a brief checklist of what to consider:

1. Think about the colour scheme in the rest of your dorm room. Colour co-ordination is important, so no matter what you pick out, make sure it matches the colour of the wall it’s going to hang on. And as well as that, make sure it matches the general vibe that you’re trying to go for in the room.
2. As a matter of course, run things by your roommate/roommates before rather than after buying. If for some reason they are pathologically opposed to the Shawshank Redemption, which happens to be your favourite movie, then having a sweet Shawshank Redemption poster on the wall won’t be worth the passive aggressive hostility you’ll get for the next few years.
3. Where are you going to hang your poster? Do you have room to actually hang it? Are your walls already covered by other posters? Or will the room look much more cluttered if all the available wall space is taken up by your taste in posters?

Once you know what sort of poster you want, and that you have the space for it, here are a few ideas you could use to decorate your room!

Real art

There’s no need to stick to the same derivative posters. You could always pick out some actual art from websites like Etsy or even eBay! The great thing about decorating your dorm room with original works is that you can find something that really speaks to you, and not only that, but they’re a great conversation starter. Now, these could be a little bit pricier than usual, but (depending on what exactly you choose) are completely original. Alternatively, they could be prints of famous artworks: something interesting like a Francis Bacon print, for instance.

At the very least, when you do leave, you’ll be able to take your art with you to your new home, wherever that might be. Or, if you can’t be bothered lugging it in the back of your car or hiring a moving van, you can always sell it- and it might command a high price not far off what you bought it for, at least if the artist managed to make a name for themselves…

Flags

Now, this might depend on what exactly you’re studying. But say you’re studying Geography, French or Spanish: what’s wrong with a few flags to liven up the room? They show new friends what you’re into, where you’re from and who you are. After all, going to university is almost always the first time you’ve lived alone, or at least away from home; pick out something that’s going to show everybody who you are and what you’re about.

There are also cool obscure flags out there like the weirdly shaped flag of Nepal, the Frisian flag which is covered in hearts, or the flag of Russian province Zheleznogorsk, which features a bear breaking apart an atom with of all things. So flags can be weird, obscure and even funny.

Avoid clichés

The first thing you should know is that almost everyone you meet at university is going to have some sort of posters on the wall above their bed, or on the back of their door. And for some reason, most people will have one or more ‘classic’ posters in their dorm room. Here’s a brief list of all the most recognisable posters that it’s probably best to avoid:

1. Great Wave off Kanagawa, that Japanese print of an ocean wave
2. That poster in French with the cat on it
3. Anything to do with everyone’s favourite movie, Pulp Fiction
4. Star Wars prints, particularly the release poster for A New Hope
5. Last but not least, Che Guevara

None of these are particularly inspiring, and if you do choose one of these then all I can say is that you’re not the only one. On the other hand, some people think of posters as an opportunity to tell the world something about themselves: I’m from Paraguay, so I have the flag of Paraguay above my bed; or, I’m studying music, so here’s a poster of the most obscure band I know. This can be a good conversation starter when you’re just starting out at uni, and have to make a lot of new friends in a short amount of time.

Fan made movie posters

Movie posters are always a good choice. But there’s a recent trend where movie fans are creating posters of their own for their favourite films! These can come in any number of different styles, but the ones that we really like are minimalist ones- peppered with references or in-jokes- that we think look so much better than the real deal. Check out Etsy for some great home-made examples.

This take on a Star Wars poster is awesome- rather than the cliché New Hope release poster, this is a minimalist take on the Death Star. This one’s a nice take on Rocky: it’s a boxing glove on a plain background. Of course, there’s far more than this out there; just search for your favourite movie on Google and something will almost certainly come up.

Sources:

https://www.pexels.com/photo/office-poster-quote-success-8865/

https://www.pexels.com/photo/on-a-marche-sur-la-lune-artwork-and-woman-s-portrait-painting-94891/