Favorite Dorm Room Wall Decor

How to Choose the Right Dorm Room Wall Decor

Even though dorm rooms are small, they’re still fun to decorate! This is a new and exciting place that you get to call your own, so it should be comfortable, fun to be in, and represent who you are. To help you get started with decorating your dorm, we’ve rounded up our eight favorite ways to decorate a dorm room wall.

Before you decide how you’d like to decorate your dorm room, it’s a good idea to chat with your future roommate. By coordinating decorations at least somewhat with your roomie, you’ll avoid heavily clashing, and might even end up decorating together. After all, you only get to decorate half the room, so if you can come together and make a space you both enjoy, it’s worth it!

When you’re decorating your dorm room wall, be sure you check with your RA to see if your dorm has any rules about how and what you can hang. Most dorms don’t allow hammer and nail methods of hanging, and some won’t even allow pushpins, so adhesive strips will become your new best friend!

String Lights

After busy days at school or on weekends you need to relax, you’ll be glad you put up string lights. These cute decorations make your space super cozy and comfortable feeling.

Decorating with string lights not only adds that glowy warmth you love for #instaworthy pics, this soft light is the perfect amount for moments when your roommate needs to sleep, but you’ll be staying up late.

If you’d like to hang your string lights on your dorm room wall, using adhesive hooks is a quick and easy method.

Photos

Heading off to college is huge! You’ll miss your family, friends, hometown, and pets a ton. Whether you want to frame a few, tape up some mini photos in a cutesy design, or create a collage that fills your whole wall, you can never have too many pictures.

Hanging photos in your dorm is a very easy task, you can hang frames with velcro adhesive strips, and photo prints and mini prints with just tape! If you’re looking for a different way to hang photos, you can find decorations that hang your photos with your string lights, clothespin lines that hold photos, and more.

Posters

Posters are an inexpensive and fun way to decorate a dorm room. They’re easy to hang, move around, and remove, a big win when your dorm has rules about how to hang things! Whether it’s your favorite band, sports team, or movie, posters are a great way to show off what you love.

These decorations are easy to hang up with tape, but if you’re looking to avoid the dreaded midnight poster fall during the school year, using adhesive strips is a more secure option.

Tapestries

Unfortunately, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to paint the walls of your college living space. Adding a tapestry to the wall of your dorm allows you to add the color and design you want, with just one piece!

Tapestries can be hung up in a dorm room using push pins, velcro adhesive strips, or adhesive strips attached to clothespins. Don’t be intimidated hanging a larger tapestry, you’ll have it done in no time!

Dry Erase or Cork Boards

These simple decorations allow you to remember important school dates, pin-up pictures, tack on concert tickets, add cute graphics, and change it up as much as you’d like! When you’re decorating your dorm room, it is nice to have a space you can switch up frequently.

Small dry erase and cork boards can be hung up easily using adhesive strips, and your dorm may already have one mounted on the wall for you!

Calendars

Calendars not only help to keep you organized for school, but they can also be a cool addition to your wall! Whether you want something vintage looking, clean and simple, or something colorful to liven up your space.

To hang a calendar in a dorm room, you can use push pins or adhesive strips, depending on the style you choose.

Mirrors

This is a must for any dorm room! You can avoid the busy dorm bathrooms before class and get ready for your day in your own space. Some mirrors stick directly on your wall, rest on your desk, or mount to the back of your door and even provide additional storage for jewelry and smaller items.

If you don’t want to hang a mirror in your dorm, you can choose a standing mirror for the floor or your desk. To save space, choose a mirror style that will stick to the wall or mount on the back of your door.

Tin Signs

These vintage signs come in a ton of different designs, typically decorated with sassy sayings, or retro ads and movies. It’s a fun way to add something more textured to your dorm room wall!

When it comes to hanging tin signs, we recommend using adhesive strips to get the job done! While tape might work for the smaller signs, adhesive strips give you more confidence that your sign will stay in place throughout the school year.