Curbly Original
Shopping Guide: Three Dorm Designs To Steal This Semester
The fall semester is about to begin and Curbly has you covered. Here are three stylish and shoppable designs that you can steal for your dorm.
Dorm Room Design #1
The above moodboard is a combo from World Market and Ikea.
If there was ever a one stop shop for college, Ikea is your store. There is no better store for storage items which is what you need the most for your home away from home.
- Rug: Laborg: $24.99
- Curtains: Vivan: $9.99
- Duvet: Alvine Stra: $29.99
- Bedspread: Backvial $29.99
- Desk Chair: Tobias $79.99
- Pillow: World Market $24.99
- Laundry Basket: Viktigt $24.99
- Clamp Lamp: Hektar $12.99
- String Lights: Skruv LED Lights $8.00
- Loveseat: Knopparp $119.00
- Shelving Unit: Ivar $50-$200 (depends on how you build it)
- Hooks: Ivar Side Shelf Hooks pack of 3: $2.00
- Side table: Lixhult $35.00
- Bulletin Board: Vaggis $5.99
- Washi Tape: Fullfolja $4.99 (great for hanging photos without nail holes)
- Coffee Table Storage: Kvistbro $59.99
- Shower Curtain: Uddgrund $12.99
The Highlights:
The Kvistbro basket can serve as storage for extra blankets, books, or whatever... and also serve as a coffee table.
Ikea bedspreads are great (and inexpensive) for layering your bed. They are perfect light weight bedding option and can transition to a sofa blanket when needed.
These colorful Lixhult cabinets are new from Ikea and the options are endless. They come without legs and smaller sizes. They are completely stackable...think awesome locker unit. This could be a great side table or put two together and it can be your t.v. storage.
The Knoppart sofa is inexpensive and its comfort level could be increased by loading it up with some pillows or one large lumbar pillow. If you like to sew (or your mom does) the slip cover would be simple to DIY.
There is not a more perfect college shelving unit than Ikea's Ivar system. It's hackable, paintable, and adds a ton of storage. You can add inexpensive interior drawers and shelves or even add interior cabinets and dresser drawers. I love the hooks you can hang on the side for towels or jackets. Take the bottom shelf out and make it your desk, mini fridge, or trunk. It can store books, clothes, food, or really anything. It's inexpensive, expandable, and can totally transition with you out of college.
This shelving unit can do everything but take your tests.
Dorm Room Design #2
This dorm room comes from Target and H&M Home.
- Duvet: H&M Leaf Patterened Duvet $34.99
- Blanket: Moss Knit Throw $29.99 (On Sale)
- Desk: Threshold $98.99
- Floor Lamp: Cantilever Floor Lamp $35.99 (On Sale)
- Desk Chair: Room Essentials $30.00
- Curtains: H&M 2 Pack $24.99
- Bookends: Room Essentials $14.99
- Photo Clip Hanger: Loft by Umbra $16.99
- Futon: Westbury Futon $284.99 (On Sale)
- Rug: Annandale Safari: $59.99 (On Sale)
- Storage Ladder: Threshold $49.99
- Shower Curtain: Threshold $14.99
- Storage Cart: Room Essentials $29.99
- Wire Basket: H&M $24.99
- Shelving Unit: Darley Bookcase $74.99 (On Sale)
- Laundry Bag: H&M $12.99
- Storage Mirror: Target $39.99
- Succulent Plant: Target $7.99
- Typographic Pillow: H&M $5.99
The Highlights:
This bathroom storage system from Threshold is pretty creative. You can use it to store your towels or you can hang baskets to hold all your bathroom toiletries. This is completely DIY-able.
Target's over the door storage mirror is a great solution for your jewelry.
H&M Home bedding is my favorite. It feels a little more grown up to me but yet fun and colorful. Their pillows are always unique and inexpensive.
Dorm Room Design #3
All the items in the above moodboard are from Walmart.
I have lived in two small towns where the closest Target was at least an hour away and the closest Ikea was 5 hours away! When I lived there I was jealous of all the stylish design board on Pinterest that showcased stores only in bigger towns or cities. Because of this, I decided to do a design moodboard for those who more than likely have a Walmart in their town...and no else.
- Quilt: Aiden Bedding $61.90
- Duvet: Mosaic Garden Bedding $53.60
- Rug: Maples Striped Rug $40.56
- Curtains: Eclipse Samara blackout panel $12.88
- Futon: Paxson Linon Futon $229.00
- Lumbar Pillow: Sunbrella 2 pack $39.99
- Bathroom Shelf Unit: Free Standing Nickel Finish $16.59
- Plastic Drawers: Sterilite Wide Weave Tower $22.44
- Shower Curtain: Interdesign Zeno Curtain $22.17
- Storage Bin: Resin Wicker Basket $8.50 (Large)
- Wicker Baskets: Baum Water Hyacinth Set of 2 $23.01
- Desk: Mainstays Metro Desk $79.00
- Mini Fridge: Igloo Refrigerator and Freezer $95.99
- Calendar: Wall Pops Dry Erase $9.71
- Task Lamp: Mainstays LED Desk Lamp $5.87
- Bookcase: Mainstays 8-Shelf Bookcase $39.88 (On Sale)
- Laundry Basket: Sunbeam Tote Bag $19.09
The Highlights:
Ever since Better Homes and Garden came to Walmart, there have been more really great bedding options. Sometimes a unique piece of furniture like Walmart's Mainstays white bookcase, can help style a space (like a dorm room) that can be very boring in architecture. is really unique but very usable...and of course, very affordable.
We all know you college kids need your sleep and you can with these affordable blackout curtains. They come in 20 colors and even have tall sized (95 inch) options. I am not a huge fan of pocket panels but grab some clips to hang them, and you are good to go.
These wicker-look, plastic drawers by Sterilite are so versatile. They can serve as beside table or add a stained wood top and it can be your t.v. table for a light weight television.
Walmart wins the day on affordable storage totes, baskets and lighting because they are so inexpensive.
Walmart actually had my favorite seating options like this Paxson Linen futon. Most of Walmart's best options are online, but the good news is they have free shipping to their stores. Ship it to your store and check it out before you load it because they'll do returns right there if you don't like it.
These striped rugs are so simple but since they come in so many colors they go with so much.
