Dorm Design Tips from LeighDeux
I have a hard reality to face. I have a son headed off to boarding school in a month and a daughter headed to Italy for the school year with SYA. It makes me sad to not have them under my roof yet I am thrilled for this opportunity for them both. I got a bit excited about the opportunity to decorate another room and my dreams were quickly crushed when Bo told me to back off. I get it and am moving forward with restraint.
I reached out to my friends at LeighDeux to guide me through the items we must have. LeighDeux does dorm room decor differently than any other company. They design and manufacture our own line of textiles, all made in America and milled exclusively in the Carolinas. Their luxe duvet fabrics are all machine washable and dry wrinkle free. A percentage of every sale funds scholarship for young women pursuing entrepreneurship. They are “making beds and making a difference!”
Enjoy Leigh’s tips for decking your dorm or your child’s dorm room.
Designing Dorm
About to deck your first dorm room? Congrats! You’ve come along way baby, but lucky for you so has dorm room decor. If you could only see your mama’s 80’s dorm room!
Sharing and pinning ideas?
Here are a few more to think about:
Don’t Overbuy
Just as you hate it when you overpack for a trip, don’t over do it in your dorm room. Space is at a premium and it’s all got to go somewhere. Choose functional, stylish pieces. Make a plan. Contact housing and access a schematic of the room.
Make Your Bed
Start with the bed. It’s the base of your space and the focal point of your room. You’re not only going to sleep on it, but you will eat on it, get dressed on it, study on it, binge watch Netflix, lounge around while Snapchatting hundreds of pics of yourself… Point is, you are going to see a lot of that bed… get it right.
Which leads us to our next suggestion. Go for color, it hides a multitude of sins. The LeighDeux duvets are machine washable and dry totally wrinkle free… yippie! Like you are ever gonna iron that thing. The micro luxe fabrics are amazing. LeighDeux offers XL twin size as well as queens in two collections Shibori and Global.
The Akira Lavender from the Shibori collection
The Vanessa Berries from the Global collection
The Carson Cloud from the Global collection.
The Yoshi Indigo from the Shibori collection
Get Comfy
Invest in a decent mattress pad. The Tempur-Pedic toppers are great but can be pricey. There are lots of similar memory foam options. Shop early to find the XL twin size. The good ones sell out fast as most companies only stock them seasonally. Keep it simple with white sheets. They match everything and won’t fade in the washer.
Punch It Up With Pillows
Add pillows for a pop of color. The LeighDeux headboard Pillow is a must. It finishes your bed and will give you something soft and comfy to sink into when your bed is up against a cinder block wall.
the fashionista throw pillow by Blair Z for LeighDeux
The Dorm Sofa
Depending upon how you arrange your furniture, you may have space for a futon. It’s the perfect sofa bed and super handy when your friends come to visit. There are a number of options on the market, but we love the sleek designs from Nugget. At first glance it looks like a kid’s product and it is… but you can make it your own. Choose your base, mattress and two triangle pillows. It’s super light, portable, and stackable. It comes in an array of colors and there are gobs of configurations.
The Nugget sofa bed from $229 from Nuggetcomfort.com
Light It Up
Lamp lighting can make your dorm room feel more home-y. And really who wants to live in the dark? Desk lamps are nice, but your best bet for mood and functional lighting is a floor lamp. These two options from houzz.com are under $100.
Brushed nickel floor lamp $56.79
Safavieh Vendome crystal orb floor lamp $92.99 both at houzz.com
The Artful Edge
I know what you are thinking…art, on a college budget? But there are some easy, affordable ways to give your room an artful edge. Create a fashion collage or upload photos to canvas.com and create your own personal photo canvas. Neo art signs are super hip too and can also create ambience with added lighting.
Create your own fashion or photo collage. These featured are by Collage by Carson. Print your own to canvas at canvas.com.
For additional mood art, try a custom neon from hi neon.com or turn your own photos into a Warhol at mydavinci.com or popartworks.com
Loft & Store
There is valuable real estate under your bed. If your dorm does not offer the beds with adjustable height levels, be sure to pick up a set of bed risers. These will give you 6 – 8 inches of additional space and the new ones come with electrical outlets built in. Add a bedskirt to hide the risers and complete a finished look.
Risers range in price, but most are under $30 and available at Target or Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Hide all of your clutter with the curtain call bed skirt available in velvets and cotton at leighdeux.com.
Handy Dandy
Save room in the car for a portable hand truck. This will not only save your father’s back, but will limit your trips to the car too. Pick up a lightweight hand truck at any hardware store. They come in a hundred sizes and price points, but an inexpensive one will do the trick.
Dbest Bigger Might Max Dolly $25.28 at walmart.com
LeighDeux has literally dozens of other specialized products for your dorm room.
Check out their entire collection at www.leighdeux.com.
Duvets are on sale now through the end of July!
LAST DAY: REMINDER to VOTE in the Annie Selke & Apartment Therapy Design Challenge:
Voting kicked off July 6th and is taking place on Annie Selke’s Instagram. The voting period will last for two weeks and end on July 20th, so make sure to spread the word with your friends and family and encourage them to vote. I would be ever so grateful.
Simply follow @AnnieSelke on Instagram and vote away! The ten designs that receive the most votes will win and move on to production. You can learn more about the challenge here.
Positano: The beautiful blues of the Italian sea translated through a detail of marbled paper.
To vote click HERE and double tap to like the image.
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Please feel free to contact The English Room if you are interested in our interior design services