Getting Started with a Creative Dorm Design - Pink Orange Teal Gold Theme

Written By J Jo

Starting with a big beautiful rug is essential! The rug allows you to build your dorm room design from the ground up and sets the stage for your overall look. This room was created in Magnolia Hall at the University of Tennessee.

Once you know your dorm room measurements and college-provided furniture items, begin to map out your desired room layout and decor style/preferred colors in collaboration with your roommate. (Pro tip: We recommend maintaining a “dorm essentials checklist” as a shared note in your iPhone Notes app, allowing roommates, moms or other contributors to share ideas and links while you mark items off your list!)

A few essentials you’ll need to consider to set the stage for your overall dorm room design are a rug, headboard, bedding and wall decor.

(*See gallery of product photos with Amazon links at the bottom of this post.)

(*See gallery of product photos with Amazon links at the bottom of this post.)

  1. Rug - If your space allows, get the largest rug possible to cover ugly dorm room floors and provide a cohesive foundation for your room design. A large rug will give your room a homier feel and provide a colorful base to your room. I suggest picking your rug first and accent your room using the same colors throughout your dorm space. For this look, we went with the 7’10” x 10’ size. It tucks under the beds, desks and other furniture to cover most of the visible area in the room.

  2. Headboard - Matching headboards go a long way in pulling together a cohesive bedroom design. We chose a tall, structured headboard in white to be the backdrop to our preppy bedroom style. These headboards have legs that can be tightened to the bed frame with zip ties. Headboards aren’t just decorative. These are essential for sitting up in bed for those late-night study sessions!

  3. Bedding (Comforter | Sheets) - To cover our super dreamy Lucid mattress topper, we went with a neutral white comforter with a simple ruffle for our room design with the intention to use pops of color matching our rug in our accent throw pillows. From a functionality standpoint, we wanted a white twin XL comforter that could be washed with bleach, if needed, for any staining. We went with deep-pocket twin XL pink sheets to account for our standard dorm mattress plus 4 inch mattress topper. Not pictured: We did buy a white bed skirt later to cover items under the bed. If you prefer no bedskirt, you might opt for a full/queen comforter to allow more hang. Don’t forget an ottoman footstool if you have a lofted bed! Our lofted bed allowed us to move the provided 3-drawer dresser and nighstand under the bed. We also had extra room under the beds for additional storage bins and a tall slim rolling laundry basket.

  4. Wall Decor (Painting | 16x20 Gold Frame Set | 12 x 12 Gold Frame Set) - We used gold accents in the room and decided to get frame sets filled with photos from home as our main bedside wall decor. Both of our roomies had names starting with an “E” so we also added a gold letter “E” above one of the beds. Our only other wall decor piece for our dorm design was the beautiful lightweight painting above the futon that matched our rug perfectly.

  5. Cutest chair covers - Cover the provided desk chairs with these great chair covers.

  6. Sitting area (Futon) (Coffee Table) - We had enough space for a 65” futon convertible bed and coffee table. We added rolling storage bins under the futon for added storage for extra blankets and bulky hoodies.

  7. Bathroom decor - We had enough space in our bathroom for a tall slender cabinet with doors and shelves to hold towels, toiletries and cleaning items. The cabinet was less than 12 inches deep so it fit nicely and took advantage of vertical space. Each roommate got an open shelf for folded towels and an upper shelf and lower shelf behind the closed doors. We also brought a tall kitchen garbage can with lid so the trash wouldn’t have to be taken out as often. We added a gold tension rod to hold a decorative shower curtain (the school provided a basic shower curtain and rod). We also brought a gold toilet paper holder and pink accented rugs. Our towels were monogrammed in pinks and orange so the roommates could tell their towels apart. In the shower, we used adhesive gold shelves on the shower walls - Command makes waterproof adhesive strips now!
    For the sink countertop, we had a 2-tier shelf for each roommate to keep their skincare, deodorant, etc. We also used a gold paper towel holder and gold accent toothbrush holder and soap dispenser. We also sent 2 white hand towels.

  8. Desk Decor (Desk Hutch*) - We wanted a sturdy and substantial desk hutch but had trouble finding something that fit our narrow desk measurements, so we did have to modify our hutch a bit*. We purchased this one and cut down the connecting shelf boards a few inches with a table saw before assembling to make the width work perfectly with our desk dimensions.

  9. Curtains - We used the same white curtains for the window and the two closets openings. We hung them with clear adhesive curtain rod holders (used both bracket and flat holder styles) and used gold clip curtain rings for all the curtains (used about 6 clips for each curtain panel about 5.5 inches apart). Our 3 rods were all the 33”-66” size (1 rod for window and 2 closet rods). We may have been able to use tension rods but we wanted the option to hang outside the wall dividers to give a few more inches of space in the closet area. We bought 2 sets of curtains and used 2 panels on the window and 1 panel for each closet opening.

  10. Custom Furniture - The cabinet between our beds was custom built on a budget by a family friend to perfectly fit this dorm room and the university-provided stacked mini fridge/microwave combo. The trim work on our custom cabinet was based on an inspiration piece that is available on Wayfair called the Judd Accent Cabinet (major splurge alert!).

Check my Linktree for other highly requested Amazon links from this dorm room design.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

The Ultimate Splurge Cabinet Option: As a reminder, the cabinet between our beds was custom built on a budget by a family friend to perfectly fit this dorm room and the university-provided stacked mini fridge/microwave combo. The trim work on our custom cabinet was based on this inspiration piece that is available on Wayfair called the Judd Accent Cabinet (major splurge alert!). Message us on Instagram if you want our measurements for our custom-built fridge cabinet.

Other things we sent but tucked away unseen in room photos!

J Jo
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