Tips on Decorating a College Apartment

Decorating A College Apartment

School has started and if your like me you are a little bit relieved and a little bit sad all at the same time. I'm relieved because I can get back into a routine; which my type A personality craves. I'm sad because even with the chaos of activities, plays, and just trying to relax and have fun, the summer flew by and I really do treasure the time I have with the kids to do all the things we love to do. As some of you may know, my daughter started high school last week! I'm still in shock! This week my son started his Sophomore year in college. I find myself asking where did the time go? I swear every year seems faster and shorter.

This summer we worked really hard and long on the business of the blog and were extremely busy painting furniture, creating diy crafts and building furniture for our resale shop at Daisies & Olives Antiques. As much of all that work took up most of the summer, we didn't really have time for a real vacation but rather took a weekend in August as a family, on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. The goals of the trip were to relax, eat, sleep (you know the usual things you do on vacation) but also to do some shopping to get the kiddos ready for the school year with new clothes, shoes, backpacks, and apartment "stuff" for my son's first apartment.

We had a great time shopping and one of my favorite past times, which is "eating out" at some nice restaurants. One of our major stops in our shopping extravaganza was to visit the new IKEA store in Merriam, Kansas. Now, let me just say, that I have never been to an IKEA store before but "Holy Cow.....That place is huge!" Any store that has it's own parking garage and cafe say's to me, "You are going to be here for a while and wear your comforable shoes"! These are good things to know for the next time! :)

IKEA was the designated store where we would do most of the apartment shopping. I had a list but as we shopped we realized how much more "stuff" he needed then we originally thought. Three hours later and $322 poorer, we left with bedding, pillows, throw pillows, blankets, shower curtains, towels, rugs, kitchen utencils, plates, desk lamps, and many more odds and ends. Considering the back of the SUV was full with what we hauled out of there, $322 was a great deal and the apartment would be decorated in style.

Last year, my son lived in the dorm on campus and so we didn't really need the amount of things to furnish an apartment. He was also feeling independent and didn't really need me to decorate the closet that he called home. However, this year, with just a little convincing, he let me decorate. Man, was I in my element! The first order of business was to clean, clean, clean! And of course, move furniture around, center everything and then let the decorating begin! Woo hoo! I'm super excited to show you how it turned out and to share a really special project my son created for his room that served as the 'piece de resistance' of style!

The first thing we did when decorating the room, was to think about the space and decide on a theme or color scheme that Gram would like. We ended up going with the color scheme of grays, navy blues, cream and chocolate brown. The theme of the room was nautical/industrial. (He really wants to travel the world someday so this theme seemed fitting to his dreams.) We used dark woods, metal, a map throw pillow and a vintage looking wooden clock to stick with that theme. Here is a look at how it all turned out:

College Room Decorating Tips-Maison Designs Home

Maison Designs Home-How to decorate a small space

The guitar shadow box you see below was the DIY (Do-it-"yo"self) project that Gram designed and built on his own. It turned out really super cool! YEAH! He gets that building creative thang from me!!! :) LOL! We bought lights for the shadow box at IKEA for $20. It makes the room! We hung it by his desk, so you can see it when you walk in the room; which adds some ambience and gives some additional lighting to his study area!

DIY Guitar Shadow Box-Maison Designs Home

Maison Designs Home College Room Decorating Tips

We positioned the desk centered under the big picture window that offers him an amazing view! I'm pretty sure my view from my first apartment was a parking lot and buildings! :)

His apartment is fitted with four bedrooms, each with their own en suite. Therefore, we carried the nautical/industrial theme into the bathroom. We didn't really do much with it but it still matches, which makes me happy!

Along with the four bedrooms with en suites, they have a full kitchen, an eat in bar area, a living room, laundry and balcony to enjoy that beautiful view again. The living room was already decorated by the older roommate, who was in the apartment last year. I got a pic even though I didn't really design it but it looks really cute and you can see that they have an apartment dog, which is also his roommates. The doggy's name is "Mike"! He was a sweetie and really likes getting his picture taken! :)

And lastly, once the room was all decorated, your sister has to make herself comfortable in your new space!!! :) Then after all is done and the groceries are unloaded and stocked in the pantry, the tough part is to say goodbye for now! They sure do grow up fast! :)