9 Genuinely Brilliant Dorm Decorating Tips from Design Influencers (I Want to Steal All of Them!)

As someone who’s riveted by home makeover shows, I know the secret to a great reveal is when the room is really customized to the person’s style and available space. So, when custom wall art brand TilePix invited Dorm Therapy on set for the company’s latest campaign — where home decor influencers created dream dorm rooms for college celebs — I was so in. 

To celebrate the launch of TilePix’s nail-free “Bordered Designs” wall decor collection, the company paired up designers with college students — Tay Nakamoto and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles; Kelly Marcelo and influencer Noelle Kate; and Juan Marquez and actor Bailey Bass — to create three distinct dorm sets. Each of the three space’s aesthetics also inspired limited-edition sets of “Bordered Designs” you can use to frame your wall art (more on that later!). Surrounded by so much talent (and with move-in day right around the corner), I had to sit down with each of the DIY and decor pros to get their best tips for decorating a dorm room. 

From investing in a cozy rug to rethinking your light sources, here is some of the best advice Nakamoto, Marcelo, and Marquez have for students conceptualizing their own college spaces. 

Coming up with a color scheme is a simple, effective way to make your room feel cohesive. But how do you go about choosing your colors? Marcelo suggests creating a saved folder, mood board, or Pinterest board where you file away any and all inspo pics and “literally anything that you love.” Once you’ve collected a good amount of inspo, she suggests “zoom[ing] out” from tap-to-save mode and “scroll[ing] through it and see[ing] what colors are popping out.” You’ll likely start to notice a handful of hues that you naturally gravitate toward.

When you have a sense of your pared down options, it’s time to finalize your palette. Marcelo says, “Choose three or four colors, with one or two being the central colors. The other ones you kind of want to sprinkle in the smaller secondary objects.”

There is a long list of dorm room essentials you may need, and once you’ve gathered them all, you might not have space in your room for very much else! That’s why Marcelo says it’s key to take some time to choose fun patterns, textures, colors, or styles that speak to you when you’re shopping for the basics, from desk lamps to organizers. She points out the wicker laundry basket she picked for Kate’s room rather than a classic laundry bag, since it ties so well into the coastal theme and turns a basic into a decor piece with depth and texture.

“Those small accents are really what bring the room together and show that you were intentional about design — and if it looks like you were intentional about design, it’s going to look good,” Marcelo says.

Even if you’ve landed on one dorm aesthetic that you love, adding in a piece or two that doesn’t quite “fit” can really elevate your design, Marcelo says. She highlights a pink-and-chrome lamp on the dresser in the room she designed for Kate — seemingly out of place in the coastal, blue-and-white theme — but it still works so well. “It adds a little bit more of the modern vibe. … It’s a little funky, but then mixing that with the coastal [aesthetic] is what keeps it interesting.” 

Odds are, some of your favorite photos of your friends and family aren’t just on your own phone, so ask them to AirDrop you any photos you’ll want to print out and display in your room before you go off to college. A gallery wall featuring your favorite people, Nakamoto says, is a great way to “bring family and friends into this new environment where you don’t know people.” 

Even if you’re slowly decorating your dorm and collecting pieces throughout the semester, this is a fun task to do right away. Putting up photos “of people you care about the most gives it that homey feel,” says Nakamoto.

A rug may not be the first thing you think to buy for your dorm, especially because they’re not typically very cheap. But, Nakamoto says, it’s really a game changer, not only for your room’s aesthetic but for the comfort of college life. “Adding a fluffy shag rug does wonders,” she says. “You just want to hang out on the ground with your friends and gossip all night or watch TV together.”

Though people often see small square footage or an odd layout as a major challenge (and dorms are famous for both), Nakamoto says you just have to think more strategically. One great tactic: multipurpose furniture. She emphasizes a pouf-style ottoman that she used to decorate Chiles’ dream dorm, which she tucked under the bed, but it could easily be pulled out for extra seating when friends come over. Nakamoto says she stuffed the pouf with clothing to fill it up, meaning one decor piece is serving double duty: storing off-season clothing and providing comfy seating. 

Though online shopping for dorm essentials is super convenient, Marquez says he loves to thrift for decor as much as possible, too. “[It] lends itself to mixing old with new, finding things that are already established, lived-in, and have a little bit of charm, but also pairing it with new things,” he says. 

Thrifting can be a great money saver, too. “A common misconception of decorating a small space is that you need a lot of money to do it,” Marquez says. “I’m a firm believer that you can make a space your own no matter what budget you’re working on, whether [that’s by] thrifting…or just finding things you already have and remixing them in a way that makes them feel new.”

What your dorm lacks in floor space, it might make up for in ceiling height. “My favorite tip for small design decor is to build up,” reveals Marquez. “It establishes a lot more opportunity for decor and storage solutions.” He points out the fabric canopy he created above the bed in Bass’ dream dorm, saying, “I feel like it adds a lot of height to the space but also a little bit of whimsy, and also really grounds the bed area.”

It might not be obvious what your clothes have to do with your decor, but Marcelo explains that overpacking clothing for college can be a design mistake if it spills out of your closet and into your living space. “If your clothes are everywhere then [we can’t even see your decor] because you just have one chair covered in clothes,” she says. “You are going to have the tiniest closet in the world. It’s better to be able to swap with your friends or buy things as you go,” she adds. And if you just must bring all your favorite pieces, consider making them part of your decor with a sleek clothes rack.  

TilePix, which uses peel-and-stick magnetic tiles that let you easily swap out the art on your walls (without using any RA-disapproved nails), recently launched a line of “Bordered Designs” to personalize your photos even further. Designed exclusively for Walgreens, the borders include fun patterns like polka dots, checkerboard, gingham, and stripes. 

If you like what you see in the photos of the dorm sets above, TilePix told Dorm Therapy that each space’s design inspired three new, limited-edition “Bordered Design” collections. You can shop some now and save the dates for even more trendy borders. Here’s what you can expect. 

• The “Coastal” collection: inspired by designer Kelly Marcelo’s dorm for influencer Noelle Kate, available now
• The “Hype” collection: inspired by designer Tay Nakamoto’s dorm for Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles; available August 4
• The “Moody Floral” collection: inspired by designer Juan Marquez’s dorm for actress Bailey Bass; available August 11

Want to print out some pics and get your wall art ready for move-in day? Use these codes for a discount on TilePix: 

• 8/2-8/8: 70% off same-day TilePix with code FASTDECO
• 8/10-8/12: 70% off same-day TilePix with code GETASET