Guys College Dorm Ideas
My oldest son just recently went off to college, and I really enjoyed shopping for and decorating his college dorm room. We followed his school’s dorm room checklist, which included essentials, functionality, organization, comfort, and personal style. I created a printable College Dorm Room Essentials; get yours here.
My son is not too picky about his decor, so I know what you are thinking—his Mother shopped for him!?!. If I chose anything that was too questionable, whether he liked it or not, I just asked him and made sure it was masculine.
His space was small, so I wanted to maximize it as much as possible. To create and maximize space in a dorm room, do not be afraid to move furniture around (make sure your roommate is in agreement). Take advantage of the space you have. Find storage solutions that fit best in the space you do have.
He has the most space under his bed, at the head and foot of the bed. So we moved his desk and his drawers from under his bed. By moving his desk, we could move his bed more towards the window and give him enough room to sit down and get up from his chair. This also allowed him more room at the end of his bed for added storage and opening and closing his closet door. We end up moving his drawers from under his bed and stacking them on top of each other at the end of his bed.
The drawers were heavy, so they were not convenient to move on a regular basis, so it was best to move them to the end of the bed. By stacking on top of each other, we were able to put his TV on top of it. From this angle, I found out later that even his roommate could see the TV and play video games.
On top of the dresser, he can also place his video game system. He also placed a nice catch-all caddy on the dresser. The caddy or compartment organizer houses his electronics, necklaces, watches, earbuds, wallet, etc. Depending on your dorm situation, you may want to house your items somewhere where you can lock them up when you’re going to be out of the room.
We placed his drawers on top of one another that gives him room to place the 6 cube organizer on the end of the dressers up against the wall. Originally the cube organizer was going to be placed up against the foot of the bed. This would have been a great idea if it was not so difficult to move the dresser from up under the bed (this made it less of convenience to get to his food in the trunk and clothing that hopefully will be moved to his dressers, eventually).
The cubes housed his cleaning supplies, toiletries and extra odds and ends in the room. This way he will not have toiletries and bottles bunched in a corner or laying out around in his room. This is a great dorm room ideas for those everyday essentials to keep it clutter looking free. Also by moving the bed up this allowed more room to place the broom/dustpan, Swiffer and mini-vac leaning in the corner near his closet. I placed his mesh shower caddy on the doorknob to hang.
In his closet he as very little space so we wanted to take advantage of every inch of it and made it function for him. We started with using the velvet hangers so that his clothing would be more streamlined, take up less space and they will not fall off onto the floor. Also, we like to use the multi-pants hanger that usually holds about 5 pairs of pants. The is great for saving space and for guys dorm room!
On the door, we added an over the door mirror and on the inside a hook (from Dollar Tree) to hold his laundry bag. Now thinking about it I should have moved the laundry bag under his bed (which he may do on his own). Spent a little more money for over the door multi-hook organizer (just be careful when picking one that the door closes fully). He had space where he could place items on a shelf in the closet, so this was perfect for hiding items such as his medicine kit (Click the link for a FREE College Medicine Kit).
He has a vertical shoe organizer in the closet as well, which we went back and forth if it would take up too much room in the closet but it worked out. Although all of his shoes did not work out because his shoe size is large. But it was perfect for his slippers, slides/flip flops or shoes that were not large in volume as well. With the extra shoes, he places them in the corner of the closet in an under the bed large zip organizer.
This under the bed organizer does not have sections so all of the shoes ended up looking like it was thrown in a garbage bag (tucked in the corner of the closet). You may want to purchase an under the bed shoe organizer with large enough sections for Mens shoes. This is the problem we ran into when reading many reviews so check the reviews before purchasing.
Moving to his bed, I wanted to make sure that it was comfortable like at home. So I made sure he had a mattress pad, some sort of memory foam gel, comfortable comforter, warm and plush blanket, soft sheets and lots of pillows. My son did not have many requests but he did want lots of pillows. I feel like the bed is the foundation and focal point of the room. Making sure that it is lush and comfortable will make your room feel homier.
For added convenience, I ordered all of my son’s basics bedding necessities from OCM.com. His school sent a brochure in the mail which came with lots of choices of themes and colors. This saved me time from running from store to store. I also took advantage of OCM.com promotion code that day of 20% off and used my Ebates.com cash back rebate. A Win, Win!
I was at first skeptical to use the packing order bundles because I did not know how much I was saving. After shopping around I saw that it was saving me money and time. The quality of their items was great and most of the items are Guaranteed to last until the end of graduation. This was certainly a Mommy decision and I shared their items on Instagram, FaceBook, and YouTube and they were really nice to send my son a storage truck and a decorative pillow. How cool was that ?!?! Awesome!
We first inspected his bed, mattress and cleaned it off with disinfectant wipes. Placed down his gel memory foam (added upgrade on his package bundle), fitted sheet (left off the flat sheet because I knew he would not use it) and comforter. Then added the regular bed pillows, bed rest at the head of the bed and then added the throw pillows as desired.
On the wall, I added a tapestry from Amazon. Finding one that was his style was challenging but little did I know getting them to stay up was even more of a challenge. I did try the Command strips that normally work in our home. But maybe because the room was so cold which made the walls cold am not sure that is why they did not stick. So I used some of the stickies that came with his dry erase and cork boards to adhere the tapestry to the wall. I did not last, so I am thinking that it was because the room stayed so cold therefore the center block walls were ice cold.
I also ordered him a side of the bed organizer from Amazon that can house his books, laptop, notebook, phone, pens or etc. He loves to do his work on the bed so I purchase him a lap desk from Aldi. I was actually purchasing one for myself and thought why not for the boys?! Although my middle son did not want one….but I thought to myself, you always need a lap desk. LOL!
Under his bed, he has lots of storage room for more items that he may accumulate later. For now, he has a 4 cube organizer that actually was going to go in front of his AC unit but it was not enough room. Pushed a little further back under his bed is his trunk for his food. We choose to place it in the trunk in case he needs to lock it up. He also has a large tub that houses all of his clothes. Supposedly he is/needs to move all his clothing to his dressers and this tub is for transporting clothing back home after the year is over.
He also has a storage ottoman that can help him get on and off the bed with ease, although I don’t think he needs it for that purpose, he can tuck it away under his bed. One those cold mornings he has three accent rugs to keep his feet from hitting the cold wood floors. I purchase his rugs from Big Lots (One large, medium and runner) to place in front of the bed, near his closet and beside his desk.
I knew that he may have some visitors from time to time. He really enjoys playing his video games during his downtime, so I purchased a saucer chair for him. Because of his bed is so high, you would not want everyone sitting on your bed and he could get tired of sitting on the bed or desk chair I thought this chair would be an item to add to his dorm room. The saucer chair easy opens and closes flat for convenient storage. This saucer chair was purchased from Walmart.com and this black, white and gold marbleized looking pillow. The throw came from OCM.com package bundle.
We moved his desk from horizontally from the wall to place the front of the desk to the head of the bed. This allowed more room at the foot of his bed for his dresser and closet spacing. We just allowed comfortable spacing for him to get up out of his chair and to his desk. We followed his dorm checklist to make sure we had all of the required cable and wire hookups in his room. So we purchased ethernet cable, CAT-5 cable, USB cord (printer or etc.), HDMI (TV and video game system) and 2 power strips.
If I was him I would have wanted a cable cord (he had hooked up) and telephone with a line. Although everyone has a cell phone for emergencies, a landline phone is great to have tucked in the drawer if you have room. In his desk drawers, he has lots of room for his supplies. I took advantage of those back to school sales at Staples and gave him a good start with pens, pencils, pencil sharpener, stapler/staples, white out, printer paper and more.
You may want to clean out your drawers with disinfectant wipes, line with contact paper (drawer liner) and organize them with drawer organizers that can be found at your nearest Dollar Tree.
I made sure Trell had plenty of places to write down reminders and notes to himself. I got him a desk calendar, planner, dry erase boards and calendar.
Since they do not have any shelves above their desk or hutches, I wanted him to have added storage for books he can just grab and go. Also, a way and place to show some personality and style in the room, so I added this small bookshelf from Amazon. The bookshelves have a world globe on it and black bullpup (so adorable and tough at the same time) both from WalMart. The dry erase board, calendar, and cork boards are from Aldi.
Completed his desk with a desk lamp (Dollar Tree, say What!!), printer, sanitizer and storage organizer. Lastly, I placed this affordable lamp from Walmart in the corner. I love these lamps! They give off a lot of light, compact and they are only like $7.88. Love it!!
I opted out of putting up curtains because I did not want their room to look overly done. It still does, LOL! But you get my point!
This was really fun putting together and shopping for his room. I never got to shop for a dorm room myself so this was great! Just love the challenge of finding things that fit my boy’s personality and style. They are not too picky! I really like how they are vocal about what they simply do not like or want in there space (or wear for that matter).
When decorating and creating your own space make sure you include:
Your STYLE
That you have FUNCTION
You have plenty of ORGANIZATION
That it is COMFORTABLE
Shop within your BUDGET
Incorporating these 5 college dorm essentials throughout your own personal space will help you create that look and feel that you desire. You will feel like your at home in no time!