Heading off to college and looking to make the most out of your dorm room space? These space saving dorm room ideas will not only maximize your dorm room space, but will make it feel like a true home away from home!
College dorm rooms are like an empty box just waiting to be transformed! You may not have a ton of space in your dorm room, but with the right products and a little imagination you can create a great space that is conducive for studying and will show off your personality and style!
I am very proud and excited to partner with Ikea and serve as one of their Brand Ambassadors! Be sure to read all of the way to the bottom to hear about our exciting giveaway!
I am the parent of an incoming college freshman. Sending your child off to school is a dream of almost every parent. A great education is a gift that we all want for our children, but at the same time, it is so hard to let go and watch them leave.
As a parent, I want to set my son up to be successful in this new life away from home, but honestly, I didn’t know where to start in helping him prepare for packing up and moving up to school. I was so excited when IKEA asked me to partner with them to develop a guide that shares some Space Saving Dorm Room Ideas using some of their great products.
What I love about IKEA is not only is everything so affordable, but I love their style and innovation. They show you great ways to use their products that you would never think of!
BUT, here was my challenge. My son, who is going to school this fall, is a counselor at summer camp all summer and has a week and a half after he returns and before he leaves again for school. So shopping for his room fell on to me! (Bonus when one of your best friends daughters is in the same exact position – so what do we do – FIELD TRIP for the moms to IKEA!!)
Now, if you have kids of any age, you know generally whenever you go shopping for them, you always pick out the wrong thing. So I saw that IKEA had a “Determine Your Dorm Room Style” quiz to take to determine what your college dorm room style is! Hallelujah!!
So, my friend, Julie, and I had our kids take the quiz. My son, Jake, got Rustic and Adventurous and my friend’s daughter got Playful Pastel. This made it so easy to help get an idea of what type of bedding and accessories Jake would want for his room! Would you believe that when I showed him the bedding I picked out, when he came home for his day off, I got an “Awesome. That is perfect!” I just about fell over! SCORE for the IKEA Find your Sytle Quiz!!
One of my favorite things to do is walk around IKEA and see how they layout rooms. They are so creative and innovative. I would never, ever think of any of these great uses for products that they do. I love how they SHOW you different ways to use their products! I swear I want one of their designers to come over to my house and help me decorate!
They are particularly good at maximizing small spaces, and they don’t get much smaller than a dorm room! So Julie and I spent a few hours walking through IKEA looking at the way they used some of their products (not to mention they have an awesome area dedicated specifically to dorm rooms and a college checklist which is great for apartment living too!)
Here are a few of the items we found (and purchased) for our kids rooms! I cannot wait to get them up there and try these products out!
I love these KNAGGLIG boxes! They are so versatile. You can paint them any color to match your decor and you can stack them so they take up very little space!
Floor space is so limited, these carts go vertical so that your space is tripled! These RASKOG carts come in different colors and are on wheels too, so you can easily move them wherever you have space.
I love finding new uses for things! This is such a great way to repurpose a magnetic knife rack! Perfect for next to a desk – use the magnetic rack for other magnetic items like scissors, paper clips and more!
A futon is perfect for a dorm room or any small space. You get the best of both worlds! Extra seating and space should you have an unexpected guest spending the night! IKEA has a ton of options in all price ranges (see here).
I particularly love this one, the EKEBOL It has some great extra storage space underneath and even a shelf around the back. However, we are going for the BALKARP version, which is both economical and efficient, given our budget and my sons tendency to eat pizza and soda on the couch.
A busy college lifestyle requires furniture that’s just as flexible. Check out all of these great ideas for small spaces like a dorm room!
The KALLAX shelf unit can be used as a bookcase, a bedside table or a storage unit. Add the KALLAX hanging organizer to hold small accessories and easily-lost items like keys and ID cards.
Nesting tables are great for small spaces. Just unstack them when you have friends over and stack them back up when they leave!
Now, of course, after a successful IKEA shopping trip, you must reward yourself with none other than their famous $1 ice cream! No better way to celebrate!
I want to share in this special time with my readers! Sending a child off to school is one of the most special moments in my life. No matter what age your kids may be, there are so many special and important milestones and moments. Tell me about one of YOUR special moments (in the comments below) either with your child or in your life and what it meant to you for the chance to win one of THREE $100 IKEA gift cards.
Just leave me a comment below and I will be choosing 3 winners, each for a $100 gift card to IKEA. Winners will be chosen on August 15, 2017 and will be notified by email. They will have 24 hours to reply or an alternate will be chosen.
Disclosure – I am a Brand Ambassador for IKEA U.S. This is a sponsored post. IKEA is a registered trademark of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. and is used with permission. The views, ideas and opinions expressed here are my own.
A favorite memory for me is going to pick out my sons “big boy bed” with him a few weeks ago. It was actually at ikea 🙂
Ikea has always been our favorite home shopping go-to for both of our daughters. Our oldest graduated from college 2 years ago and spent every penny she saved for the purchase of a condo. Ikea has been a life saver getting it furnished. My youngest daughter is now working on her master’s degree and after struggling with living at home and a 45 minute commute each way for a year has just moved into an apartment next to campus. Right now it is pretty bare- just the essentials, but she is slowly making purchases to make it feel more homey. Thank goodness there is an Ikea 10 minutes away!!
Thank you for the ideas. Our youngest is in college this year and he is always struggling with finding space.
Jenn,
I love your enthusiasm for IKEA products; I’ve been an IKEA fan since my own college days, even though the closest store is about a 2 hours’ drive away. My son is entering his final year of college, and I remember the special moments collecting what he needed for his first dorm room and life away from home. His sister (5 years younger) who has an artistic eye couldn’t wait to decorate his bland dorm room and add personality, although he wasn’t as concerned with style as he was with function. Fortunately, IKEA provided both! He’s very minimalistic and once he had what he needed that first year, he’s been content and hasn’t needed anything. However, this year he moves to his first unfurnished apartment, so we knew we’d need to make at least one trip. Like your son, he had one week in May before he left for a summer internship and one week in August when he returns. We used the week in May to pick up necessary furniture and furnishings from IKEA as well as get ideas of what he liked and didn’t like. My daughter, husband, and I went back in July to pick up more items. A gift card in August for a third trip would give our daughter a chance to buy the ‘wish list’ items that we couldn’t afford but will make his apartment comfortable and stylish as well. That’s what makes IKEA so great to shop at — you can get the necessities and keep adding pieces and touches to personalize and organize even more. As a bonus, we’ve selected furniture that we can use to replace worn items in our home after he graduates since he hopes to attend graduate school out of state; who knows if he’ll need the furniture or not, so it will be put to good use in our family home if he doesn’t need it. We can’t wait to help him set up his apartment!
I was laid off from my job and have not yet found a new one. So, to help make ends meet, we turned our guest room into an airbnb space. To do this, we needed to update that room to make it attractive to paying guests. IKEA to the rescue — great prices and quality on towels, spa robes and slippers (who knew IKEA sold those?), wooden hangers (which is apparently a thing airbnb guests want to see), alarm clock (99¢!), a full-length mirror, reading lamps, and decor items to make the room pop. I just wish I had gotten more towels when I was there. The nearest IKEA is a 70-mile round trip drive! But, it’s great to feel like my efforts with airbnb will help the family’s economic situation!
These are great ideas! I have actually used some to redo my 12 year old sons room and figure he can take it with him to college too. It’s never to early to be prepared! The nesting tables are great.
I don’t have children, but one day I hope to have my own place and go on a wild IKEA shopping spree. So many great ideas!
Great suggestions! Very fun style quiz!
We moved 1 year ago and am finally ready to decorate all 4 kids bedrooms (ages 7,5,4,2) and the basement which is our main play area and lounge area at night for my husband and I.
Thanks so much for the opportunity!
My twin boys (my babies!) are going into junior high this year. Our house is small and we have five boys so use of space is important. I would love to update the room the twins since they are growing out of their little kid room. I’m thinking a lot of dorm ideas might be the trick? Will love hearing new ideas on how to give them a room they will love to hang out in!
My mom and I visited IKEA in Pittsburgh when it first opened, with my sister~ and we made many fun trips there in the years since. Sadly, Mom is now in a nursing home (in Michigan) with advanced Alzheimer’s and those memories are cherished.
While I have a daughter in college and a son who will be a senior in high school, (and will be utilizing some of these ideas!)what I love BEST about these ideas is how a family can incorporate them into a room for a loved one in a nursing home. Strings with Lights that pictures can be hung from, extra little storage areas, etc..are priceless. Thank you for posting these fabulous ideas!