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.
I am a mom of three amazing young boys. Although they are adorable as ever, they can be so hard on our furnishings without even realizing it! The pizza and soda on the futon is beyond relatable (insert eye roll here 😉 Our special moment was finally having our dream of being home owners come true last fall. My husband got laid off from his job in the middle of the closing process and we had our dreams come crashing down and had to start all over, but thankfully in the end all worked itself out! Nothing made me happier than watching our boys race through the house checking out their new domain while rambling off what all their new adventures would be. It’s been a challenge decorating their new spaces to fit them individually, but i love IKEA for their simple, yet innovative and versatile designs that will continue to fit the boys’ needs as they grow and outlast their rambunctious stages as well!
My daughter is 18 and in college. I was fortunate to have been able to keep her in the same state. Her junior year she commuted to school. Joining a sorority and making new, living on or around campus friends, she has contracted the I am moving out bug. I even adopted a puppy that she has been asking for all her life to try to keep her at home. Money is tight and if she moves out she will need IKEA. Her room at home is a little girl’s room so if she stays she will need IKEA. All roads lead to IKEA.
I have a sister in law from Sweden and even before IKEA opened in the states I was loving their products. When they finally opened up in the states I would drive all the way to New Jersey to shop at IKEA.
We love IKEA and if you ever walked into my home you would see that immediately. If you did not see it immediately all you would have to do is open a drawer or closet and see that we are an IKEA family.
The gift cards would be put to great use should we be lucky enough to win them.
Thank you for The great inspiration! Ikea is such a wonderful place to get unique ideas and be very cost effective(besides overspending because you have added to your list after going?) maybe the gift card would help curb that. good luck to your son starting college!
My daughter is two and is being upgraded to a big kid bed. I was wondering if you think the playful pastels is too college age or if it would work for the younger age too?
Our current transition is adding a rescue bunny to our family. My 10-year-old daughter is something of an introvert and spends a lot of time alone in her room. She also loves animals and spent many months presenting her case to allow her to have a bunny to have a companion. I’ve been involved in animal rescue for 20+ years and understand the value of having a pet and how important pet rescue is…and, so, her bunny is coming home soon! We are relying on items from IKEA to bunny-proof her room and make it safe for the bunny.
My husband and I are both huge IKEA fans. I’ve been shopping at IKEA since living in Germany in the 1980s. As a couple we’ve decorated two very different Philadelphia apartments, almost exclusively from IKEA; the first a 2700 sq ft warehouse loft, the second a 975 sq ft South Philly row home. Scouting visits to expensive furniture and design showrooms were followed up by trips to IKEA, where careful shopping would always turn up items with similar lines and style at less than half the price.
When a mid-life vocation/career change led us to Seminary located in NYC, we were faced with downsizing to a lovely but small (450 sq ft) 1 bedroom apartment. We turned once again to IKEA. Although we used as many of our existing IKEA pieces as possible, including Billy bookcases purchased in Germany in 1985, we bought several smaller and more adaptable versions of some items. IKEA’s model rooms were invaluable in organizing the small space to meet our varied needs; storage for hundreds of books, study and sewing space for me, drawing and computer space for my freelance illustrator husband, and of course areas for relaxing, dining, and sleeping.
When we move on from Seminary to Rectory, I know that IKEA will play an important role in setting up our new home.
I think the most special moment with my daughter has been taking her to Tennessee to meet her Great Grandfather. She is the youngest of many grands in his life and the joy on his face at his 90th birthday celebration when she went right to him was incredible.
I live in Winter Park, FL near the Orlando store with my several pets and love the slip-covered IKEA pieces (pets!) and kitchen wear. My son, daughter-in-law and 5 year old granddaughter moved to the beautiful Mariposa California foothills in November. Last week they lost their historic stone home and everything in it to the Detwiler wildfire as it roared over their knoll. They are safe and will rebuild, but are working to place a very small modular cabin on the property to live in in the meantime. IKEA has great ideas for small spaces. I’d like to help them furnish the cabin and they love to cook and will need – well – everything.
We have 4 daughters and home school them! The oldest turns 18 in August and has finished high school early. She plans a gap year full of projects, trades classes, and travel. The other three girls are 16, 13, & 10 and have their own style…one has a bohemian style, one is traditional, and one is an avid collector. It is quite a chore keeping all of them organized but they are very creative. We head to IKEA for ideas and great tools for organizing their rooms and our family’s home.
I’m a student, not a parent, but the most special moment with my family happened for me last November. I moved to Chicago when I was twenty, and applied to UIC at 22. I knew it was the right time for me to go to school, and I was super nervous to hear back from the admissions office! My parents were coming up for a weekend trip for work, and I kept thinking ‘wouldn’t it be amazing if I found out if I got in while they are here?’. Well, amazingly, that happened. I had gone upstairs to my hotel room, and was checking emails from work, when I got the email telling me to check my application status! I flipped out, logged into my account and read the ‘Congratulations’. I didn’t read any further than that- I jumped up and ran to track down my parents and let them know I got in! I’m pretty sure the people around us thought I had won the lottery or was crazy! It’s definitely been difficult being an “older” student, but it’s honestly been the most fun and rewarding thing I’ve done in years, and I know that my nursing career will be well worth the sleepless nights and the sometimes stressful schedules! And I’m so happy I got to have that moment with my parents!