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.
My husband and I lost the roof to our house in a storm. We were grateful no one was hurt. We had some tarps, so we used those to cover the roof. We were very worried about our neighbors. They are both in their 70’s and not in good health. I had to go to work, so my husband loaded up our 7 children, chain saws, gas cans, gloves, etc. and off they went to check on the neighbors. The had a tree that had fallen and they couldn’t get out of their house. My family spent the next couple of hours helping them and then went from door to door to check on everyone else. When one of the neighbors heard we had lost our roof, he called and told us he had some used plywood he would like to give us, because he knew we didn’t have insurance. With the help of that neighbor, we were able to get a new roof on our home and keep our family safe from other storms. It is nice to live close to people who take care of each other.
I love how you included visuals. I have a specific style and love certain elements, but I always struggle in putting together a big picture. Thanks for the range and variety of decor and space-smart ideas!
Wow so many memories whether myself going to college or my daughter or my baby moving into her own place…but now I’m embarking on a new adventure at 51. I will begin teaching kids with autism in a high school. I just read some blogs on alternative seating and creating a homey classroom, so Ikea is the first place to start for my needs! Wish me luck.
We had a house fire 4 years ago where we had to be relocated. We stayed 1 month in a hotel, and then found a townhome to live in while the house was repaired which took over a year. My daughter, a freshman in high school, and son, in 7th grade, and I had each other, life was different, and it was a learning experience to say the least to be without our belongings. We went to IKEA to buy some things to spruce up our rental property with rental furniture. As a family we lived more simply, appreciated our time together, and tried to remember that there was always someone else that was worse off than ourselves. It was a time in our lives that we will never forget, but this devastating time in our life added resilience in my children and myself. It taught us great life character traits and values to aspire towards; and most importantly what is important in life-each other!
My son will be a freshman at a college 1200 miles from home! He is number 4 of our 5 kids and we have always home schooled them so when they leave there is a big hole in our lives. I am especially sad about him leaving because he has always been such a huge help with and best friend to his older brother who is autistic and functions on a 2 year old level. He voluntarily helps with daily care, such as the full clothing changes several times every day, and the laundry that goes along with that, babysitting, physically carrying his brother into the ER when he has one a seizure, etc… He has never once complained. What I will miss most is the sound of his playing and giggling with his brother and his younger sister. Since he is leaving Florida to go to school in Chicago, he needed a whole new winter wardrobe and there isn’t much left to spend on his dorm room. Thanks for the chance for some IKEA bucks!
Oh, how I wish I’d had an Ikea nearby when I started college! I was 18, on full academic scholarship to a “fancy” school, and completely on my own financially…I was even sending money home from 3 part-time jobs. I so wanted my dorm room to be a restful, welcoming, and decorated space! In the pre-Pinterest days it was difficult to find cheap ways to make a space pretty…and more importantly, functional. I remember the desperation of comparing price tags (and color schemes) in the non-Ikea stores near me for my necessary dorm furniture. It was frustrating on many levels, and I can “almost” now laugh at my complete urgency to make my dorm room into the perfect tiny HOME. My best purchase was a plastic clock, which I still have these 20 years later, due to it’s versatile style and functional small size. I’ve lived in many small spaces since that first dorm room and know the value of vertical storage, space under the bed, and re-purposing items for your own use. I just bought my first Raskog Ikea rolling cart this past weekend for my current art/home studio space, which is now a joyful mix of the controlled organization (from my first dorm days) you can find with an Ikea Kallax unit and the messy art space (which I’ve learned to accept through life) enhanced by my Ikea artwork and paintable wooden boxes. I love having easy access to an Ikea now that I can embrace both sides of life, the simple and structured AND the spontaneous and creative. And yeah, I’m still on a budget, so I’d love to get some new seating options at Ikea!
My favorite moment with my daughters is planning last years halloween costumes.. let me tell you.. a 5 and 2 year old picking costumes is the greatest ever. As for my favorite moment with out my kids is smallland at IKEA lol
My daughter is 16 and has been struggling with depression and anxiety. We moved from her childhood home 2 years ago and she hadn’t wanted to decorate her new room. Finally the other day, after ending a tough friendship, she is finally feeling happy again and said she is ready to decorate her room! As a mom you just want your kids to be happy and healthy. So to hear these words from her and see the sparkle of happiness coming back to her eyes is priceless. A gift card to IKEA would be a much needed boost for her!
Thanks so much for the great ideas! My daughter will start college in the near future and she can’t wait to set up and decorate her dorm room the way she wants! And IKEA gift card could certainly help to do that!
My favorite IKEA moment came when our military family was moved to Naples, Italy. We drove three hours to the nearest IKEA which was in Rome at the time! The Italian IKEA was just like our USA IKEA but for one thing: Italians! We didn’t realize that Italians liked to stroll around dressed “to the Nines” to see and be seen so we were very underdressed! We loaded our bitty station wagon roof rack with beds, shelves, and curtains for our new home on the edge of an extinct volcano and started a two-year adventure. It’s been 15 years since that wonderful day, my kids still remember it fondly. My husband retired after 27 years in the Navy and we would enjoy a little shopping spree to IKEA to feather our “empty” nest… and guess what? We still need to drive hours to our nearest IKEA! LOL!