Dorm decor 101
By Blake Eligh • Bankrate.com

Your tiny dorm room is your home away from home. Undecorated, that room full of school-issued furniture can seem pretty stark. But for the style-starved, getting beyond beer posters and milk crate bookcases is easier than you might think.

"A dorm room is very plain -- just four walls, a door and a window," says designer Luc Crawford of Ottawa's Designs By 2. "But your room is who you are -- it shows your personality. You need to put it together quickly and comfortably. You want to live well while you're in school."

Colour your world
You don't have to blow your student loan on décor. Colour is the easiest and cheapest way to personalize your room.

Add pop with area rugs, desk lamps and office supplies. Fun accessories like clocks, covered boxes and picture frames in matching colours can help unify the room and make it feel more like home.

You probably can't repaint, but you can add pizzazz with solid colour bed sheets teamed with reversible duvet covers, cushions and blankets in funky prints. Because your bed will likely serve triple-duty as a couch, study area and sleep centre, Crawford recommends durable, easy-to-clean fabrics such as cotton or polyester.

Picture this
Your walls are another place to add personality, but before you tack up a giant poster of Dr. McDreamy, consider upgrading to a photographic print or a copy of your favourite painting. "You can buy black-and-white posters for about $20," Crawford says. "Add a $20 frame from Ikea, and for $40, you have something with a sense of style."

Second-year Carleton University student Michelle Holden shared a residence room with a friend last year. It took a little work, she says, but eventually Holden's modern style meshed with her roommate's eclectic and arty belongings.

"Our place was pretty bare at the beginning," Holden says. "I brought pictures of my family and friends. My roommate brought artwork by her boyfriend, so our room eventually looked pretty nice."

Keep it together
Keeping things organized will also help your place look great. "Teenagers have a lot of stuff," says Helen Buttigieg, a Toronto-based personal organizer and president of We Organize U. "There are a lot of colourful bins and baskets on the market that you can put on shelves to contain small items. Label them with a label maker or manila shipping labels tags tied on with raffia or ribbon -- that creates a neater look. "

Buttigieg adds that "it's also a great idea to team up with someone who has the same organizational style as you. Otherwise, that could be a bone of contention."

Holden agrees. "I'm pretty organized, but my roommate's desk space was very disorganized. She didn't take the extra step to figure out where to put things -- it would just be under the pile somewhere."