My Senior Year Apartment

I’ve been missing here for the last few weeks. It makes me kind of sad because I’ve just been so busy with school, sorority recruitment, and basically just enjoying the beginning portions of my last semester of living away at college. September is literally my favorite month, and I can't believe it's almost over! Where in the world did it go?

For the most part, I think my bedroom in my apartment is completed and I wanted to share it with everyone! Of course all rooms are always works in progress, but so far I'm in love with all of the space I have and how it's coming together. If you follow my blog, you know that I've been obsessing over decorating this space for months, so it's so much fun to see how it's come together.

 

We'll start with the view from my door! This is my bed. As you can see, I have the black and white chevron bedding from Urban Outfitters. So far I love it. It's a heavier fabric (more of a denim) and it holds up so well. I have red sheets from Kmart (finding red sheets are so hard!).

I hung up a vinyl monogram decal above my bed, and I love the interest it gives that wall. It's so classy!

 

My mom made the three dot pillows on the bed. One of my favorite details on the red and white polka dot ones, is that they are lined with crochet lace trim!

 

Looking at the nightstand (by the way, all the dark wood furniture was included with my apartment!), I have a chalkboard that I'm attempting to do some awesome chalk art on. This was my first attempt. My lamp came from Target two years ago and of course I have my alarm clock. Sorry for the cords you see, those are my phone charger and the cord to my little mini fan. It gets so hot sometimes!

From my past rooms, you probably remember my PB Teen dottie bins. One holds my Bath and Body Works collection (wallflowers, soaps, Scentportables, and other random odds and ends). The other holds my DVDS.

 

Here's another look that shows a few of my sorority paddles.

 

I've learned that I am most definitely not a handy person when it came to hanging my curtains. Keeping the intense eastern sun out of my face in the mornings were a huge priority, but hanging these curtains was way passed my limited about of DIYer skills. But, they are still hanging, not too crooked, and hung almost perfectly where they touch the floor. I bought them from Walmart.

 

 

Looking at the other wall beside my bed is familiar wall art: IKEA Wildflower wall decals! I had them in my room last year and adored them, so this year I bought another set. I just love them! You can also see Dottie, my ladybug Pillowpet hanging out on my red storage cube.

 

Turning around, here's the look at the other side of my room. I have my dresser and desk over there. And in case you are wondering, the leopard print box underneath my dresser is my nail polish collection! This proves to be the most convenient hiding spot for the box!

Here's a closer look at my dresser:

 

 

My TV is a Christmas present a few years ago from Target. I hung up chalkboard bird garland from World Market (I think they are adorable). I have a mason jar with fake fall flowers, a pumpkin candle from Bath and Body Works, my bird tray with my favorite perfume. And a bird from with a picture of my dog (also from World Market). In case you are curious about my dresser organization, the top drawer is dedicated to underwear and socks. Second drawer is pajamas and camis. Third drawer is shorts. Fourth drawer is jeans and pants.

 

Beside my dresser is my desk. Of course I have my laptop and my printer. But I also have a couple of Vera Bradley magazine holders that hold my textbooks. A red desk lamp, a couple decorative cupcake photo holders, chevron frame, Anthropologie mug with pens, and my Victoria's Secret mini dogs hanging out on my printer. Of course I also have a Pumpkin Cupcake candle too!

 

I also have above my desk my Vera Bradley ribbon board in Poppy Fields (boy do I miss this print!). I just have some photos and important things displayed there.

 

 

Beside my desk I put up my full length mirror, bought another storage drawer set to hold my school supplies, and on top of that I have my makeup collection. So essentially, this is my makeup area.

 

I'm lucky enough to have a walk in closet too! Here's a quick look. It's not the most organized, although I do like the hanging shelves for my cardigans and shoes.

I'm also lucky enough to have my own (huge) bathroom. I seriously don't even know how to handle this much space.

 

 

I absolutely adore my shower curtain from Ikea. I wanted to match my red dottie rug and towels that I bought from Walmart a couple of years ago. No matter where I looked, nothing matched. But Ikea had this super cute one.

I also really like having my wire shelf in my bathroom too. It hold three dottie bins that hold haircare products, makeup removing things, and body washes.

Overall I love my room! It's so spacious and it's fun to have a room to myself. I love having a walk in closet too.

What are you loving about your dorm room?

 

How to Dress Your Dorm Desk

Hey everyone!

An important aspect to every dorm room, without a doubt, is your study space. It's where you are going to write papers (hopefully not all night), do homework, read, make projects, Facebook stalk old high school friends, and procrastinate for hours on Pinterest. Or paint your nails if you are like me. It's a place that also can serve as your eating station as well.

So, clearly, it's a space that needs to be versatile and organized. First, let's take a look back at my first two dorm rooms.

My freshman year, my desk served my main computer space, my study area, and my nightstand. So, as you can see, I have my yellow lamp, three dottie pencil cups, and my printer. I dressed this space mostly to serve as my study center. The key to it being a successful place to study, was keeping the accessories and stuff around it to a minimum. My ribbon board held important pieces of paper (like the code for my universal remote for my TV haha), which was also a great utility piece above my desk. By not covering the entire desk surface, it allowed me to spread out my important papers and assignments as I worked, a must especially for big projects and papers. The lamp is something that also helped me a lot. It not only gave me good light to read, but if I were stuck working as my roommate went to be, I could work in our bedroom without disrupting her.



This is my desk at the beginning of my sophomore year. As you can probably instantly tell, this desk has a lot in common with the desk above: like the memo board, the lamp, my laptop, and printer. But some new additions included the crate (which held my textbooks, such a good idea when you are short on space!), my sorority pin box, earring holder, and some fall smelling lotion. This desk space was definitely a busy one. Since my sophomore dorm was not suite style, this was home to everything!

Later in the year, I moved my above bed shelf over it...(sorry for the super blurry picture and the massive amounts of stuff on my desk)

So see how I placed this shelf over it? I actually liked this set up better mostly because it felt more built in, plus having my DVDs, lotion, and books in those bins above my desk made it more organized and easier to get to. As you can see from this picture, the dorm room desk has to serve not only as a study space, but it also serves at my eating space (Girl Scout cookies, Pringles, and Dr. Pepper) and I have my nailpolish there too.
 

Some desk ideas:

-A cup/mug/holder for your pens and pencils.
-Easy access to your laptop and printer
-Lamp (I prefer the yellow drum shade lamp over the red desk lamp)
-Memo board/bulletin board
-A houseplant, fake flowers (on my printer above is my fake orchid and to the left of my laptop is flowers I got for Valentine's Day)

Inside your desk, try to organize them in ways that make sense. For instance, for the longest time I stored my food and snacks in my desk. However, that doesn't really make sense. So I moved them out and place my textbooks in the drawers, and moved my snacks into one of the red crates. In the middle desk drawer, I always put EVERYTHING I own in there. So think about investing in one of those little jewery comparment/holder things.

Find a system that works for you, if you really like doing your makeup at your desk, have a mirror on hand, or a drawer dedicated to some of your makeup. If you are like me and paint your nails or eat at your desk, put food or nail polish in a drawer too.

Some people prefer studying on their beds, so then change accordingly.

Just remember to have fun and to try out new accessories. I love having my desk space me a clean, organized, and fun area because studying isn't always that fun.

What are your desk must haves?