Dorm Room Tour: Before and After

Our daughter finished setting up her dorm room and it’s so cute!

She isn’t quite finished getting organized and unpacked but I couldn’t wait to share her initial pictures through this dorm room tour. She said they will move some things around once her roommate arrives. I’ve linked to our YouTube dorm room haul video tour at the end of this post.

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I’ve created a customized dorm idea list on Amazon. I love it because it’s easy to see all the items I’ve picked out along with images

BEFORE: Bed

When we arrived, the bed was at what is called LOFT height. At loft height, a ladder (end bed rails) is required to get into bed. The desk and dresser both fit under the bed with plenty of room to sit at the desk.

Our daughter and her roommate had already decided that they wanted to be at CAPTAIN height, which means there is about 37 inches below the bed. The dresser along with other storage can fit below the bed.

She likes this height because she can easily hop into bed, it doesn’t feel as claustrophobic. Changing her bed to this height would also give her more wall space to decorate. I like this height because the room feels much bigger and open.

If you don’t know how to change a bed from loft height to captain’s height, you can watch our video . I thought the video might help people who didn’t know the dorm room beds can be modified.

AFTER: Bed Area

Her bed area turned out really cute. I hope to replace this picture with a new one as the bed was really messy but I was in a hurry to get pictures.

Pro Tip: We used the Command Strips on the back of this power cord so that we could place it right by head of the bed.

Key Items you see (and don’t see) in this picture of the bed:

• Twin Waterproof Mattress Cover
• Twin XL Mattress Topper
• Twin Duvet Insert
• The Emily & Merritt Scallop Ruffle Quilt and Sham
• A similar (but more affordable gray quilt and sham set)
• Emily & Merritt Stripe Duvet Cover & Sham
• Microfiber Sheet Set – White
• 3 Drawer Wide Storage Tower – Her bed is a twin XL and there was enough room for one of these on each side of the dresser with several inches to spare.
• The Emily & Meritt Velvet Bow Pillows, Quartz Pink – or check out this darling pink pillow that is much more affordable
• Pillows – Stand Queen (down alternative)
• Metal Gooseneck Clip Lamp
• White Clip Fan, for her bed – This is similar to the one I bought
• Faux Fur Pink Stool
• Be Happy Sign
• Bedside Storage Caddy
• Bedside Wall Caddy
• Round Power Outlet strip
• Command Strips – we went back to Walmart to buy more of these as we used them to hang everything!
• Command clips – These tiny Command clips were great. You can’t even see them on the wall because they’re clear. We used them anywhere that cords ran along the wall (globe lights, lighted sign, extension cords). We just put one every twelve inches or so and tucked the cord into the hook.

We used the 16 pound command strips to hang our signs and pictures.

AFTER: Desk Area

On to the next area of this dorm room tour – the desk area.

Adding the shelving unit above the desk was important to my daughter because it allowed to her create space for decorative items. I imagine over time this space may convert more to functional space. But for now – so dang cute!

Key Items in this area:

• Gray Contact Paper
• Desk Bookshelf
• Sand Hourglass decor
• 3-tier utility cart on wheels
• Desk Lamp
• Lighted Mirror – One Touch, 3 light setting
• Trash Can (This is a similar trash can to mine, not exact one)
• Magazine Holder (similar magazine rack)
• Hanging Triangle Planter
• Elephant Planter
• Sheepskin Area Rug – I’ve linked a similar one
• Pink globe and most decor items from Hobby Lobby

BEFORE: Sink Area

AFTER: Sink Area

We hung the IKEA pegboard with Command Strips since you can’t use nails or screws in the walls. See my post about how to do this (there is a video there too).

And – if you like my containers (from the Dollar Tree) for the cotton balls, cotton swabs, and cotton pads (shown on the shelf in the pegboard), see my post about how to make these cute organization jars.

We don’t have our refrigerator in the bottom of our unit yet. We didn’t have enough surge protectors.

The revolving snack tray below is awesome. See my post about how I used scrap paper and Mod Podge to make it match our dorm room decor.

Key Items in the Sink Area:

• Mini Shelf Supreme – for refrigerator and microwave
• Revolving Snack Tray
• Hamilton Beach Microwave (dorms have rules about wattage, so check ahead). This one was good for her dorm.
• IKEA pegboard – – see my post to hang with Command Strips

BEFORE: Bathroom

AFTER: Bathroom

Key Items Used in this Space

• Over the Toilet Shelving
• Gray Ruffle Shower Curtain
• Liner
• Shower Rings
• Shower Caddy – Madesmart Soft Grip Tote
• Bath Towels – Dark Gray Toilet Paper Stand
• Clorox Toilet Wand Kit

BEFORE: Closet

After: Closet

We used this Dollar Tree contact paper to cover the closet. I bought it online (you have to buy 16 rolls online). I’ll return the ones that we didn’t use.

We love the shoe organizers from the Container store. She already had these in her closet at home so we just moved these to school.

We also put one of these expandable shoe organizers on the bottom of her closet. You can kind of see it behind the hamper. She’s using that one for the items she doesn’t often use.

Key Items we used in this space:

• Gray Velvet Hangers
• Pant Hangers
• Expandable shoe rack
• Container Store Large Drop Front Shoe Box
• Laundry Bin
• Tension Rod for the closet – to hold the curtain panels
• Curtain (2 panels, good for 2 closets) – We used 84″ long, so we covered our top shelf of the closet as well.

After: Windows

See video of our dorm room haul below.

Key Items Shown:

• Paper Orb String Lights – We used two boxes for this big window and a third one for our other window.
• Message Board
• Ikea plants

Hope you found something helpful in this dorm room tour. See my other posts relating to college living.

• Revolving Snack Tray: A great Dorm Room Idea
• Dorm Haul
• Dollar Tree Bathroom Organization
• How to hang IKEA pegboard with Command Strips
• Dollar Tree Bins – decorated
• Dollar Tree Organization Jars
• 5 Must-have Dorm Items
• College First Aid Kit
• Gray Dorm Bedding
• Pink Dorm Bedding
• Boho yarn tassel garland