Getting ready to move into your college dorm room?  If so, it’s a great opportunity to try out your decorating skills.  Although your room space might be small, you can bring your own style and creativity with the littlest touches.  When I spent last summer at Harvard, my dorm room looked as if it came right out of a jail scene in a movie (although I did have great space; two rooms, one bathroom, and lots of closet space-and just one roommate); not like Elle Woods’ dorm.   One room was our common area -we were each provided with a desk, a chair, a dresser, and a bookshelf- and in the other was one bunk bed.

To give my side of the darkly colored and dusty common room my personal touch, I bought some fun accessories: some Audrey Hepburn laminated posters, three large crystal doorknobs in green, purple, and yellow to use as decorative pieces, bright supplies, a hot pink bowl to dump my jewelry in, and a silver chair (so when friends came over, they wouldn’t have to sit on the floor) with a bright multicolored pillow.  I even bought a fridge and had oversized glass jars on top with every kind of 100 calorie pack imaginable.  After my 24-hours of decorating, I felt a little more at home.

Here are 5 of my favorite dorm accessories.  Click on the image to go directly to the site to purchase.