Rental Guide: In college, interior design is a matter of ingenuity

Four white walls can be pretty daunting, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Take it from… Four white walls can be pretty daunting, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Take it from junior studio arts major Emily Priestas, who finds her own creative ways to add a touch of pizazz to her space.

“I love adding a personal touch to my room with photographs. I often find cheap picture frames and paint them a bright color, then use ribbons to hang them from the wall,” Priestas said.

Kymberly Pelcher, the woman behind Kymberly Pelcher Interiors of Pittsburgh, also highly recommends photographs as a great, simple decoration for college students.

“Photographs are an important thing, especially in a dorm room when you’re away from your family. Go buy a few cheap frames in different sizes, but keep them in the same finish. Then hang them randomly on the wall.  Even if you have a lot of different pictures, which tend to look very unrelated, because you have the same finish they will look terrific and cohesive,” Pelcher said.

Even if you opt to go frameless, pictures can still be a focus in your bedroom. Try a photo collage on an area such as your bedroom door. Don’t have a lot of pictures laying around? Try making a collage with images from magazines instead.

Priestas also recommended picking up some contact paper — the adhesive material with a design on one side that many people have traditionally used to line cabinets and drawers — and maybe cutting an interesting pattern into it before hanging.

According to ehow.com, it doesn’t have to be limited to that: Contact paper can be used for all sorts of other purposes, like CD case or notebook covers, and can typically be purchased for about $5 per roll.

Priestas went on to suggest that contact paper can be used “like a whiteboard for people to write on,” which could be a low-cost, easy way to add some fun and personality to your décor.

Beyond the paper, there’s still one source of confusion that many beginners find difficult to remedy: color.

Priestas suggested keeping things simple.

“Adding too many patterns and colors can be overwhelming, but doing some mixing and matching can be fun because it allows for many combinations,” she said.

Of course, aesthetics must be accompanied by sound organization. This can be particularly important to those students dealing with stringent space limitations.

Nikki Nair, a senior majoring in physics and math, described the challenge of living in a space-efficient room: “I have no closet, and my room is about 6 feet by 7 or 8 feet. I can’t ever just drop clothes on the floor.”

Without a closet, Nair must make do in other ways.

“I put a bunch of nails in the walls and hang clothes off them. I stack a bunch of stuff — I have a bookshelf on top of my desk,” he said.

Pelcher said that being selective and efficient are crucial in a small space, and color becomes all the more important.

“I would say to pick one color you love, or maybe two, and go with a lot of different shades of the same color. Small rooms tend to look very cluttered, and if you use different shades of the same color, that will cut down on clutter greatly. If you wanted to do patterns, make sure to keep them in the same color family.”

Another word of advice from Pelcher, an adherent of feng shui, is to never go to sleep in a mess.

“Because you sleep in the same place that you do your work, you always want to keep your bed a very restful place. Make sure everything is out of sight when you go to sleep — computer closed and papers put away. Keeping things out of sight is key.”

Pelcher said there are many ways to keep things out of sight. She suggested using decorative boxes and bins and colored folders to add style and function to a desk area. She also recommends The Container Store (www.containerstore.com) for helpful solutions, and CB2.com as an inexpensive decorating source for students.

Nair said that being organized is “the only way to deal with living in a small space.”

“I’m naturally kind of a packrat. When I first moved in, I ended up getting rid of a lot of stuff,” he said.

Even in such a small space, though, putting up at least a few decorations can liven up your room and make it feel like home.

“I do have space for decorations,” Nair said, “but I decorate functionally — all of my decorations have a purpose.”

Nair said that, for example, he has a flag hung over his window, serving the dual purpose of decoration and keeping light out at night.

Learning to live well in a small space is undoubtedly tricky for most, but it is not always without reward.

“It’s actually been nice. It’s helped me a lot in being more organized and it helps me to be more efficient,” Nair said. “If someone has trouble with organization, it just means they’re not doing it, because it’s not really that hard.”