IKEA 2001 Park Manor Blvd. Robinson Town Centre Pittsburgh, Pa. 15205 412-747-0747

The new… IKEA 2001 Park Manor Blvd. Robinson Town Centre Pittsburgh, Pa. 15205 412-747-0747

The new school year bears witness to hordes of college goers collectively envisioning the joys of having a living space all to themselves, far from institutional or parental oversight.

The delightful prospect of personalizing a little world flutters in front of every student about to move into a new dorm or apartment. But the breath of reality will soon invade the dreamscape, filling nostrils with the pungent truth about roommates, landlords, closet-sized living arrangements and bafflingly tight budgets.

Despair sets in when one’s treasured Iron Maiden poster clashes with her roommate’s pink, fluffy lampshade. The discovery of disconcerting brown stains on the carpet is a daily horror. Furthermore, everything pictured in the attractive homesteads of the well-to-do won’t be affordable until decades of professional success are under the bridge.

But don’t falter, poor design-ravenous comrades! There is hope. There is an answer. Sitting inside the Robinson Town Center, directly on the 28X Airport Flyer bus line, 45 minutes from campus, rests IKEA.

I ventured to this enchanted land on the 28X with a generous budget of $75 to scope out what the decor giant has to offer the average college student.

The challenge of decorating anything, much less a tiny space, is daunting and usually expensive. Luckily for Pitt students, IKEA offers an affordable and guilt-free solution. IKEA, a Swedish-based company, operates under standards of fair trade and environmental responsibility. IKEA Pittsburgh is powered by rooftop solar panels that give excess energy back into the local reservoir.

The enormous design center, with a show room and restaurant on top and a pick-up zone at ground level, has everything required to change tiny accommodations into hip and sophisticated living spaces. Decorating a dorm or apartment via the IKEA route should emphasize lighting, color coordination, space savers and petite furniture.

Two of the most effective ways to build atmosphere are by using lighting and color. These are also among the most versatile and affordable methods available in the IKEA product line.

Floor lamps and desk lamps abound in a plethora of shapes and colors. MORKER work lamps, in bright blue, citrus green and pearly white, radiate cheeriness with their sleek, rounded plastic shades and bases for a mere pittance of $3.99. The bright colors of these lamps are classically collegiate in style, likely to match the extra-long comforters dorm dwellers are forced to buy.

If chic is the goal, the metallic KVART lamps are pure modern delight for $12.99, available in red, yellow and white. Reflecting what seems to be the whole point at IKEA, these hip lamps coordinate with the style of almost every piece of merchandise in the store.

Waltzing into budget range, LERSTA floor lamps, $9.99, are about as clean and basic as they come. In black, white or silver, these rounded-shade, single-bulb creatures are incapable of messing up feng shui.

Remember, less is more. In any decorating situation, keeping the clutter to a minimum is a must. A lived-in room doesn’t need to be a room filled with junk. If something doesn’t get used often, get rid of it. The room will look better, and anyone who spends time in the room will feel better, too.

That said, IKEA can help. For $6.99 apiece, IKEA carries SKUDD organizers that hang from closet poles, or just about anything else in red, white or black. They are long, hanging boxes that are perfect for folded clothes or shoes. They’re cloth, coordinating and collapsible.

Collapsible is the magic word for furnishing any small area, and IKEA carries JALL laundry bags, and PRESSA ironing board tables, both small, both collapsible, both $3.99.

If you’re lucky enough to have the room, IKEA’s LACK nesting tables are light, sound and small. Two square tables, one fitting neatly under the other for convenience, add a sophisticated aesthetic effect, and will only set you back $17.99. In white, red, green, natural wood and black, they’re both appealing and easy to match to your surroundings.

But if color-coordinating furniture doesn’t do the trick, IKEA has tons of accents and organizational tools that can pump up any color scheme.

Wicker is in, and the DANHOLM wicker baskets are a useful way to tie decor together. These round little buddies are available in virtually every color imaginable, and at $1.49 apiece, even college kids can afford to buy more than one.

LINGO magazine files, in brown floral, red floral and stripes, manifest to keep scholastic papers tidy and are likely to compliment any color plan. Offered in a five pack, they make a bold statement for only $3.99.

And finally: mirrors. IKEA is offering four round SORLI mirrors, no mounting required, for $5.99. Nothing makes a small room look larger than mirrors. Stick them up high so friends don’t fuss with their hair or flex uncontrollably when present.

The store is covered in signs that say “Back to College Sale” pointing out 10-percent-off deals on things likely to be useful, but don’t purchase anything you can’t carry, because delivery costs extra.