Smart Spending: Tips for decorating 4 key parts of your dorm room for less than $75

Smart Spending: Do up your dorm room for under $75

NEW YORK — When textbooks and other obligations soak up so much money as college begins, making a cramped dorm room comfy, colorful and classy can seem like a lost cause, but students and their families don’t have to spend a lot.

Experts say a cap of $75 is realistic for students moving into a room furnished with a bed, dresser and desk but nothing else.

“You’re not looking for investment pieces,” says Stan Williams, author of “The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating,” and a blog called elegantthrifter.blogspot.com. “You’re looking for something that fits into a small space and cheap.”

Dr. Susan Baxter, assistant professor of marketing and management at LIM, a college based in New York with a focus on fashion and retailing, recommends starting with information from the college on the room’s dimensions and what is supplied.

Next, students should make a list of what’s missing and compare prices on sites like pricegrabber.com. They also can flip through decor magazines and websites that offer vignettes to find styles they like.

But before buying anything, check with siblings or friends who are trying to unload items, and check the college’s Facebook page and its marketplace section for items for sale. Check the website Narts.org for listings of local thrift and consignment shops. Also try freecycle.com, which matches people giving things away with others who want the stuff, Baxter suggests.

Here are ways to decorate four areas of your room for less than $75 in all:

1. WALL DECOR. Bypass the frame store and fancy museum shops and head to thrift stores and flea markets to pick up vintage postcards that can be created into a collage or even a framed painting whose original owner has tired of it, or try sites like postcardguy.com and Zazzle.com. Williams says not to pay more than $1 per postcard. Better yet, save postcards from friends and family, and don’t spend a dime.

2. LIGHTING. Bright lighting is important for studying, but decorative lights can dress up your quarters in a unique way. Williams recommends buying a lamp at a Goodwill or other thrift store but adding a quirky new shade from a store like Kmart or Wal-Mart or Ikea or even a dollar store. Baxter even recommends using Christmas lights in white or multicolor.

3. BEDDING: Colleges often sell linens, pillows and bedding, but students can do better on their own. “They’re cheaper at a back-to-school sale, and they’re more individualized,” Baxter says. Unfortunately, buying bedding used isn’t advised because of the continuing spread of bedbugs. Many discounters sell “bed in a bag” sets, including pillows, comforter and sheets, for $60 or less. And make sure everything’s easily washed to avoid dry cleaning costs.

4. FURNITURE: Williams suggests thrift stores and flea markets for non-upholstered furniture like a small book shelf or table for your TV. “You can paint it, strip it,” Williams said. And the old college favorite, milk crates, is still good for extra storage (The Container Store has colorful ones for $9.99). Williams also suggests propping up the bed with cinderblocks to create storage space for things you don’t need often.