7 Tips To Get Your Dream Aesthetic Dorm (No, But Really)

Like so many GRWM videos on TikTok, Kaitlyn Johnson’s start with the influencer seemingly waking up for the day. She sits up in her pink and white bed, which is underneath a piece of pink and white wall art. Her dark hair is wrapped in a no-heat curler, and she’s wearing pink matching pajamas. The 20-year-old stretches her arms wide, takes a sip of water from her Stanley tumbler, and brings viewers along as she heads to class.

Thanks to her popular vlogs about life as a college student at the University of Alabama, Johnson has more than 1.5 million TikTok followers. She started off making YouTube vlogs about dorm decor when she was a senior in high school before switching to TikTok, where her content fit in with the trendy “clean girl” aesthetic. “I know that a lot of people believe that college is hectic, and it is, but [my videos] show that you can put yourself first and take care of yourself and also go through school and make friends,” the Illinois native tells Elite Daily.

I go for very floral designs, just anything pink, white, and floral.

There’s no doubt that her carefully curated dorm — a clean white space with pops of pink and feminine accents — will motivate you to make your living space look just as put together. There’s a tidy vanity area stocked with color-coordinated beauty products, a cozy bed in a little corner nook, and an organized closet full of cute clothes. She describes her style as “soft girl,” but it also fits in with the clean girl look. “I go for very floral designs, just anything pink, white, and floral,” she says. For her senior year, Johnson is moving into an apartment with one of her closest friends, which she’ll transform into the kind of bright, neat space she’s known for.

Below, the psychology major shares her tips for putting together the most aesthetic dorm room.

Use Social Media To Learn About The Dorms At Your School

You’re probably already using social media to find inspiration for the general vibe of your dorm room or off-campus apartment. Try making your search more specific to get a better idea of your exact space. For example, if you’re preparing to decorate a dorm room you’ve never actually spent a lot of (or any) time in, Johnson recommends searching for dorm room videos from other students at the school you’re attending. This is something that helped her figure out how she would organize her own room before she moved in because it gave her a better sense of exactly how she would arrange her furniture and other items.

If you can’t find dorm room videos from your school, see if you can get any info from your school. “Our college gave us layouts that we could look at for our dorm, so I looked at that and I just mentally placed each item in my head,” she says. “I knew where I wanted my bed to be.” From there she went to Etsy and Pinterest. She also found organizational tips and clever storage solutions on TikTok.

Decide On A Color Scheme Or Theme

Once you have a sense of your dorm’s layout, instead of buying a bunch of random items you think are cute and hoping they’ll come together, shop with purpose and intent. Settle on a color scheme — for example, Johnson’s is pink and white. Using a color wheel can be a helpful way to do that. The colors next to each other look better paired together and will give you a more cohesive look. You can download an app like Coolors or Pantone, which generates color palettes or allows you to create them yourself, helping you see how different hues look together before you actually spend money on products in those colors.

Certain colors can make small spaces, like a dorm room, look more closed in, but this can also depend on lighting — if it’s possible, get a better idea of the light in the room and keep that in mind. Look where the windows are (Do they face south or north? Do they look out onto another wall or an open space?) and how big they are. A lot of natural lighting can work well with darker or lighter colors. If there’s almost no natural light, opt for softer, lighter colors to open up the space a bit.

If you’re trying to balance how much or how little of each color you’re using, keep the popular 60-30-10 design color rule in mind. It means you should decorate the room with 60% dominant color, 30% secondary color, and 10% accent color.

“Going into it, I had the idea that I wanted pink, white, and gold,” Johnson says. “So whenever I was shopping for items, I made sure to keep that in mind.” She also was careful not to get too many items of either color and she avoided mixing too many metals.

Save Where You Can, Splurge On What Matters Most

Making your dorm room look good doesn’t mean you need to drain your bank account. Instead, shop more intentionally by creating a budget, and then deciding which items are most important to you and warrant a higher price point. It could be your desk space, vanity, or your bed — if it’s a spot you know you’ll spend a lot of time in, invest your money in that.

Next year, I’m spending the most on my bedding, just because it’s the main focal point of your entire room.

“Next year, I’m spending the most on my bedding, just because it’s the main focal point of your entire room,” Johnson says. This is especially true in a dorm where that’s often your biggest piece of furniture. “If you have nice bedding, it makes everything else tie together,” she says. “I like to sleep, so I want a nice, comfy bedding area that makes it pretty but also super comfy.”

Other items that might be worth the extra money include things you’ll use regularly, like bath towels, a mini fridge, or a comfortable rug. “I definitely buy things that I know I will use for years to come,” Johnson says.

Save on the smaller, less important items. Some of Johnson’s favorite inexpensive stores include TJ Maxx, Walmart, and Ikea. If you have your eye on something expensive but can’t justify the price, reverse image search it on Amazon to find a cheaper dupe. You can also wait for holiday weekends when there are a lot of sales (think Labor Day) to get lower prices at home stores.

Buy Multifunctional Items That Look Good & Will Keep You Organized

Sometimes having a beautifully decorated room means buying decor pieces that have no other use besides looking good. That’s fine, but you also want to focus on getting versatile pieces that are functional and look cute.

Pieces that can keep your items neat and organized are key if you’re trying to achieve that clean girl look — clutter is not the vibe here. They’re also key for maximizing your small space and making good use of every square inch. Johnson says one of her favorite things in her room is a nightstand with built-in charging ports and space for all her electronics. She also loves having a way to organize her beauty products, like a white and gold mini skin care fridge. “The rest of my skin care organization is little clear boxes that I put all of my products in, and I feel like it’s just a very clean and modern way to keep your skin care in drawers,” she says.

Giving every item a “home” is a good way to help avoid clutter and create aesthetically pleasing organized spaces. For a small space, like most dorms, look for clever storage options. Container bags like this one from Amazon that are slim enough to fit under your bed can be great for stashing shoes, extra clothing, books, or accessories. Hangers with holes and hooks that can hold multiple pieces of clothing instead of just one are perfect for tiny closets. A narrow rolling cart for beauty or bathroom essentials can be tucked into a small space, and a versatile over-the-door organizer can hold just about anything.

Johnson avoids clutter and hours of cleaning by following an extremely simple concept: putting things away immediately after she’s finished using them, whether it’s dirty clothes or skin care. “It’s just a very easy way to keep my room clean, because once you stop cleaning it, that’s when it builds up and it’s a lot harder mentally to get yourself to clean it,” she says.

Add Unique Touches With DIY Projects

You could buy the same decor piece thousands of other people are buying, or you could make something that’s totally your own. Johnson, admittedly, is not big on DIY but wishes that she were “artsy” enough to create some of her own pieces. “That would save so much money and it would basically make your space, your space,” she adds. “It would be so personal.”

You can use your creativity to do things like paint or create your own wall art, make your own frames, or refurbish an old piece of furniture into something new and cool. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s just about creating something that no one else has.

Use Color To Update An Old Dorm Room

A lot of dorm room spaces are old and outdated and can feel pretty hopeless when you first move in. While there are limits on what you can do in the room — you can’t start painting the walls — there are still ways you can update the space to make it look more fun. Once you’ve settled on your color scheme, Johnson recommends adding color whenever possible, like hanging prints on the walls (she loves Etsy for finding “different and unique prints”). A gallery wall can be great if you have extra wall space, or you can just add one or two prints around the room to keep things simple.

Adding plants can make a room look more alive, and if you have a windowsill, this is a great spot for them. Faux plants require zero work but still add color. Johnson also likes adding string lights to the walls to make the room brighter, especially near the bed area. The soft lighting gives off a cozy feel and can be more relaxing than bright overhead lights or lamps when you’re trying to wind down.

Get Into The Habit Of Making Your Bed

If you’ve never been the type of person to wake up and make your bed before going through the rest of your day, it’s time to start. “My biggest tip for keeping your space clean is making your bed every single morning,” Johnson says. “If your bed’s clean, it makes your whole room look a little bit cleaner.” Turn it into part of your daily routine by doing it immediately, right after you wake up and get out of bed.