5 Dorm Room Makeover Tips for "Zoom" University

We know college students are facing a lot of stress, even more than usual. With the heavy possibility of taking classes inside your dorm, you’ll want your dorm to be a cradle of comfort. And sometimes a little decorating pick-me-up can go a long way. Be it big or small changes, designing your dorm on any budget can help you feel just a little bit better. Here at Rockin Cushions, we have a few tips for how you can affordably decorate your dorm with flair. Our biggest style tip? Patterns. Lots of patterns. In our last blog post, when we saw Designer Ju DePaula’s dorm room transformation, we realized how much patterns work to expand a compact dorm through an explosion of color. So we want to show you how you can add more patterns to your dorm room so that, when you open the door after a hard day, the world becomes just a little bit brighter and a little less cramped.

1. Pillows!

Sounds easy enough. But if you can, go overboard: make a nest of pillows, bury yourself inside. So many pillows you almost can’t see your bed sheets anymore, so you kick a few to the floor and call it extra seating. Enough to build a pillow fort for a king– that many pillows. And at Rockin Cushions, not only will you find affordable slipcovers, but you’ll discover a surplus of patterns that’ll sprinkle your dorm with vibrant colors. It may seem like a low-ball to suggest pillows as a dorm decorating tip, but a little decor can go a long way. Even just one new pillow with a vivid texture– whether bright turquoise or yellow lavender flowers– can make your dorm just a little more spirited. Whether you’re a dork for botanical patterns or flamingos, we have a pillow for that. Whatever your niche, we can bring it with flair to give your room a little more comfort when you need it.

(From left to right: Turquoise Blue Arrow Pillow Cushion Cover, Yellow Lavender Linen Pillow Cover, Pink Plants Pillow Cover, Flamingo Print Patchwork Throw Pillow Cover.)

2. The Skruvsta Swivel Chair

Now let’s think bigger: the office chair. If your school is one of the many banning students from Zooming from their beds, you’re going to need a comfortable spot to work in. And not to speak badly of college construction, but in our experience you can only go up from the designated desk chair. That’s why we’re giving you two options: the first, the Skruvsta Swivel office chair. Round, padded, and mobile, the Skruvsta Swivel gives you a relaxing place to work– supporting your back and your fidgeting-tendencies as you push off your desk and wheel around your room. And to have a chair that pops on screen, the Skruvsta Swivel comes in vivid patterns that catch the eye and hold on in memory, such as our Santa Maria Desert Flower chair slip cover. Even better, get one of our fur slip covers for a warm and cozy workspace. You may not be able to wear pajamas or a blanket in class, but no one said anything about having a fuzzy chair that wraps around you just as tightly as your bed comforter. Make your workspace radiate trendy design, inspire a hard work ethic, and help you relax with the Skruvsta Swivel Chair.

(From left to right: White Fur IKEA Skruvsta Chair Slip Cover, Skruvsta Santa Maria Desert Flower IKEA Chair Slip Cover, Hexagon Teal Blush Pink IKEA Skruvsta Chair Slip Cover.)

3. The Sakarias Chair

Our other office chair recommendation is the Sakarias chair. This is the chair for those of us who need to be more down to earth when we work. As much I love to roll around in the Skruvsta, at a certain point I become more focused on wheeling across the room than focusing on why I’m sitting down in the first place. If that sounds familiar, the Sakarias chair is for you. This is the chair for those of us who were at their most productive in high school when we worked on the dining room table. The Sakarias is for those who want to be grounded but also want a high presence on screen. Tall back and sturdy arms, supported by tall and chic legs underneath, the Sakarias chair has a stature that projects confidence during Zoom calls. And at Rockin Cushions, we can make this high-standing chair pop. Whether with a green velvet slip or a pink teal banana leaf pattern, this chair shows off your chic decor style and bolsters your academic strengths for a dorm room that dazzles.

(From left to right: Navy Blue Velvet, Leopard Print, Black Check.)

4. The Beanbag

The quintessential college dorm piece: the beanbag. For when you want to be near the unvacuumed floor but not necessarily touch it. Dirty laundry’s limbo. And for those with pets on campus, the perfect nap nook they’ll fight you for and win. Best of all, the beanbag is the most reasonably-priced decor on the college market. But at Rockin Cushions, a beanbag doesn’t have to be just affordable. You can endow our lean and contemporary beanbag with style and flair, making yours a vibrant and trendy choice rather than a resignation. Our covers can be stuffed with anything you choose and make for perfect storage or a hiding place. Choose from a wide array of patterns available– from leopard print to gothic floral– to expand your dorm with design that engulfs the gaze. Better yet, dress your beanbag up with pillows and stuffed animals (no judgement; if now isn’t the time for stuffed animals, I don’t know when is). Dress the walls or the floor with our beanbag spread across it, and effortlessly add style and comfort to your college home. 

(Clockwise from top: Turquoise Tribal Beabag Cover, Yellow Lavender Beanbag Cover, Navy Blue Ikat Beanbag Cover, Shibori Chevron Ottoman Cover, Splattered Ottoman Cover

5. The Ottoman Seat

And now, transitioning from the standard recommendation to perhaps an odd-ball choice: the Ottoman Seat. What does the Ottoman Seat– a piece of furniture you may have never associated with college living– give that that bean bag doesn’t? Impact. This is the floor seat that will catch you when you want to flop down after a long day: the ideal partner in a trust fall. The Ottoman Seat will help you land with heft, expelling that groan out of your chest as you lay flat and exhausted. The Ottoman Seat is simultaneously a fluffed-up cube and so much more than a cube. It is an extra chair, table, arm, foot, and head rest– the Ottoman Seat can do it all, and what a cramped dorm room needs most is multitasking furniture. More than that, Rockin cushions have the colorful covers you need to make this piece explode with design. Individually vibrant on all four sides, the Ottoman Seat is a welcome splash of high-spirited fun. And at the end of the day, no matter how you decorate, color and pattern can go a long way in transforming a tight space into a cozy den that can help carry you through a rough day. 

Written by Kathryn Blessington (KTB)