Lilly Barnett When the time comes for you to move out on your own, decorating your dorm room or apartment can be stressful and expensive. In order to make this process easier and stress free, the has compiled a few tips and tricks to help you decorate your room on a budget. When planning how you want to design your room, first consider talking to your roommate (if you have one). Ask what they are planning on bringing so you can avoid buying or bringing unnecessary items. For example, if you are acquainted with your roommate, and they have already mentioned bringing a TV for the living room, there is no need for you to bring one for the living room, as well. Having a roommate can be extremely helpful, especially if you are able to get in contact with them beforehand to decide together what you need for your cohabitation. After you have an idea of what you want your room to look like, start looking around your house for items you could bring with you. Keep in mind, not everything has to be bought - for example, you could bring pillows, picture frames, blankets, towels and anything else you think you might need from home. By doing this, you will save yourself a good deal of money you can use to buy necessities and frivolities you don’t already have. Getting creative is one of the best ways to save money on room decorating. If you enjoy crafting, websites such as Pinterest, Etsy and Instagram have a variety of DIY (Do It Yourself) projects for decorating rooms. These projects are very cheap, if not free. It all depends on the items you can gather around your house to make the project. This can be a fun and cheap way to decorate your room creatively – if you can get your roommate/roommates involved, working together on crafts can be a good bonding activity. Finally, consider visiting thrift and antique shops. Thrift shopping has become popular among millennials, and it is a great way to find vintage items on a budget. Some items to look out for are pieces of furniture, microwave ovens, desks and even wall art. In Troy, there are two thrift shops located on South Brundidge Street – Salvation Army and New Life Thrift. Goodwill is located downtown on the square. What many new students may not realize is there are multiple places in Troy to shop on a budget. Not every college student wants to, or has the ability to, spend a lot of money decorating a room for college. The good news is there are many ways to make your dorm room stylish, while still saving money. Even if getting crafty is not exactly your ideal way to save money, there are other tips and tricks you can utilize to keep your sanity and your wallet.
Staff Writer
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