A crash course in dorm decorating on a budget

Finding privacy in a 160-square-foot dormitory room for two is just as hard as you might imagine. Clamping on massive headphones might tune out a roommate humming to herself, but you still can see her puttering around.

Fortunately, it doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming to personalize a dorm room that in a way blocks out irritating roommates and gives you some semblance of peace and comfort.

Some dormitories at the University of Washington, for example, offer an easy way to help maintain roommate peace — lofting. In some halls, the university has modular furniture that allows students to elevate their beds to bunk height.

Hang a waterfall of bamboo ringlets or any kind of beaded curtain over the side, sink into a squishy chair underneath and revel in your privacy.

How to personalize your room

There are other ways to make your room scream you.

Use funky lamps to dress up drab desks, add colorful throws for warmth and sass, and buy cheap area rugs to liven up dull dormitory carpeting.

For the bed, toss on a funky or modern quilt, comforter or duvet with a matching sham. Bargains can be found for under $60 at Bed Bath & Beyond or IKEA.

Buy a tuffet (a low seat or stool) for the nook for $29.99, add a disco-fabulous round mirror (IKEA: $19.99) and switch on a glass table lamp (IKEA: $9.99) for some ambience.

Marketing to the dorm masses

The average freshman spends nearly $1,200 in preparation for college, according to the National Retail Federation. While close to half of that goes to electronics, a good chunk also will be spent on home furnishings.

And stores like Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, JCPenney, IKEA and Urban Outfitters cater to that market with stylish but cheap stuff.

At Seattle University, where the freshman class of about 765 students is required to live in dormitories, resident advisers often organize trips to college-decorating Meccas, said Romando Nash, director for residential learning communities.

"I wish we could get a stipend check for the amount of business we do for IKEA," he said. In a dormitory with 12 floors, "seven floors will probably do a trip to IKEA in the first week. The rest (will go) in the second."

They shop for fun, but also functionality. The standard freshman double room at Seattle University is just 120 square feet.

The university does not allow students to loft their beds, but they can bunk them, which opens the other half of the room for a sofa or futon and a small table, Nash said.

All the furniture that fits

At the UW, where about 60 percent of the roughly 4,800 incoming freshmen will be in residence halls, rooms are not much bigger, so students are creative with their spaces, said Chris Jaehne, administrator for residential life.

Students tend to buy laptop computers because they are smaller, he said. Crates and smaller furniture are popular. But one student squeezed in a 50-inch television a couple of years ago.

And in triples, "it's amazing what three people fit in," Jaehne said.

Multifunctional furniture is key to a small space, such as flip chairs that expand into beds for guests.

Interior designers also recommend that students use vertical space. Faith Sheridan of Faith Sheridan Interior Design suggested shopping at stores like Storables for shoe racks that hang on doors, organizational bins and additional shelving.

Get containers to store items so there is a place for everything, she said.

Students have so little space that it feels more comfortable if there is a clear location where things belong.

"It's a social space, a sleeping space, a study space," Sheridan said. "It's everything."

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com