Your home away from home for 9 months deserves to look and feel beautiful. Coming home from a long day of classes to blank white walls and cinderblocks is going to add more stress to your already stressful life. Your dorm room or apartment should be your little escape from the lecture halls and libraries. Here are 6 helpful tips to add a little personal taste to your four white walls that are your home in Madison.
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1.    Take an antique and make it something useful
I recently took an old ladder from an antique fair and turned it into my jewelry display and a place to keep the clothes I don’t want to throw on the ground. Just add a few hooks to hang necklaces and you’re good!
It’s so easy to take something old and make it useful. For example, hang up an old frame (sans glass and back) and post up a collage of pictures in the middle of it. It’ll serve as a nice boarder and is a new approach on the typical frame.
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2.    Frame your favorite magazine covers
This idea I stole from a friend, but it’s such a cool way to share your favorite celebs or magazine covers. You can pick all the covers from one magazine or just your favorite leading ladies. I assembled mine in a square and selected a combo of my favorite iconic covers and fashionable women.
3.    Stack up old magazines
Don’t just put a picture frame on a table, add a stack of old magazines underneath for a fashion forward look. I keep stacks of magazines everywhere and use them just standalone or to place things on top of them. And they’re fun to look back on every once in a while.
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4.    Make your bed a plush heaven
I always have about 6 pillows on my bed and it’s the comfiest place in my apartment! You shouldn’t be missing the nights slept in your bed at home because you’ll be spending more nights away from it. My beds in college have always been my favorite because I add layers upon layers of comfy foam mattresses and a down comforter. Splurge a little when it comes to your college bed because your nights here are worth it.
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5.    Coordinate with your roommate
For those of you sharing a room or living in the dorms, coordinating with your roommate is essential! My freshmen roommate and I picked our color scheme and theme and went shopping together so that we had the perfect room. While our tastes have changed over the years, our freshmen dorm was pretty dope and many girls were envious of our coordination. You can each have your own personal taste and still find a common ground. We always thought of the dorm as our place, and not a place that was divided into sections so that helped us make it more home-y.
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