7 Student-Approved Ways to Decorate Ugly Concrete Dorm Walls

Nothing motivates a study session like coming home to a space that is comfortable and inspiring, and let’s be honest, a blank concrete wall in your dorm room is Are not will do it.

Decorating dorm walls can be tricky – from the difficult materials the walls are made of to the strict rules you need to follow to avoid heavy fines.

Don’t stress — plain walls are also the perfect blank canvas for creativity, and these four students share some clever, student-friendly ways to bring color, depth, and personality to the walls of your dorm room.

Hanging Posters and Pictures

Hanging posters, photos, and artwork may be some of the first things that come to mind when you want to accent your dorm walls, but Victor Castel, a marketing major at Adelphi University, proves that this tried-and-true technique is anything but basic.

“I decided to use frames because they created a contrast between the wall and the posters, all of which I designed myself,” Castel explains. “Since I couldn’t punch holes in my dorm walls, I hung the posters with adhesive Command hooks.”

Elevating your chosen artwork with intentional framing, creating a collage from multiple prints—or taking personalization to the next level and designing your own poster for a gallery wall like Castel did—will instantly add depth to an otherwise plain wall.

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Neon Sign Installation

The combination of harsh dorm lighting and plain concrete walls often makes your space feel more like a clinic than cozy. Take inspiration from Jocelyn Kreis’ freshman dorm and solve two problems with one item by adding another source of light to your room with a neon sign.

Kreis chose a sign with her name in blue to complement the green tones in the rest of the decor, but if you order a custom neon sign, you’ll have endless possibilities.

Depending on your budget—since the price of neon signs increases with the number of characters used—you can also order a sign with your sorority name, school name, or even a favorite quote to add a pop of color to this classic decor element.

Try dorm-friendly wallpaper

Take University of Tennessee sophomore Miriam Cousin’s dorm room as your sign: you don’t have to wait until you move into an apartment to wallpaper and create a chic accent wall.

“The wallpaper ended up being the perfect pop of color and pattern,” Cousin says. “My school’s mascot is a tiger, so I tried to find something similar and ended up with these leopards.”

My cousin had to figure out exactly how to hang the wallpaper by measuring it and making sure it would stick, which took quite a bit of experimentation.

Bring in 3D elements

Bring your walls to life by adding striking three-dimensional decor pieces like Addison Sapp, a biology major, did with intricate gold butterfly stickers and floating shelves in her freshman dorm.

“I focused a lot of my decorating planning on trying to cover up the boring gray walls,” Sapp shares. “I love butterflies because my late grandmother loved them. Adding them to the wall reminded me of her but also covered up the bland wall color.”

Install floating shelves on the wall with Command hooks for large frames or opt for adhesive picture holders—just make sure you double-check weight limits during installation and keep in mind the amount of items you display to ensure your shelves last throughout the school year.

Consider cohesive color palettes

If there’s one thing every college student with a beautifully decorated dorm knows how to do, it’s create a color scheme that makes every item in their bedroom harmonize.

Coordinating bedding, decorative throws, chairs, and rugs with wall decor will instantly create the illusion of a more colorful space even if there are only a few posters on the wall—all without touching a can of paint (or your deposit).

Create extended clothing storage

Bringing interest to the contours of a room isn’t just about the walls, as Castel demonstrates through the clothes rack he selected and paired with his wall art.

Having a few of your favorite pieces in your closet as a decorative element allows you to express your style while also providing extra clothing storage in a dorm room where closets are small or nonexistent—a win-win. Make the room’s theme more cohesive by using the colors in your artwork to inspire the clothes on display.