Issue date: 8/14/08 Section: News

Art student Shannon O'Daniel sits beneath art gifts from family and friends in her Midtown apartment.

Decorating a dorm or apartment could be a bit confusing and stressful for some students, not to mention expensive. Whether you are going for a picture-perfect catalogue look or something more eclectic, there are ways to meet every student's décor needs.

The first key to designing your dorm or apartment is to organize before going out to buy anything. Becky Rivalto, owner and interior designer for Memphis based interior design company Rebecca Rivalto Interiors, said knowing your space is key.

"They need to make sure they measure the rooms they are going to decorate so they know how much space they have when it comes to knowing how much stuff they can put in there," Rivalto said.

Rivalto suggests that students not only measure all walls and rooms, but measure the windows as well. Also if you know you will need a lot of closet space, you should measure the closet as well to see if you will likely need any space savers or other organizational tools to help you better utilize the space.

Also, if you live in a dorm or apartment, you will likely have some rules you need to refer to before actually decorating. Students need to look into what kind of things you are allowed to decorate with. For example, if you live in a dorm you need to know if you can have candles, drill/nail holes in the walls, etc.

Living in a shared on-campus dorm room with those boring white brick walls, can make it tempting to slap a coat of paint up or plaster the walls with some sort of covering. Unfortunately paint is not allowed, and if you are looking to hang something on the walls or ceiling one should definitely make sure those things are allowed before doing so.

Those students who will be living in an off-campus apartment might not be exempt from rules either. Several off-campus apartments do not allow residents to paint, and others allow painting, but charge you a fee for doing so. So look into the fine print on your leasing agreement, and ask your landlord about any renter policies just to be safe.

Once students have measured their living space and reviewed all policies to see what they can do with the space, it is time to actually come up with a design theme.

After all, it is your space and you have to live there, so go for a style that makes you feel at home in your new place. Once you have chosen a design theme that fits your personality it is time to talk money. Yep, the "B" word - budget. Having a small budget does not mean you will have to cut back on creating a fabulous pad.

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