Whether you’re moving into Vic Hall or onto University Ave., your room should be a comfortable escape.

Here are five easy tricks to elevate your room into a homey getaway. 

Photo arrangements and collages

Try replacing stock posters with your own photos. Instead of the simple framed collection, try a photo clothesline mixed with fairy lights as a showcase.

Want to try something different? Cut and paste photos onto your wooden initials and hang them above your bed for a decorative headboard. 

Pieces of home

For those of you traveling from outside of Kingston, try incorporating pieces reminiscent of home into your room’s decor.  From BC driftwood, to Prince Edward Island sand, these tiny capsules of home will be unique to you. 

Plants

As a living and breathing decorative element, adding plants to your space can be both homey and practical. 

For the no-fuss crowd, succulent plants, such as cacti, aloe and jade plants are an easy and interesting way to liven up your room.

For those with a green thumb, planting flowering herbs or small vegetables is a rewarding way of decorating your new room. Try herbs such as lavender or rosemary for the added bonus of relaxing scents.

 Tea lights

For those of you out of dorms, candles are wonderful accent pieces to both relax and enjoy. As a fun project, try hunting for teacups at one of Kingston’s many thrifty outlets as a holder for a homemade “tealight”.

For a more “college” feel, try making use of those bottle caps lying around your kitchen by using them as mini candle-holders. 

Decorate your walls

There aren’t many sights less reminiscent of home than the brick walls of your dorm room, 

or patched up plaster of your house.  To keep these views out of sight and out of mind use drapery to your advantage. 

Beyond Etsy and Urban Outiftters, many fabric stores offer excellent textile options to soften the four walls you now call home. 

Tapestries not your thing? Try removable wall decals as a focal point in your room.