So, it has finally happened, your son or daughter is going off to college. This is an awesome time for both the child and the parent. You want them to have a great college experience, and this starts with having a great place to call home, albeit temporary, it is still home. Temporary, this does present some problems when deciding how to turn a cold, bare, boring, dorm room, into a place that feels like home. While most college dormitories do not allow you to repaint the walls during your short stay there, you are allowed to hang pictures, decorations or wall decals. I love decals for their diversity, their impact and that they are so easily removed without leaving a trace. One of the best ways to show you and your child's school spirit, is with a big wall decal of your school's logo. You can buy the logo of most of the major colleges, as well as wall border that match. You are not limited to sports decals, there are many choices, from words of inspiration to "instant windows" these are wall decals that look like a window looking out on a beach, a snow-covered field, the mountains or down town New York etc.

Another cheap and easy way to decorate / furnish the dorm is with old used milk crates, and some zip ties. You can use the milk crates as boxes to help during the move in process. Then, turn them on their side and stack them to your desired height and zip tie them together. This style of shelving is great for anything from books to clothing. If you want to go a step further you can cut some cardboard to lay inside the crates so that you can lay small items on the shelves. Try covering the cardboard with contact paper for a professional look. Remember to bring something to cut the zip ties when it is time to move out, so you can use the crates again.

If you decide to order a wall decal, you may want to first find out what color the wall is that it will be going on. Some schools paint their dorm rooms in the schools colors, this may give you some direction as to the color and type of decal to choose. Some decals are huge, you may also have to take some measurements to make sure your decal will fit where you want to put it.