Dorm designs

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Whether you’re a fashionista who idolizes “Gossip Girl” star Blake Lively, an eco-friendly student who thinks Al Gore is “the man” or a dude who decorates with books, you can find the back-to-dorm decor that reflects your personality and tastes.

The choices are more varied than ever in this year’s crop of cool stuff to trick out your dorm room and turn it into a sweet space.

You can get ideas on how to organize and decorate your room in different themes from store Web sites, which often depict rooms as well as show products. And JCPenney has an area on Facebook as well as on jcp.com that offers a way to virtually decorate by dragging accessories into a room.

Container Store, Bed, Bath & Beyond and JCPenney offer checklists in stores or online to help so you get everything you need.

Many of the basics have remained the same over the years, but trend experts say today’s college students want their rooms to reflect their personalities and philosophies more than ever before.

And one of those philosophies is a concern for the environment.

“One major trend we have seen is going green and being eco-friendly,” says Olescia Hanson, spokeswoman for the Container Store. Some of the items that reflect this trend are bamboo garment racks, bins made out of recycled fabric and trash cans with graphic designs made from biodegradable plastic.

Bold colors are available in everything from desk chairs to lamps, garbage cans and stacking drawers.

“Lots of bold colors make functional storage another way to express personality,” Hanson says.

Bedding also can make a personal statement, says Catherine Gentile, public relations manager of Bed, Bath & Beyond. Bedding choices can run the gamut from spreads emblazoned with the school logo to those with bright colors or wild prints.

One of the significant items you may not think of is Bed, Bath & Beyond’s new Allergy Luxe Bed Bug mattress protector, which protects you from any bed bugs that may have been hiding in the mattress. Gentile said the protector has micro zipper technology that allows the mattress to be securely encased. It comes in twin and twin extra long, the typical college bed size.

Another new item from Bed, Bath & Beyond is the bed desk, which can be angled into different positions and has fold out legs for easy storage. It also has a built-in LED light and built-in mouse pad.

Posters will always be popular, but art also has changed, according to Deb Schweiss, trend director of JCPenney Home.

“Definitely we are moving toward what we are calling alternative art work,” she says. “We are using pieces of fabric or beaded panels.”

Many of the art items are made so they will not damage dorm walls. JCPenney’s canvas over wood prints that are backed with adhesive tape.

The beaded panels are the same concept as the hippie beads that hung in doorways in the 1960s, but these targeted for dorms are made of metallic discs. They are used as a layering piece on window coverings, on walls and to divide rooms.

“Kids are creative,” Schweiss said. “They can hang the panels over the screen. It’s all about personalization.”

Another great way to personalize is by hanging letters on the wall that spell out your interest.

Although the prices of much of the dorm decor are reasonable, it doesn’t have to be disposable. And many of the items, such as stackable drawers with wheels, can be used in different configurations to allow them to be an end table in one place and fit under the bed in another location.

“These products are great quality so something can last four years and beyond to the first apartment,” Container Store’s Hanson said.

“These solutions are flexible. The student will be moving a few times throughout college and you want something that can be adjusted to different places.”