How to Decorate Your Dorm Room with Photos

💡 Quick Tip: 

Browse our favorite, customizable, same-day pick up prints or dorm-room-friendly adhesive posters! 

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Whether you’re a well-seasoned dorm room decorator or tackling your first dorm revamp, photos play an important role in personalizing and crafting your space. At Picta, we’re all about making the photo decoration process energizing and smooth, wherever you’re living!

While it might be tempting to hang some outdated photos or posters you have laying around, we've got a better approach. We’ve put together a how-to guide of our favorite (but-not-too-expensive!) photo decoration ideas so you can curate the ultimate Pinterest-worthy space with ease. 💖📸

Our Top 5 Tips for Decorating Your Dorm Room

Customizable Gallery Wall of your Favorite Prints & Photos

Let’s bring your inner interior designer to life! Select your favorite photos buried in your camera roll and print them using Picta’s same day printing service. 

Before sticking anything to the walls, get creative and lay out your photos on the floor to visualize your design. Arrange according to size or the space on your wall. Once you’ve decided on the layout, you can remove the adhesive sticker on the back and stick away! 

Define Areas of Your Space with Rugs, Plants and Furniture 

Plants, rugs and desks can help define areas of a small space giving it a bigger, homey feel! 

Create zones by placing rugs in different parts of the room including under your desk or bed to “separate” areas. 

Plants give that earthy, airy feel while acting as the best natural dividers. Utilizing tall, leafy plants can also add a visual flow to your space while making it look bigger. 

Positioning your desk in a corner away from your bed allows that extra bit of separation from your “work” zone and your “chill” zone. 

DIY Photos hung on String Lights to Personalize Your Room 

Lights, camera and lots of photo action! Purchase vibey string lights with clips to hang individual photos. No drill or heavy duty installation project needed, just use adhesive hooks, tape or any spare tacks you have laying around to hang up the string component. 

Now for the fun part, use any photos, small posters or fun fabric you have on hand to hang up some fun items and decorate your space. 

In no time you’ll be studying at your desk while the cozy glow of your string lights hung with your photos daintily outline your ceiling. 

DIY Memory Mason Jar to Enhance your Space

Repurpose an old mason jar from your kitchen or snag one at your local thrift store to hold little printed photos, ticket stubs, photobooth strips or notes from friends and family. 

Jars are also a great way to maximize storage with pens, pencils or various knick-knacks that may clutter your space! 

Snag your favorite, feel good quotes saved on Pinterest or from our collection and print them through Picta’s custom print service. Toss them into your mason jar and pluck one out whenever you need a lil’ pick me up. We all underestimate those bits of encouragement during a late night study sesh. 

Dorm Room DIY Photos and Posters for a Cork Board

A cork board is a great way to utilize wall space and save room for your bigger furniture items. We love thinking of our cork boards as pinterest-turned-vision-boards come to life. What could be better! They’re easy to hang with adhesive command strips and can serve as a visual reminder for upcoming assignments and to dos around your space. 

We love using any post it note, new set of to-dos or class syllabus as reminders on your new cork board. You can also pin up some leftover photos you didn’t use after printing on Picta using funky tacks or tape!

Photo Magnets for Your Mini Fridge in Your Dorm Room 

While a mini fridge isn’t a must have in a dorm room, if you have one, why not customize it!? Photo magnets are an elite, space saving way to display pictures. Order custom photo magnets straight from your phone using Picta. Utilize our same day pick up to magnetize the fam, your friends or that gorgeous sunset from the summer. They’re a fun and functional way to add those personalized touches to your dorm room. 

Final Tips from our experts at Picta

When decorating your dorm room with photos, remember to:

•  Mix and Match: Combine different sizes and styles of photos to add dimension and visual interest.

• “Decorate” with fun with storage! Maximize the space of your dorm room with funky, decorative storage solutions with items including wicker baskets, cork boards, vintage wooden shelves, or hanging storage. A tidy environment can reduce stress, anxiety, and enhance productivity! 

• Decorate with  Picta’s Damage-Free Adhesives: Picta’s posters with self-adhesive backing allow you to display your photos anywhere, then peel off and re-apply as many times as you like. Huge! 
• Alternatively, you can opt for adhesive strips and hooks, making it easy to rearrange your photos and posters whenever you like.

• Don’t forget about styling! Adding those bits of detail including rugs, pillows, plants and other accessories add color, texture and vibrancy. Enhancing your space  with photos not only makes your room feel more stylish and personalized, but also provides those cozy bits of the people, places and things that bring an immense amount of comfort in your new dorm-room-turned-home. 

You’ve got this! 🌟Check out our site for inspo and more.