Make most of the little room you have

  Photo by Angie Levine Wicker baskets sold at Ikea are
useful for storing a variety of items that often clutter a small
dorm room.

By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

It’s disappointing to come home to a small, cramped
room.

Well, deal with it.

Deal with it by redesigning.

Limited living space is characteristic of low-budget college
students. Fortunately, walls cannot bind ingenuity and creativity.
Welcome to interior designing 101.

With only brief instruction, students can work with what they
have, designing and organizing to maximize their space, including
walls.

“What you want to do is maximize the whole height of the
wall, whether that’s in book-casing or in shelving above the
study area,” said Martha Saldumbide, interior specialist at
Ikea. “And a mirror will always make a room look
bigger.”

Saldumbide says the most basic goal in increasing space is
achieved by getting more function out of each piece of furniture.
This can be done by putting storage drawers underneath desks or by
cleverly pinning hooks onto a shelf unit to hang a purse or jacket.
Furniture can be used beyond their obvious function.

“That doesn’t mean a bookcase is always just a
bookcase and a desk is always just a desk. You have to look beyond
what their normal functions are and try to add on functions,”
Saldumbide said.

Ikea does just that with its variety of futons, which play the
simultaneous roles of both sofa and bed. The store even features
“˜Lycksele’, a convenient chair-bed ($179), conserving
more space.

Stores like Kmart also offer solutions, with a whole department
dedicated to organizing homes. Its book-casing shelves ($24.99) can
be arranged in four different ways and store a medley of various
items in addition to books.

“Students can buy racks to put inside the closets the
rooms already have and use organizers so they don’t waste
space,” said Adin Velazquez, a Kmart manager of the home
organization department.

Creative furniture does not need to break the piggy-bank.

“Martha Stewart has really good products, but
they’re a bit expensive. So Kmart sells our own brand of
items similar to the ones she sells,” Velazquez added.

  Stylish new methods of arranging dorm rooms allow for
effectively saving space in a creative manner. Interior designer
Lee Snijders, former UCLA art student and current visual
presentation manager at House2Home, recommends simple items such as
plastic crates and inexpensive rugs to create more room.

“Another way to save space is to set a mattress or a futon
right on top of crates,” Snijders said. “Then you can
put additional storage in the crates under the bed.”

Regarding rugs, Snijders advises using a lighter rug for darker
furnishings, and vice versa, to get a pleasing contrast and to
create the image of a larger space.

ANGIE LEVINE Metal baskets allow for maximum space in a unique
form.

In order to convert this newly maximized space into a home,
Snijders suggests a few decorative pieces to personalize and
enliven the place.

Plants, silk plants for those who don’t have green thumbs,
can add color to a room. Lighting, of course, is integral in
setting the desired mood.

There are lava and electra lamps to add excitement, leopard
print and furry lamps for an exotic look, and globe lamps ““
for the geography majors, Snijders says.

“When you’re young and in college, you can get away
with this kind of stuff,” Snijders said. “(Lamps) are
great and they spur on a lot of creativity in the room.”

In addition to these decorative items are some useful tips to
consider before possible problems arise.

Scented candles are always handy with so many people sharing a
room.

A shower curtain on a rod can also be placed between a room for
privacy.

And different colored or different themed bathroom accessories
are practical ways to avoid confusion in shared bathrooms.

Yes, the idea of a variety of colors and themes for each
roommate can be frightening. However, Saldumbide assures that it
can be done.

“If you are bringing two styles into a room, you are going
to have to consciously try to tie them together in either the
smaller design elements or the light accessories,” Saldumbide
said. “It takes an eye, but I think in dorm situations, since
it’s temporary, students should just have fun with
it.”

If designing can create more room for apartment parties, more
floor space for the video game “˜Dance Dance
Revolution,’ and more corners for piles of dirty laundry, why
not invest a little time?