Dorm rooms don’t offer a lot of control in terms of wall color, room layout, or even who you’re living with. That said, a savvy college student can still design a dorm room that will be the envy of everyone else in the hall.

Select your bedding

A dorm room is a shared space, but your bed is all yours. Choose a quilt or a comforter that speaks to your personality. You can go with something fun and colorful or practical and comfortable.

Even if you select a subtle or professional-looking quilt, you can still mix it up with your choice of sheets. Pick fun patterns and bright colors for a subtle bit of bedding design. Matching pillowcases are an absolute must-have.

Finally, no matter who you are or what you’re studying, get some throw pillows. These aren’t just for looks; they also make late-night study sessions a lot more comfortable. Look for cool shapes and modern designs. Color match with your quilt and sheets for the pinnacle of bedding fashion.

Bring some storage

You don’t need to leave your textbooks stacked on your desk or scattered on the floor. Get somewhere nice to put them and your dorm room will instantly look better. You can use the extra shelves to display decorative items and keep your stuff in an organized space.

Check out the Sapiens Bookcase. This space-saving design hides the shelves between your textbooks for a floating-book-tower kind of vibe.

You can also choose a desk with extra shelves or set up some cubbies. Just make sure that you have a place to put your books and possessions, and choose something that looks cool.

Decorate your desk

If you’re actually doing your homework, you’ll be spending a lot of time at your desk. Trick it out to express your personality and encourage that grade-saving studying.

Start with a good desk lamp. The extra light will make reading so much easier on your eyes. Lamps come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; from task lights to ambient mood lamps, the decoration possibilities are endless.

The WG 24 by Wilhelm Wagenfeld is a straightforward lamp with a modern design. This lamp says that you have taste but don’t need to brag about it.

Once you’ve found the perfect lamp, buy other supplies to match it. You can coordinate colors and patterns with your stapler, desk organizers, notebooks, and anything else you might use while studying.

Choose amazing wall hangings

Posters, paintings, and other wall hangings all show off your personality. They’re a quick and easy way to design a space, and they might even be necessary to do good work; there’s strong evidence that the presence of art makes you more productive.

A quick tip for your wall hangings: put them in a frame. Seriously, even a silly drawing your best friend did will instantly look cooler in a nice frame. You can find frames at nearly any price point and in countless styles.

Most dorms don’t let you mount anything on your walls. Try using temporary, adhesive-backed wall hooks; they’re strong enough to hold most frames, and they won’t damage the paint.

Pick items for your dorm room that you want to keep in the long term. If you get a high-quality bookcase, it might be part of your home office well after graduation.