Cozy and Functional Apartment Bedroom Ideas for College

Heading off to a college apartment or renting a room? See how I made my daughter’s room cozy and functional with these apartment bedroom ideas for college! You can have functional and cozy vibes in your space, no matter what size it is! You can find all the sources as you scroll through the post! 

Student Bedroom Ideas for Small Rooms

My daughter was heading off to her Sophomore year of college, and she was SO excited.

Maybe more excited for the upcoming year than she was for her Freshman year and she was excited for that!

At the end of the last year, when I moved her home, she closed the door to her dorm room and she didn’t want to look back.

Dorm life can be hard.

Sharing space with a stranger was not ideal for her, and she couldn’t wait to move back home for the summer (funny how that goes).

This year, she would be renting a house with 5 other girls. They all already knew each other, so the experience was going to be much better than the last year.

Once the girls decided who was going to get which room, it was time to figure out how to squeeze the most juice out of the lemon!

The room that was hers was tiny.

She didn’t care, though, because that tiny little space would be all hers, and she wouldn’t have to share.

So, whether you are renting a room in a house or want to get the most out of a bedroom in an apartment, you will love these student bedroom ideas for small rooms!

Apartment Bedroom Ideas for a Girl – Give Her What She Wants!

This would be different from the dorm room she lived in the year before.

This time she wouldn’t have to share a space with anyone else.

Sure, the house would have 5 girls in it, but this one room was all hers to escape to.

These were the items that she really wanted to fit into the space:

• Storage for her shoes
• A queen bed
• A nightstand
• A record player
• Storage for her albums
• Clothing storage
• A TV
• A desk for studying
• A makeup vanity
• Plenty of storage for her makeup
• A good makeup mirror
• Good lighting
• A large mirror for that fit check
• Cozy vibes
• Function
• A chair that was comfy for studying, homework, and makeup
• A place for all of her sweatshirts (I don’t know why she has SO many sweatshirts!)
• Photos and artwork
• Clean and aesthetic vibe to the room “to avoid an overwhelming feeling of clutter” (her words)

That is A LOT to try to fit into one tiny room!

So I set out to make it all happen for her.

I didn’t know how I was going to get all the things on her wishlist into that tiny space, but I knew with a little effort and imagination, I could figure it out!

How to get the Best Layout for an Apartment Bedroom

You will need to figure out the best way to place your furniture for the way you want the room to function.

Play around with the largest item(s) in the room first to see where they fit best. 

That will be the rug and the bed.

Then you will want to start to layer in the other pieces you want in your room, one by one.

As you go along, try to think about how you will use the space and what you want to be convenient.

What the pictures don’t show is that this room was such an odd shape!

It had an opening with double doors and a weirdly angled wall, then it opened up into the space.

Oh, and it had a GIANT radiator under one set of windows that came out into the room, and we would have to design around it.

The actual usable space was quite small.

The room had lots of windows, which is great for light, but not great for the furniture layout.

And having double doors sounds cool, but it limits the wall space.

She really wanted a queen bed because she wanted it to feel more like home, and she is tall. She wears a size 10 shoe!

Besides, sleeping in the twin bed the year before made her feel like she was at summer camp all year, and she wanted this year to feel a little more luxurious.

So we got to work by placing the bed in a few different places, ending up with it in the middle of the room.

I opted to put the bed in the middle of the room on top of a neutral rug that fit the space.

Don’t spend a lot on a rug. Chances are, you will throw it out eventually, so I don’t recommend spending a lot of money on one.

I could have moved the bed to the corner, but that makes it really hard to make the bed, and it can eat up a lot of available wall and floor space.

How to Make Your Bed a Priority in College

My daughter wanted very simple. What she wanted most was to make it easy to make her bed, so we made it cozy, but didn’t make it fussy.

What you want for a cozy vibe bed:

• A good mattress (I chose this one)
• Sturdy Bedframe that doesn’t squeak when you move around
• Soft sheet set (get two if you can so that you can change the sheets without having to wait for the washer/dryer to be free)
• Cozy comforter that breathes
• Comfy pillows (these are my favorite, set of 2, down alternative)
• A Back Pillow for studying (this one is so soft and comes in 7 colors)
• Your favorite cozy throw blanket for curling up with a good book
• Lap Desk

If this is the only space that is truly yours, you will be spending a lot of time in it.

Your room provides a respite from the world, whether you’re trying to study or hang out and watch a movie on a cold, snowy day.

I would have added a fluffy down comforter at the end of her bed if it were my room.

But I am not the one sleeping there, and she didn’t want that.

 

This is the metal bedframe I bought for under $80, and we were pleasantly surprised by what we got for the price.

It is so sturdy, simple in design, and has plenty of underbed storage space.

The chenille leopard bedding set is so cozy! It is a 3-piece set, and she loved that the colors were neutral but still had some character.

We had some other white Euro shams in a closet at home so we brought those with us.

Then she chose some furry white pillows for some whimsy and texture.

I did opt to purchase the BEST queen mattress in a box that we could easily get up to school.

It unfolds and puffs up to full size in a matter of hours.

Since it is from Amazon, I could have quickly had it delivered to the house as well.

Sleep is elusive, but so important in college, and this cozy room would not be the same without a comfy bed.

Instead of getting a cheaper mattress and having to buy a special topper for it, I just went ahead and got this mattress for about the same cost.

My daughter LOVES it.

I went up for parents’ weekend and slept in the bed with her, and believe it or not, I got a full night’s sleep even in a college house!

I am pretty picky, so I was pleasantly surprised!

It is a great choice!

Pick out Colors that Work Together

She wanted a very neutral space.

No clutter, no fuss, and void of color that she might get sick of quickly.

She wanted a calm environment, so we chose a neutral palette of creams and beiges.

Whatever you choose for your space, decide on a color scheme.

Make it cohesive by having a base color like cream, gray, a calm green, or even beige.

Then add in pops of color in pillows, blankets, plug-in light fixtures (here are 20 of my favorite plug in pendant lights), and accessories to tie it all together.

Use Double-Duty Furniture when Designing a Student Bedroom

To maximize storage and function of furniture, be sure to opt for things that can play two roles.

We found this ottoman at Home Goods and thought it would be perfect for extra seating when the girls come in to spill the tea and storage for all of her sweatshirts.

We were going to use it for shoes, but all of those sweatshirts won out!

I found this alternative storage ottoman that is half the cost and still so cute!

It would be great for school supplies, books, etc, too!

Her shoes ended up going in a bin under her bed.

These under bed storage bins are perfect for a college student because they have wheels and they have a clear, zippable dust cover so you can see what is inside!

And they come in a pack of 2 and 3 different colors!

I had an extra table top that I wasn’t using so I brought it with me to add to the top of the radiator for another flat surface to hold her record player and other things.

YES! It was just the right size.

Most people don’t have an extra little table top laying around so you could achieve this by adding a simple board across a radiator for the same effect.

Let’s talk about her small computer desk with two drawers. It is small enought to fit between her bed and the wall and also doubles as a vanity.

I also got her the popular criss-cross chair (the girls LOVE it!) so she can sit cross-legged as she studies and does her makeup.

With 5 girls in one house, the lite-up tabletop vanity mirror is a game changer!

Bathroom time is limited, so she needs to be able to be in her room to get ready.

We actually got it for her dorm room the year before, and she absolutely loves it!

It has a charging port as well so a phone can be charged next to her while she gets ready for the day or night.

Student Bedroom Ideas for Small Rooms that Maximize Storage

The closet was SO small. I think 3’x2′. But it was technically a walk-in, lol!

We opted for cube storage for the floor of the closet.

We got it just big enough to leave a little extra space on the far side for long dresses and jackets if needed.

We also got bins that include built in labels so she could easily find everything she needed. These made everything so easy to find!

There was no room for a dresser in this tiny room so this would have to do.

The bin pack came with enough extras so we could also put them on the shelf above the hanging rod for additional storage.

Using the wall for storage needs is a great idea!

If we wanted to add more storage over her desk we could have added this desktop shelving unit.

For her makeup we ended up with a set of thin drawers that fit under the desk perfectly.

We hung this over-the-door storage caddy on the inside of the swinging closet door to add more storage for bags, purses, extra makeup, lotions, etc.

Don’t forget your thin velvet hangers. They are so important for saving space in your closet!

Those plastic hangers are OUT!

Clever Lighting Ideas for an Apartment Bedroom in College

These ideas also fall into the category of using the vertical space in a room.

The up and down space available to you.

The lighting for this bedroom consisted of one, small, dim ceiling light.

We needed to upgrade the room’s lighting without sacrificing precious table space.

We could have done the standard floor lamp, but I have never been a fan of those.

I don’t think they are cozy at all and remember, she wanted cozy vibes.

So I decided to DIY her lighting and created two Drum Shade hanging pendants that simply plugged into the wall.

Since we couldn’t hire an electrician or do any wiring since it was a rental, I opted to make these plug in.

Check out how I made these plug in pendant lights with step-by-step instructions. 

NO TOOLS NEEDED!

If you don’t want to DIY your pendant lighting but love the idea, here is an awesome collection of all my favorite stylish plug in pendant lights!

More Simple Apartment Bedroom Ideas for College

We decided that she should keep one of the entry double doors shut at all times so that the floor-length leaning mirror could go behind it.

She didn’t need two doors open all the time anyway.

We liked this full length mirror because it is stylish and versatile and she could lean it or hang it.

When we got there we figured out that she had enough space to lean it.

But you could also hang this on on the wall, which is why we liked it.

To simplify things, you could also just hang this mirror over the back of your bedroom or closet door.

Did I fit a TV in this room? YES!!

Rather than having a TV on a stand, we mounted it on the oddly angled (kind of unusable) wall so she could see it from the bed.

That was a great use of an odd space!

On the walls, we ended up adding artwork and photos in frames of various sizes that she already had, and a cute bulletin board over her desk for photos, etc.

We also added some plants to provide additional color to the room.

Given where the bed ended up and that giant radiator, there was no room for drapes, or I would have added those, too.

How I Maximized the Space in this Tiny Bedroom

Moving into an apartment in college is such an exciting time!

I hope that this has given you a few ideas on how to maximize your space and get the most out of your new home away from home.

I took advantage of the vertical space available as much as possible and hit everything on that LONG wishlist.

How do you think we did?

If you’re moving a student into an apartment or if you are renting a small room, let me know if you have additional ideas!

I would love for you to share in the comments.

Remember, you can do it yourself, but let’s do it together!