How to Correctly Illuminate Your Dorm Room:

With only a month or two before the new college or university semester begins, it’s important that we discuss how to choose and right light fixtures for your dormitory space.

Since you’ll be staying in your dorm or college apartment for quite some time, it doesn’t make since to live somewhere that is dark and dull, right? You need a well-illuminated home to study, get homework done, cook, and generally live within the standards you deserve.

Here’s how you can brighten up your dorm:

1. Add Stringed Lighting

This is probably one of the best and most commonly used lighting tips for dorms: adding stringed lighting. Not only does stringed lighting offer a trendy, hipster, Instagram- and Tumblr-friendly space, but it also is a very affordable way add a bit more lighting to your dorm room.

Stringed lighting is also very lightweight and easy to store, taking up minimal space in storage or in your luggage when you go to move into your dorm or even back home.

We suggest adding stringed lighting over a mirror, around a window, above a bookshelf, on the edge of a desk, or on the wall above a bed. Stringed lighting is mostly used as a means of accent lighting or as a general design feature, not to add significant lighting on a broad scale.

2. Opt for Portable Light Fixtures

With dorm rooms or even apartments or other rentals, you can’t really physically install light fixtures in terms of drill them into the wall or ceiling. But that’s okay; you don’t have to, to add more lighting into your space!

Simply bring floor lamps, desk lamps, or table lamps into your dorm room, which provide excellent task lighting. There is no need to install them; just plug them in (unless they are battery-operated) and turn them on.

Best of all, the portability of these light fixtures doesn’t just allow you to take them home with you when you move out of your dorm, it also allows you to move your fixture(s) around wherever you need to in your dorm.

You may be thinking, “Why is adding extra light to my dorm room so important?” Well, the simple addition of a desk lamp can allow you to see better when staying up late studying for an exam or finishing up school assignments. Most dorms do not have adequate lighting already. Especially if you tend to get sleepier in the evenings, having sufficient lighting can help keep you awake longer to finish whatever you still need to do.

3. Choose Bold or Brightly-Colored Light Fixtures to 

Counteract Blandness 

While neutral-colored fixtures for some may be the easiest to implement, and of course, the most versatile overall, for a dorm that is already neutral, bland, blank, and boring, it makes more sense to liven up your space funky, vibrant light fixtures. At any time you’re given the opportunity to add a beautiful print/texture or bright colors to your dorm, best advice is to take it.

But if you’re still into neutral colors, try to avoid white light fixtures as a majority of door rooms have white walls. Make your light fixture(s) stand out, not blend in!

At Cocoweb, we not only offer light fixtures in different colors, but also allow customization of our most popular items. For some of our fixtures, you can even choose one color for the stem and another color for the shade of your lamp. You may consider adding a neutral color to one part and a bold, bright color to the other to keep a lamp more conservative while still ensuring it adds beautiful color to your dorm.

Customize and purchase from Cocoweb.com

4. Select Lights that Match Your Personality or Preferences

Most importantly, choose light fixtures that mean something to you. Maybe you’ll decide to bring a lamp from your bedroom back at home or purchase a new fixture that speaks to you as a person.

When picking your light fixture(s), ensure it is something you find attractive and functional at the same time. It isn’t enough just to pick something that is practical. Even if you’re only planning in staying in a dorm for one semester, picking the right light fixtures for your dorm can do the following for you:

• Make a statement about who you are. For example, a rustic light fixture may suggest that you love older things, or a bright yellow light may make others see you as someone who is happy, positive, outgoing, and unafraid of what others think.) Picking the light fixtures and other décor for your dorm room can act as an easy means of self-expression, tell your dorm mate and new friends a lot about you, and can even act as a great conversation starter (e.g., “I love your lamp!” or “Where did you get that lantern? It is so cute!”)
• Brighten your mood. Having something in your space, even just one or two things, can make you happier and feel more at home. When you’re going to school, you need a space that can be distinguished from the chaotic, formal, stressful school setting – a “safe zone” where you can relax and unwind while still being productive in your domain. Light fixtures can make you feel of all that plus more, that is, if you make sure to pick out the right ones. Interestingly, illumination does, on a physiological level, help put you in a good mood as it has an effect on your circadian rhythm.
• Motivate you. Nothing is less motivating than a dull, boring space – especially one without the proper illumination. Because many college students get burnt out quickly from time-to-time, adding light fixtures is important to revitalize that motivational factor deep inside of you. Light is motivating in that it provides energy and wakefulness. Even the color of light fixture you choose can act as a motivator. Psychologically motivating colors include: red, green, and blue. Maybe you have a color that you personally find motivating.

• Can give you a sense of who you are. Not only does picking out light fixtures tell others what kind of person you are, but choosing and making use of light fixtures can also give you an idea of who you are or who you are becoming. A big step in adulthood is finding what you love and not holding back from it. Sometimes we are afraid to go big and bold. Other times, we see ourselves as having a certain style that we are scared to choose something of another style in an attempt to “live up” to who we currently think we are, when really, having the confidence to change can help you develop into your true self.

Cocoweb has light fixtures for everyone in terms of their personality and what they may prefer (e.g., shiny or a dull finish, bright colors or pastels, etc.). From art lamps to post lights, we have a beautiful selection of interior (and exterior) light fixtures that you will love.

Conclusion

Even if your dorm room already has sufficient natural or artificial lighting, bringing your own light fixtures can not only make it better illuminated but also make it yours. It’s always important to bring in elements from your home or things that reflect who you are when living in a different space long-term.

Our lighting experts at Cocoweb.com wish you luck on this upcoming school year, and if you have any questions at all regarding light fixtures, please contact us today. We’re always happy to help!