How to decorate your dorm room with art

Turning your dorm room into a home away from home is a special challenge since space can be a problem. But art can dress up any room and give you the chance to really express your personality.

The traditional dorm room wall has consisted mostly of posters, but what do you do if you want to create a more mature look? Or what if you have so little wall space that there isn't room for something as large as a poster?

There are several solutions to these problems for the student who wants to decorate in style. If you like the idea of posters but want something more than sports and rock stars, how about a poster of your favorite movie? You can choose from the promotional poster or a still of your favorite scene. These are a trend with both young and old alike, and some interior designers are even including them in their designs. This site has an excellent selection of both recent and old movies.

Vintage advertisement posters can be a unique and fun way to express yourself. An ad for an old product or film can be a funny conversation piece, and retro chic – especially from the 1940's and 1950's – is a strong trend. The pop art of Andy Warhol never goes out of style and can bring humor and color into your room. Roy Lichtenstein is another artist whose cartoon style pop art is both fun and sophisticated. Some of his dramatic cartoons are hilarious, such as the one with a drowning woman who says, "I don't care! I'd rather sink than call Brad for help!"

Since dormitories are often drab in color, you can really spruce up the look of your space with colorful art that contains the color of your bedspread. Photographs are often smaller in size than paintings or posters and can provide many different subjects from flowers to people to animals to landscapes. If you have a leopard print bedspread, for example, a few photographs of African animals on your wall will create a unified look.

Abstract paintings such artists as Wassily Kandinsky often have great colors that can make the dullest room bright, and they keep your room looking ultra modern.

This site offers a collection of small art if your wall space is minimal. You can group small themed pieces together when poster sized artwork is too large.

For guys, this site has a wonderful selection of sports car photographs, as well as beautiful photos of sailboats.

For girls, the paintings of Chagall are very popular and romantic. Exotic, multicultural art is another strong trend with young people, including paintings and photographs from countries such as India, Hong Kong, Thailand, Kenya, and South Africa.

After you have purchased your artwork, then what? You can find many interesting ways to hang the pieces in the space you have. Frames don't have to match, and you don't always have to hang art in a symmetrical way. In fact, you can lean a canvas against a piece of furniture, or you can hang several small framed works of art in a diagonal line on the wall above your bed. Check out this site for great frames.

You can even hang a large piece next to a small piece or hang small works of art on the side of a bookcase. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Don't be afraid to get funky and creative when hanging your art. As long as there is some element to bring it all together, such as a theme or color, you can still choose a great deal of variety.

Including art in your dorm room is the perfect way to make your space your own. It will give you a sense of creativity and offer another way to show your friends who you are. Go to this site  for more ideas on how to decorate your dorm room with art!