DORM DECOR

Newsday Article by Kristin Taveira
A newly minted cast of players is about to burst onto the world stage: The college-bound are ready to declare a break with their high school selves - they're ready to write their own scripts, choose their own soundtracks and realize their own creative visions.
For most young adults, the backdrop against which they'll play out these new and exciting scenes will be their living space - be it a dorm room, a first apartment or even a revamped version of the very room where they've spent their childhood. For many, taking a space and visually declaring it "my space" will be their first opportunity to make a statement that's uniquely their own. And with a little expert advice, they can learn to do it with polish.
Cookie-cutter catalog themes won't cut it with the big kids. "College-bound students are more interested in making rooms personal than thematic," says Eileen Kathryn Boyd, who owns a design firm in Huntington. But an emerging taste for the urbane doesn't mean you have to abandon youthful obsessions, says Merrick interior designer Marlaina Teich. It's just time to find a new way to express those passions - grown-up style.
Instead of wearing your heart on your sleeve - or all over your bedspread - scrap the cutesy overkill of themed bedroom decor and learn to say more with less, says Teich, who owns Marlaina Teich Designs.
Start with a modish color scheme: Cool, sophisticated gray, punctuated with a vivid color like orange or lime green, is the hot palette this season, Teich says. Also, there's a trend toward more earthy-feeling rooms, using more natural materials, she says. And in case you're fortunate enough to have some say over your furnishings, Teich says today's most fashionable fixtures feature sleek, clean lines with an industrial vibe, a la CB2 or IKEA.
Next, it's time to personalize it - cleverly. Add pops of color, comfort and individual flavor with judicious use of trimmings such as pillows, throws and desk accessories.
Finally, to give it the wow factor, Teich has two words for you: Accent wall. Use color if you can, and arrange a few key items into a high-impact display designed to put the exclamation point on your personal statement.
These cliché-busting ideas can give a sophomoric bedroom a college-style face-lift - no matter what label you wear.
To view the rest of the article: http://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/home-and-garden/college-freshmen-put-a-new-spin-on-dorm-decor-1.1396999