More than six thousand ISU students call the residence halls or student apartments home for nearly three-fourths of the year. Some students spend the entire nine months with white walls and bare floors, but others aren’t satisfied with the bare minimum. From posters and rugs to photos and memorabilia, students are showing their creative abilities all over campus. Fortunately, it is not very hard, expensive or time consuming to make your room feel like home while you are at Iowa State.

COMPROMISE WITH YOUR ROOMIE

An important starting point is finding what interests you. If you have a roommate, it’s necessary to compromise on favorite things and what you’ll allow the other to put up.

“There were a couple things I was nervous about bringing,” said Aly Peeler, freshman in history. “I was nervous that she wouldn’t like waking up to an oversized Will Ferrell cut-out, but it got to the point where I knew I had to bring it. I compromised and left my oversized periodic table of elements at home.”

It goes without saying that if you like movies, display your favorite movie posters. If you like music, put up all your CD jackets, concert stubs or signed pictures. If you are right in the middle and don’t know what to do, there is a myriad of other options available.

“We just went to Wal-Mart and took a bunch of the AOL CDs because they’re free then we put them all over the ceiling,” said sophomore in pre-journalism and communication Louis Kaplan on his creatively decorated room in Welch Hall.

RAID YOUR HOME AND PARENT’S POCKETBOOK

To find the basics for your room, including sheets, lamps and storage, the first place to look is back home.

“Our couch was my Aunt Ethel’s; it was the only thing I wanted, so when she died, I got it,” Ryan Weatherly, freshman in pre-advertising, said about his vintage couch.

Beyond couches and funky furniture, odds are there are extra sheets in the linen closet, and unused lamps and extra storage bins around the house.

For those students without carpet in their rooms, it is advisable to get a large carpet square for your room, or just a rug. These can be left over from carpeting your house or bought cheaply at carpet stores.

“My roommate last year let me keep the carpet we had,” said Rachel Kapke, sophomore in Spanish who lives in the uncarpeted Elm Hall.

If you have exhausted your resources at home, try to exhaust your parents’ money on things you “need” instead of extras. Great places to find these things cheap are stores such as Target and Wal-Mart.

THRIFT AND FABRIC STORES ARE YOUR FRIENDS

By going to Goodwill or Salvation Army you could find a vintage love seat, couch or even an interesting lamp. After ensuring an original look, head to a craft store such as Hobby Lobby. There you can find everything from Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” to aisles of colored fabric that can be used for curtains.

“These curtains are always on sale at Pier 1 Imports; we got another one from Target and the other is just a shower curtain,” said Meghan McMahon, freshman in early childhood education, about her creative curtains.

At the fabric store, it is also a good idea to pick up some fleece fabric to make an all-too prevalent “tie blanket” to match your comforter, or you could even go as far as making pillows. The one thing that makes every room personal and original is mementos. Save those awkward cards your mom sent you or that picture of you and your best friend in 7th grade and put them on the walls. Make it your own, because that’s what your room is.

TIE UP THE LOOSE ENDS

Despite all the big things you can do to make your room interesting, it is the little things that pull it all together. You can add photos to your walls or ceiling, magnets to your fridge, permanent marker quotes on your loft, stickers on your door and even use colored tape to hold posters and wires up and add some color. To tie everything together, don’t forget the perfect mood lighting.

Finally, a definite necessity in every room is some ISU gear. Show your school pride, even if it doesn’t match the theme of your room. In the end you have to ask yourself, “What would Cy do?”