All dorm room walls start out painfully naked. Last year I attempted to bring some life into my room by covering walls with photos and posters—which is a good way for freshmen to get to know each other—but now as an incoming sophomore it feels a little too much like an overeager Facebook profile and not enough like refined decor. Not to mention it was a pain to take off at the end of the year and resulted in many unfortunate photo casualties. Damn 3M tape products.

My favorite wall from last year, with some sexy mood lighting:

So, out with the old, in with the new. Next year I am envisioning a wall of flowers. Last year I experimented a little bit with putting flowers on my friend’s barren walls. The results were awesome but—surprise!—short lived. Note: do not use real flowers.

________

With some inspiration from the Swedish design company Front, I have decided to buy a bunch of silk or plastic flowers in bulk and use light colored tape to stick it to the walls in vertical lines, to give the effect of a pinstripe look.

Front’s design: “In the inner room silk and plastic flowers are mounted on the wall, like a three dimensional wallpaper.”

Gorgeous. While flowers may become ridiculous as permanent wallpaper, they are perfect for a constantly evolving small space that is the dorm room lifestyle. Dorm space is so limited that even with the addition of one little flourish, like a poster or a coffee table, it seems to alter the mood of the entire place.

Finally, a shout out to my friend and method blogger Chachi, whose temporary hanging roses in her real life bedroom inspired all this flower madness.