I know I can’t be the only person who’s bored of led strip lights…

As someone who is trying to decorate my own dorm right now, I reached out to the rest of Bwog to look for suggestions for what lighting I should bring into my life for the semester! Here is what we thought of, in case you are also trying to escape the harshness of your dorm-room fluorescent:

String lights

These come in many different styles, from the tiny white ones, which have a surprisingly warm and gentle light, to the colorful sort which featured in season one of Stranger Things, which are a bit more playful and even a little spooky. Whichever you choose, these will bring some sparkle to your life!

Themed string lights

In addition to the plain little bulbs, string lights come with all sorts of little light-shades on them, from jack-o-lanterns to little stars. If you have a theme for your room, this could be a great way to continue that and bring some light!

Paper Lanterns

If you are looking for something a little more substantial, but still with a diffused light, a paper lantern or three could be the right pick for you! If you can figure out how to hang them from your ceiling, they will add a bit of whimsy to your situation.

Sunset Lamp

Although you might look like you got all of your decorating ideas from TikTok, the sunset lamps which throw golden-hour quality light onto your white walls are actually pretty stunning in person.

LED Filament Bulb

I personally have always been a fan of exposed lightbulbs, for their brightness and a little bit of rustic appeal. I think the relatively new style of led bulbs which look like those old-fashioned light bulbs with one giant filament. They can be very bright, and a great way to both light up your room gently and have a source of light for working at your desk. There is also a style which has a mirror finish on the top side of the bulb, emulating a tiny lampshade. These are very lovely, but can be hard to find.

LED RGB Bulb

If you want to keep the RGB goodness of your old strip lights, but have something a little more sedate, these are a great option. Look out that you get some you can control with Bluetooth, however, because I have heard that the Wifi based ones don’t play well with our University networks.

Stadium Floodlights

If you really want to be bright, get a full array of stadium floodlights. You might have to set them up outside of your window, but I’m sure they’ll still be bright enough!

Traffic Light

If you are feeling a little bold and really want to make a statement, you can put a whole traffic light in your dorm! They aren’t RGB, but they do have red, green, and yellow! Do be warned, though, that they can be three feet tall, so it might take up a lot of space in your tiny room.

CUID Scanner

There has been a proliferation of these around campus recently, and there must be some extras somewhere… if you can find the stash, 50 of these in a grid on your wall could bring an alluring twinkle, although hopefully you can figure out how to disable the beeping.

Traffic Instruction Sign

If you really want to send a message with your decoration, this is a great option. They have a lovely amber color, and you will never forget not to drink and drive!

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