How to Shop for Your Dorm Using Joy

I recently was scrolling through the Cosmo snap story, like I do every morning, and stopped when I read: "I Threw Out Every Item I Owned That I Didn't Truly Love." I am a low-key hoarder. I still have agendas from middle school and binders from every class I've ever taken in high school. My mom literally has boxes of my old stuff that I won't throw away in her attic. So when I read an article about throwing most of someones personal items away, I had to read why. 

The author, Rekha Shankar, had just read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It's a book that goes in depth about a Japanese style of organization. One of the main points of the book is that if an item doesn't bring you joy, throw it out. The idea is that having a room or house filled only with things that bring you joy will help you lived a more happy, inspired and productive life. 

I fell in love with this idea! 

I started thinking about applying it to my overcrowded dorm life. Since I'm moving into an apartment on campus next year, rather than a traditional dorm, I've been racking my brain thinking about how I'm going to pack and decorate this space differently. Then it hit me. Joyfully! 

Because my apartment is currently empty, the exact principles in Marie Kondo's book don't necessarily apply since the book is based of decluttering current spaces. So instead, I am only buying and packing things that bring me joy. 

Rather than focusing on a color scheme, or a photo from Pinterest to base my room off of, I have been looking for pieces that just make me happy and feel joy! The end result will be an apartment filled with eclectic pieces that inspire me and welcome me when I come home. 

I've already found several pieces I love and can't wait to see all together! Even a tapestry from dormify that says "the joy of life" in French (I fell in love with it before I knew what it meant, and the meaning just made me love it more!) 

I'll be pinning all of my apartment purchases onto my new board Joyful Dorm Life! 

And at the end of the summer I'll be doing an in-depth VIDEO haul on my new Youtube Channel (really new...) of all my joyful apartment purchases! If you have any other video requests be sure to let me know in the comments! 

Where do you find your dorm shopping inspiration?

xoxo

AME