Decorative rug: $89.99.
Framed beer pong poster: $49.99.
Hide-a-bed couch from Craigslist: Free, if you are shopping savvy like University sophomores Stefanie Arnold and Lucy Cridland, who noticed a local hotel was redecorating and had furniture to get rid of.
You can decorate your dorm room, apartment or house on a penniless college student’s budget with some resourcefulness.
“I bought an ugly green, comfortable chair for 20 bucks and have had it for three years. If you want something funky and old with character, Goodwill is the place to go,” said University junior Tony Diep.
“Yard sales at the end of spring term are a gold mine. Everyone is leaving for the summer and doesn’t want to store or haul furniture,” Arnold said.
Consignment shops, garage sales and looking through family and friends’ hand-me-downs are helpful to University sophomore Alison Ecker said.
Students also recommended checking out the beginning of the school year “Freebies at Freddies,” Ikea, Target, Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, Ross Dress For Less, Bed Bath and Beyond, fabric stores, The Dollar Tree and Saint Vincent de Paul’s. While some endorsed Craigslist, Diep said it can be “sketchy.”
“I got a cool secretary desk at Oregon Antique for 30 to 40 dollars,” said University junior Brian Carter.
“It’s pretty typical for college students to want to put up their favorite slogans, pictures and movie, stars but it can be a sensory overload. Sometimes less is better,” Ecker explained.
Diep said that though alcohol posters are inexpensive, they are tacky. “Have fun but be classy,” he advised.

Consider inexpensive decorations:

Arnold and Cridland’s ideas
? “Refinish wood furniture. Find Mistint paints. They are usually $1 a pint or $5 a gallon,” Arnold said.
? Stack colorful bowls in a pyramid shape or put plastic, colored margarita glasses on display.
? Decoupage furniture with pictures or advertisements. “I used a mixture of Elmer’s and tacky glue to glue the ads onto our table,” Cridland said.
Carter’s ideas
? Use old Halloween costumes. “I made an upright suit of armor out of a Don Quixote costume with a hanger and rope,” he said.
? Make artwork or become friends with an art major.
? Play off architecture. He has a yoga mat and candles next to his loft-style sleeping area and a spiral staircase outlined with holiday lights and flowers. He found half a wooden barrel for shot glass storage.
Diep’s ideas
? “Print cool pictures off the Internet and put them on a canvas. Then paint over it. It’s funny to tell people ‘I tried to make a Van Gogh,’” Diep said.
? Watch shows like “Trading Spaces” for inspiration (not “MTV Cribs”).
? Putting paper on the walls works well. Consider a checkerboard design or having friends sign the paper.
Ecker’s ideas
? “One of my favorite decorations in my room is a vase of peacock feathers. It’s very exotic-looking. I used a wine-bottle for a vase,” she said.
? Put up maps and corkboards.
? Buy patterned fabric to use as a room divider, to cover furniture, or to drape across the ceiling.