Decor Tips To Help You Deal With Reverse Homesickness After Graduating College
People often talk about how common it is to feel homesick when living away at college in a dorm or apartment. Since those feelings of attachment to home are so normal when moving away for school, there are many helpful ideas for making your dorm room super homey. But what about reverse homesickness after moving out of the college scene? While less commonly addressed, discussed, and written about, it's very valid to miss living in your dorm or feel attached to your college community after moving back home or into a new apartment or house upon graduating. Although those feelings can be impossible to shake off 100% and move on from in the short term, there are many ways to help you cope with the reverse homesickness. These include decorating your new space with items you used while in college or placing pictures of your college years around the space.
On top of decorating in a certain way, it can also help to keep in touch with your friends, roommates, and peers from college. Checking in, catching up, and making plans to hang out in person or even talk on the phone can make you feel connected to your school. Plus, consider hosting a college-themed party where you live now to give yourself a sweet taste of the college life you've been craving and missing. Besides these ideas, decorating your space to enhance nostalgia and comfort is crucial.
Reuse or upcycle dorm items where you live now
Are there aspects of your dorm room or college apartment that you loved and held onto? Consider incorporating them into where you live now to satisfy the parts of your brain that feel attached to the space you lived in during your college years. For instance, did you have a favorite rug in your dorm room? If the space and size allow, why not replace the existing rug in your current room with the rug from your dorm for a sense of nostalgia, blending the old with the new? Or, do you have pleasant memories of bundling up under the comforter you used in college after studying for hours or staying out late partying? Use that comforter for a while to cope with the reverse homesickness.
On the other hand, there may be some items from your dorm that you held onto and appreciate but that don't quite fit in with your current living space. If so, don't be afraid to get creative if you're comfortable repurposing or upcycling them. For example, TikTok user @sewchrome posted a video repurposing a colorful patchwork college dorm tapestry into a cozy little pouf and a beautiful jacket. You could do the same with an item to maintain the nostalgic feel while upgrading the piece.
Display photos from your favorite college memories
Typically, most people who feel attached to their dorms and college apartments have pleasant memories in those spaces and college in general. So, make yourself smile by embracing those good times and hanging pictures of them in your current living space. Print out photos from your sweetest, wildest, and most memorable college moments so you can display the memories on your wall, whether you want to create the perfect gallery wall or take a more casual approach. If you already have a bunch of small Polaroid pictures, feel free to just stick them onto the wall however you want. You could evenly hang them next to each other or put them on the wall with no order or pattern for more of a carefree collage effect.
Or, if you have larger pictures of your favorite college people and memories and want to do something a bit fancier, you may want to frame them. "Whatever gives you pleasure should be how you decorate ... Consider silver frames to create continuity and make your photos feel like a collection," Keith Meacham, designer for a decor store, told Southern Living. Whether you have a fancy or casual strategy for displaying your college memories, the pictures should help you deal with reverse homesickness.