We all want open, breezy living spaces with giant windows that let in the sun and fresh air. We share these spaces on Pinterest; we make dream boards of them.

In reality, though, this is rarely what you get when you’re at our stage of life. Sure, you have the occasional lucky soul who finagled a spot in the newest dorm on campus and is living the high life, but the reality is that dorms and student apartments are often small, stuffy, and dated. My apartment has no air conditioning and I’m pretty sure it’s at least a century old, so it doesn’t always feel so full of life.

Luckily, if you’re thrifty and have a good eye, you can change the vibe of your apartment completely. One of the easiest ways to add life to a stuffy apartment and give it a breezy, healthy feel is to add plants. They’re attractive, easy to find and fit in a dorm, and quite literally bring life to your space.

Here are four ways to bring the outdoors into your dorm design:

Table of Contents

Herbs

Everyone, from my roommate to my grandmother, is getting on this train. Herbs are the perfect thing for someone with an interest in gardening who’s being stifled by the general lack of places to do so on a college campus. 

As plants with functionality, herbs can serve as beautiful bits of potted greenery and delicious meal pick-me-ups as you’re learning to experiment with dishes. If I weren’t such a pathetic cook, I would use fresh herbs in everything.

But honestly, fresh herbs+frozen pizza=still probably delicious.

Air Plants

Products: 1, 2, 3

These little guys defy all the laws of plants and what we’ve been taught about them. Air plants don’t go into soil. You water them by soaking them or spritzing them from a spray bottle. They’re free floating and unattached, so you can place them in all kinds of funky containers that a normal plant couldn’t survive in. My favorite are the hanging glass bubbles.