Dormitory rooms are hard to decorate. Between the limited size of the room's themselves and the added restrictions on what you can do to the walls, it can be a challenge to liven up the space.

Then, December rolls around. Suddenly, it's time to shell out money on buying the perfect gifts, baking supplies and new winter-ready socks; but at the end of that, where's any money left over to embrace the season and decorate?

Fear not, with a few creative accent pieces, even a dorm room can be ready for the holidays.

Utilize Wall Space

Use any open space on your walls to decorate with affordable wall stickers to instantly transformed either a large bare wall into a holiday haven or add smaller stickers around in the smaller wall portions throughout a space.

Check Wal-Mart where the decals typically range from $10-$15 on the cheaper end of the scale.

Make Your Own Wreath

Wreaths are a quintessential holiday decoration that takes a bland, brown door and transforms it into a welcoming portal to holiday cheer. Instead of shelling out the $50 standard for a premade wreath, put one together yourself. It’s a fun project, customizable, and ends up being much cheaper.

Step One: Start with a green, wreath pine base. Before you hit the craft stores, check local thrift stores for an old wreath needing an update. Otherwise, a basic faux pine base should be around $15.

Step Two: Fill major space on the wreath with ribbon. Buy one roll of thick ribbon in whatever color and design you please. Wrap it around the wreath so it covers alternating portions. A good roll of ribbon should run around $3.

Step Three: Accent the remaining space with wreath sticks. Hit a craft store, though Hobby Lobby has the widest selection of this specific item typically. Pick out berries, sparkling twirlies or whatever fits your image. Stick those into the wreath to however seems best. It varies, but most of these pieces won’t be more than $2 per piece.

Step Four: Finish it off with a bow. Glue on or weave in a box to add the final touch. If the bow matches the ribbon, bonus points.

Step Five: Stick a command hook onto the door and hang. Suddenly, you’re door is ready for the season!

All together, building your own wreath can be as cost effective as a twenty dollar bill at the right craft stores and some time. However, if that’s too traditional or costly, there’s two more ideas.

Bulb Wreath

A bulb wreath uses lots of colorful Christmas tree bulbs instead of a pine base to build the classic circular shape. It can be a little more modern and cheaper because thrift stores almost always have lots of drab bulbs needing some repurposing.

Step One: Start with a base. Buy one of the foam green bases (they’ll run you around $5) or, if you’re really counting pennies, re-shape a wire hanger into a rough circle and string the bulbs on by their tops rather than gluing them to build a bulb base.

Step Two: Tie a ribbon up and around the base round so you’ll be able to hang it.

Step Three: Optionally, wrap some glittery garland around to hide the base entirely. Otherwise, just move right to glueing on the tree bulbs. Be mindful of color and size as you spread them around the circle.

Step Four: Hang it on a command hook and enjoy!

Ditch the Wreath Entirely

If money is really tight or wreath aren’t exciting, There’s still another super adorable way to cover that big canvas of brown. Snag a roll of wrapping paper, wide ribbon, and a huge packing bow from the dollar store, thrift store, or craft store. Shoot for a roll that’s wide as or wider than your door.

Step One: Line the far edge of your wrapping paper roll up to the hinge side of the door so any overhanging of the paper goes to the doorknob side. Once it’s lined up, tape the top of the roll to the top of the door, creasing it over the edge so it’s clean and sharp.

Step Two: Cover the entire door, leaving a bit of a lip at the bottom to fold it over. Again, make a sharp crease and tape it securely. Tape all the edges on the side.

Step Three: Cut out your door knob as neatly as you can. Tape down these edges too. Since the door is going to be moving often, any loose edges make it susceptible to tearing.

Step Four: Add the ribbon to make the door look like a gift. First, lay it on the center vertically and tape over the top and then down at the bottom. Overlap the ribbon and lay it horizontally.

Step Five: Stick the bow in the center of the ribbon’s overlap, and ta-dah! Your door is a gift for as little as $3.

No matter which way you choose, decorating the door is the perfect, lazy way to decorate for the holidays because if the door is the only thing you decorate, no one has to know! The door, at least in a dormitory building, is the most visible part of the whole space.

Light it Up!

Nothing is more simplistic or fitting for the season than lights. Throw up colored strands wherever they fit around the space to add more cheer and light- which can help stave off the seasonal sour moods that winter brings.

Use the lights draped down a wall or carefully frame a window. For an added bonus, use icicle or net lights to cover an entire curtain or wall in sparkling lights.

Twinkle lights! Not much else is more festive, plus more light in dark seasons can help stave off seasonal sour moods. Frame your windows or drape down a wall.

Embrace the Season’s Colors

Red and green are the season’s colors for Christmas, but blue is the perfect shade for winter as a whole. For a simple pop of seasonal shades in the room, swap out typical white light bulbs for a colored bulb (only about $5) to put your whole space into the glow of some cheery colors.

Repurpose Thrift Store Finds

While searching for cheap supplies for everything else, search for what a thrift store has to offer and use whatever you can find.

Search for a Mini Tree

For anyone who celebrates Christmas, finding a cheap miniature tree can be the crowning decor for a holiday room. Decorate with paper rings, homemade ornaments, or anything that glitters and shines. Take to it with homemade ornaments and place any presents you’ve got beneath.

Use the Air Space

Hang oversized bulbs from the ceiling, centered above a table or out in front of a wall to make something for cheap, that looks impressive. Plus, it doesn’t take up any of that precious floor or desk space.

Snag Stockings, Start a Tradition

Snag some cheap stockings, one for each roommate (or friend), take to them with fabric paint. Write each person’s name and decorate however you see fit, make an afternoon or decorating them together. Hang and add notes and small gifts to them throughout the month so you’ll have something to open together before parting for break (or whenever you pick) and create a new tradition that might capture some childhood Christmas magic at college.