Pimp Your Dorm: Magic Walls

Photo courtesy of Flickr user jawcey. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.Need a laptop? We've teamed up with Intel to bring you the HackCollege Laptop Chooser. If you share the Laptop Chooser, you'll be entered to win a Intel Core i5-powered Samsung Series 9 Notebook!

Looking to add a little spice to your dorm room? With some special paint and primer you can turn any wall into a whiteboard, chalkboard or even a magnetic wall. Intrigued? The possibilities are endless.

We’re big fans of whiteboards here at HackCollege. Not only are they tons of fun, they’re also great tools for organizing your college life. Somehow though, they never seem big enough. Sure you could make your own, but nothing beats the sleek appearance of a giant whiteboard wall. The fine folks at Rust-Oleum make a superb Dry Erase Paint. Just roll it onto a wall of your choice and voila!, you’ve got a whiteboard. Perfect for keeping track of to-dos, assignments and for diagraming those pesky mechanisms for your Orgo class.

Although chalkboards are slowing fading into extinction in the classroom, they still have a certain nostalgic aesthetic appeal to them. To keep score of the beer pong games we’ve been playing on our shiny new table, my roommates and I decided that only a chalkboard wall would do. Sure enough, Rust-Oleum has done it again with their Chalkboard Brush On Paint. It’s the bee’s knees.

Here’s where we get really fancy, magnetic walls. Just like hanging pictures on your fridge, a magnetic wall is the perfect way to jazz up any bare wall. Use it to post notes, your favourite pizza joint’s fridge magnet or even some humorous decorations. Rust-Oleum’s Specialty Magnetic primer is applied as base coat, which is then painted over with the paint colour of your choice. Here’s the best part, using the Magnetic primer, you can magnetize your whiteboard or chalkboard walls just by layering the products.

Have fun turning your bland walls into fun and functional surfaces for creativity!