Adjusting to college life can be hard, but it can be even harder when your world suddenly shrinks from a room of your own to one shared with two other people. Almost every college student suffers from homesickness sometime in their four years, but with a few simple tricks, you can make your dorm room feel just like home.

Your personality and sense of style are most important when it comes to picking out decor for your new room. Bring mementos from home to feel comfortable about the major transition.

Use a cork board to pin calendars and Post-Its to help remind you of upcoming events and assignments. To keep yourself motivated, create a countdown until the next time you’ll travel home.

One of the biggest adjustments to college life is getting used to having a roommate. It’s awesome living with friends, but there is a loss of personal space when it comes to sharing a room. To avoid this, you can create a canopy using curtains that cover your bed to set a relaxing and private atmosphere.

You may have been tempted to buy everything new for your dorm, but may have realized that the unfamiliarity has made you uncomfortable. Bring small possessions back to school next time you go home, like your favorite mug.

Make sure that your decorations add a personal touch to your room–after all, you spend most of your time there. Choose posters and photos that highlight your favorite things.

Posters allow you the opportunity to show off your interests; while pictures allow a little piece of friends and family to be with you at all times.

When you’re in need of some encouragement, create posters or small notes with inspirational messages on them. Sometimes all you need is a morning affirmation when struggling to get up for your 8 a.m. class.

One example of a creative way to hang photos is to use clothes pins to attach them to white Christmas lights. This will also help to provide a calm and luminous glow that will brighten up your room

If you are lacking inspiration for your room, create an account on websites like Pinterest and Tumblr. They provide endless inspiration for different ways to style your room, including ways to help you organize all of those necessary possessions that you’d rather not see.

If you find something you really like, have a crafting party with your friends and paint picture frames, mason jars or a canvas. By adding things that you have made yourself to your room, you’ll feel proud to call it your own.

Surround yourself with the things, and people that you love most at school and you will never feel home sick again.