Personalize Your Locker

Your locker is the one part of school that is yours, and with a few minutes of your day, it can finally stand out. To decorate your locker, try the following steps.

Steps

  1. Check with your school policy before decorating lockers. Some schools allow you to paint the lockers but others don't even allow any pictures to be hung. Read the policy (it's probably in your student handbook), and/or ask an administrator if you have any questions.
  2. Clean your locker. To make the most of your decorations, make sure you have a lot of space to work with.
  3. Hang photos inside your locker. These are the classic locker decoration and are a good way to show off who you’re friends with or currently dating. Consider hanging up pictures of friends and family or other pictures that you've taken, or make a photo collage out of magazine clippings, album covers, or photos you found online. Just don’t overfill your locker with pictures or your locker will get cluttered and won't look very good.
    • Postcards, nice shopping bags, or posters also make great wall hangings, but choose things that reflect your own unique personality.
  4. Hang a mirror inside your locker. This is a great way to make sure you look good between classes – not to mention take a peek at whoever is behind you.
  5. Hang a whiteboard or cork board on the door. Use it for reminders, such as writing down a test date or homework assignment. If you share a locker with someone you like, you can also use it to leave notes for each other.
    • If you don't have the space to hang up a bulletin board, think about sticking up cork coasters in a pretty formation and they'll act as mini bulletin boards.
  6. Place magnets inside. You can buy funny magnets that show off your personality, have custom photo magnets made, or even stick magnetic letters inside to write notes. The magnets can be purely decorative, but they’re also a great way to hang notes if you can’t fit a bulletin board inside.
    • You could also hang functional items such as a magnetic calculator or calendar.
  7. If your locker door has slits across the front, turn them into mail slots. Simply place a wide-mouthed envelope or small, flat canister underneath the slots so that your friends can drop notes inside.
  8. If your locker door is painted and finished on the inside, write on it with dry-erase markers. It’s a good idea to test a marker in an inconspicuous corner to make sure it erases before going all out and professing your undying love to your crush all over the inside. If this works, keep dry-erase markers in a conspicuous place inside the locker (ex. tied to strings and hanging from magnets) so that you never confuse them with Sharpies.
  9. Put your favorite bobble-head, stuffed animal, or figurine in there. Make sure it’s small enough that you still have room left over for the rest of your stuff.
  10. Add a scent. Lockers don't get a lot of air circulation, so consider spraying your perfume/cologne inside or adding an air freshener. (Don’t limit your thinking to those paper fresheners you find in cars; a lot of stores sell miniature bottles of air freshener that come in lots of different scents.) As an added bonus, this will it help cover up the smell of that sandwich you left in there last week.
  11. Add the trimmings. Once you have your content arranged, go ahead and accentuate it. You can put in ribbon streamers, fabric pieces, etc., or you can even put in a thin wooden frame around your art.
  12. Mix it up. You can keep the same theme all year or you can redo parts of it or the whole thing from time to time. Consider making seasonal changes or decorating your locker for holidays or important events. Keep it interesting all year long. You might even make new friends, too!
  13. Keep your locker neat, tidy and organized. Now that you've spent all that time getting your locker just right, keep it in good condition. Clean it out regularly, and keep your books organized. Just opening and closing the door of your locker will eventually make things start to shift around, especially if you haven't hung them very securely, so periodically maintain your art to keep it looking great.
  14. Put your schedule in there. This is super convenient for us, since we definitely would want to know where to go next. You can type out and personalize your schedule using Excel. Change the fonts and colors, etc. You can make it any size you want, for example, you can make it big enough so that it is as big as a frame, or you can make it small so it's cute and just like a reminder (if you want to put a lot of other stuff). Just make sure it's legible!



Tips

  • The dollar store is a good place to look for cool magnets. You might also consider buying some sticky-tack (Blu-Tack) which can hold up pictures and comes off easily.
  • You can look up on YouTube and make cute DIY's for your locker. Just be creative - your locker is all about you!
  • Try not to slam your locker, because then the decorations you have on the door will probably fall.
  • Be sure to leave plenty of empty space in your locker to store your stuff. Your decorations should not take up a significant amount of space.
  • Consider getting a locker shelf (You can find some at Staples for a good price), it helps with compartmentalising and organising your locker.
  • Decorating the outside of friends' lockers with ribbons and streamers for their birthday is a great way to show you care. You can also stick a little note in there from time to time reminding them that you'll always be their friend.
  • Putting wallpaper or wrapping paper is a great idea, but some schools are against that. If your school is against wall papered lockers you could buy magnetic wallpaper from Staples. It sticks on great and is easy to take off if you want to change your locker in the future.
  • Place the rug a size of the locker floor to make it look cooler and if you have a shelf if anything falls specially like glass it will not shatter.
  • Be sure to keep it clean.
  • Make a pencil holder by cutting off the back of a plastic cup and using Sticky-Tack to stick it to your locker walls. It's perfect for holding pencils!
  • Over decorating your locker will make it look messy and untidy. Keep it fairly empty so you can easily access the things inside.
  • To create a theme, match the inside of your locker to one of your binders (or vice versa) by using the same colors, photos, stickers, etc.!
  • The best place to show your character in the locker is the inside walls, simply because there's so much space inside and when you open up your locker that is the only place that holds a lot of decoration. Don't neglect the walls of your locker, though; if you have enough room left over, put some prom pics in there.
  • If you aren't allowed to use tape then use magnets instead.
  • It would be very creative to design a locker based on your doodles. Hang drawings/paintings up, doodle around your whiteboard, get some creative wrapping paper, get blank wrapping paper, and make a doodle on it every day.
  • Clean out your locker before putting anything in it...
  • You can also take apart the top half of a supply box and use the bottom for storage like pencils, erasers, perfume, mail, etc...
  • Decorate your locker in your OWN school theme! You can decorate it in your school colors, and hang up a picture of your school mascot. Also you can put pictures of you and your friends dressed in your school colors!
  • Put a couple of those black magnets on the back of a normal notebook. You can hang that up on your locker door so that if are running late for a class you can just grab the notebook and have it to take notes.
  • Remember, the more stuff you put in your locker, the more time you will have to spend getting it all out of your locker.
  • You could put up a "boogie board" inside if you don't have a small whiteboard to fit in there.
  • Have some friends help you decorate your locker, and help them decorate theirs. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you put your heads together, and every time you go to your locker you'll think of what great friends you have.
  • Try to decorate the ceiling of your locker. You could try wallpaper (if your school allows it) or construction paper. You could even hang something like a mobile!
  • You can tie a bow on the outside of your locker (through the slits.) If you're worried about someone taking it off, tie it in a double knot on the inside, then bring it to the outside and tie a bow as you normally would.
  • If you have to keep out door shoes in your locker, buy a locker mat. This will save a lot of time when everyone else is scraping all the dirt in the back of their lockers. Also, depending on the mat you choose, you can personalize your locker with a favorite color or pattern.
  • Make your own whiteboard by using paper and scotch tape (the big clear kind). Draw a design on the paper before coating it with the tape. It makes a personalized whiteboard. You can also use clear contact (book covering) instead of scotch tape.
  • You can buy a shelf that saves space for your binders and your first aid kit.
  • Make you books in locker horizontal because if you have them vertically if you have to get book from bottom the top falls out.
  • If you want to, you can maybe ask your school if you can use two lockers for extras!
  • Just make sure that it floats first and does not turn dull on your moves.
  • Write down your name and put the letters on a string then hang it up in your locker.
  • If your locker is not magnetic, try adding some type of strong, removable adhesive strips to the back of your hanging items (Command Strips are good and can be found at Target) This way, you can still hang decorations even if you have plastic lockers that aren't magnetic.
  • Clueless as to a theme? Here are some ideas:
    • 60's, 70's, 80's...
    • Dance
    • Music...singing, musical theater, instruments...
    • Your favorite sports team
    • Films, movies, TV shows, or video games you love
    • Your favorite book
    • Your favorite color
    • Help the environment/conservation-themed
    • Your family/friends (pets count). If you load pictures on the computer, you can sometimes make the pictures different colors to make it interesting.
    • Extra-curricular themed (your favorite sport, drama club, singing club, musical, instrument, tech club, etc.)
    • Cooking/food themed (come on, you’ve snuck food into school before)
    • Chocolate themed: get plain brown or tan wallpaper and hang Hershey kisses or other small chocolates up on the walls (or make a cardboard pocket and put magnets on the back to hold them up); now you have something to snack on between classes!

Warnings

  • A locker can be an expression of yourself, but don't take it too seriously. Just because the stuff that you hung up in the locker isn't as cool as what the person next to you did doesn't mean that you aren't as cool. You are just different than them, and they have a different style than you. Maybe to them, yours looks cooler!
  • Don't keep really important/personal things in your locker like expensive jewelry, expensive electronics, etc. because someone could steal it if they find out your locker combination. Also, don't put anything in your locker that you can't replace, because sometimes things fall down and break or get stolen.
  • Keep in mind that when you have your locker open, other people, including teachers, will be able to see what is in it, so be careful what you choose because bad stuff can get you in big trouble. Schools have the right to search a locker at any time, so remember that anything that is not permitted in the school would also not be permitted in your locker.
  • Don't copy anyone. Some people get very offended if you copy them, so just don't take chances, especially if they're your friends. It could end the relationship. It's your locker, so be original.
  • Don't put magnets on the outside of your locker as people can steal them
  • Adding food in your locker for a snack is okay, but check the expiration date and throw it out when you're done with it. A smelly locker is worse than a snack-free one.
  • Be very careful when using any sort of tape or glue. These can be just about impossible to completely remove at the end of the school year. Instead, use magnets or even sticky tack.
  • Don't spend too much money on decorating your locker. Try to make most of the things by yourself or ask friends and family to help out. You can also ask your friends and family if they have any extra items that you can maybe use to make decorations for your locker.
  • Make sure to check with your principal or admins before personalizing your locker. Some schools have policies against locker decorating.

Things You'll Need

  • Locker
  • Magazines, pictures, internet photos, photos of friends, etc.
  • Cardboard/board, wallpaper, construction paper etc for lining locker
  • Stickers
  • Locker shelf
  • Magnets
  • Fabric scraps
  • Cleaning materials for scrubbing out locker
  • Air freshener
  • Mirror
  • Calendar for marking dates and times
  • Notepad
  • Pencil holder
  • Clock
  • Something that's your favorite color that just says you
  • Locker kit that has many things on this list in it to save time and money
  • Bulletin board or whiteboard
  • Bulletin board pins or dry-erase markers
  • Snacks (be careful, as this can lead to a messy, nasty locker)
  • Any Other items you want to put in there
  • If allowed tape (optional)

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