[It's a new year (which I am having trouble remembering when I have to write the date on anything), meaning it's the perfect time to wipe that slate clean and start anew. And we're gonna help you out. Every Thursday in January we're bringing you advice from experts on ways to improve yourself and your life. From mental health to making the most of your workspace, we'll all work together to get our lives, health and GPAs back on track. First up, Mary Mihaly, a feng shui expert is going to show us how to make our living spaces work for us.]

You know when your room needs an “energy boost.”  It feels tired in there…it isn’t the haven you want and need it to be.  There’s something about it lately – it doesn’t welcome you, and your friends don’t love hanging out there.

What you need is some good feng shui (pronounced, “fung shway”), the ancient Chinese practice of arranging a space to produce the best possible energy in that room!  It’s a great way to ramp up the positive energy in a space, and the most important feng shui “cures” are easy, affordable—and fun!

Below are 9 of my favorite feng shui fixes. Incorporate some or all of these into your living space and you’ll feel the energy shift instantly. (And yes, these even work in those teeny, tiny dorm rooms many of you call home!)

1. Literally translated, feng shui means, “wind and water”—and feng shui is all about letting energy (or “chi”) meander and flow unimpeded, just like wind and water.  That means getting rid of dirt and clutter—they’re the biggest obstacles to good feng shui.

2. The entry is the most important place in your space because it’s where new opportunities, blessings and fortunes come into your life.  (Everything in feng shui, you’re beginning to see, is grounded in symbolism!)  Make sure it works—no scraping or banging—and pretty it up with some artwork or a decoration.  By doing this, you’re symbolically “inviting” fresh possibilities to enter.

3. To attract a committed relationship or love energy, “couple” things in your sleeping area.  If you have photos on the wall, hang two instead of one.  Keep two pillows on the bed.  “Spark” a new love interest with two items that make light (a lamp and a candle?) or noise (a phone and alarm clock).

4. Don’t allow things to pile up.  Where you see piles, you’re looking at stagnation.  Not a great way to go through winter!

5. To attract “good money chi,” introduce the color purple into the space. It can be something small; in feng shui, a whisper is as effective as a scream.  Try a purple picture frame or small candle.

6. Keep a small amount of money in all of your wallets, purses, totes and other bags. Even a nickel will suffice, or fake money from a board game.  You don’t want symbols of “empty pockets” in your space.

7. Make your desk chair substantial, so that you feel supported in your work.  No wobbly folding chair!  If your desk chair has holes in its back, cover them with a cushion or a nice throw.

8. Banish the “energy vampires” from your life, as much as possible.  Work on surrounding yourself with people of integrity who want only the best for you.

9. When all else fails, buy some fresh flowers from a street vendor or the supermarket.  Flowers are the number-one way to perk up the energy in a space, and when you’ve taken just one small step toward good feng shui, you’ll find that you’ll want to keep doing more!

—-
Mary Mihaly is an author and certified feng shui practitioner.  Her latest book, The 250 Questions Every Self-Employed Person Should Ask (Adams Media, 2010), is available at Amazon and in bookstores.

For the rest of the evening, you and cutie partner boy tell the tales of an awesome game…while rubbing each other’s backs and making flirty/inappropriate comments between beers. Before you know it, you’re outside on the driveway eating his face like he’s a giant slice of late night pizza. (Mmm, pizza.)

“Wanna go somewhere?” He asks.

“Obvi,” you answer as he’s grabbing your hand and leading you back to his place. You stumble down the street, making out at every stop sign and red light you encounter.  Soon you are back at his dorm which, thankfully, is a single. Also a single? His bed.

As you are setting your stuff on the floor, he grabs you and you make your way to the bed. There’s kissing, groping and a nearly unsuccessful go at your bra hooks. Things are going fine (great, even) until he attempts to get on top of you. You roll on your back when – SMACK – you hit the wall. You try to shimmy to your right a little bit but there’s nowhere to go. If you move another inch you’ll send him flying onto the floor.

“Ok, you go left and I’ll go right,” you explain. It takes a few tries (which look like something out of Circ-De-Soleil), but it finally works. He’s on top. You decide to stick in this formation for awhile to keep things simple, but as things heat up you forget about the spatial issues. Mid-passionate kiss, the boy makes it clear that he wants to switch things up a bit and before you know it, you’re grasping on his bicep so as not to fall out of the bed.

The boy pulls you back up, you laugh, and then things resume. Eventually (too soon, in your opinion), the lust-sesh is over and you doze off. He’s spooning you, which would be cute if your face wasn’t pressed into the wall. Or if your arm weren’t totally asleep with no opportunity of moving to wake it up a bit. You stir a bit, hoping to wake the boy up so you can both roll onto your backs, but he doesn’t budge. Not that there would be room for that anyway. You contemplate an escape plan.

There is no way you’re getting up and going home. But rolling over – thus becoming the big spoon – isn’t an option either. That would just be weird. But you have to do something; your arm is starting to tingle and you’re pretty sure your mouth is thisclose to what is surely lead paint on the walls.

When the boy lets out a loud snore, though, you realize you are stuck between a rock (hard body) and a hard (lead) place. So you close your eyes and wait for the booze to kick in and knock you out. If your arm can fall asleep, why can’t you?

—
Yeah, we’ve all been there. That is why we’re officially sticking to older men – they’ve got the big beds.

Want more typical tales of a college coed? Get ‘em right here, right now.

[Note: We're not taking any more entries, but head on over and vote for who you think is the best roommate out there!]

Has anyone ever stared up at you from their bed, mascara smeared across their eyes from crying over that boy, and insisted that you’re the best roommate ever?  Whether you cook a mean tray of celebratory A+ brownies or generously hand over the remote to indulge the roomie’s Project Runway addiction, we know you’ve got some stellar credentials.  Want a little payback for being the best, most coolest, absolute funniest person to live with?  Well, here’s your chance to shine…and win some amazing prizes while you’re at it!  Simply tell something you did for your roommate (or that she did for you!) that went above and beyond the call of roomie duty.

Up for grabs is a fabulously chic set of dorm decor from the new line of designer merchandise available at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, which will be awarded to our first place winner.  The wonderful stylists over at T.J. Maxx have selected luxurious sheets, lamps, and room accessories to ensure you’ve got the most fashionable room on your hall.  

How cute is this?! Grand Prize Includes: black or zebra print comforter with green sheets, black fur pillows, black and white reminder board, green picture frame, black shoe holder, zebra print clip board, and green lamp.

Ladies, this is the perfect chance to spruce up that bed (after all, the Nacho Cheese Incident of ’08 really did a number on your duvet) and add some much-needed funk to that white cell you call home.  Second and third place winners will both receive $50 gift certificates also for T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, perfect for selecting new accessories to help restyle your room.

Okay, here’s the challenge:  You’ve got until Friday to tell us something amazing you did that explains why you’re the absolute best roommate a girl could ask for. (Do you sit up all night and listen to boyfriend troubles? Own the Sex and the City box set of DVDs?) We want all the colorful details – the more the better.  Post your submissions (including your name/school!) in the comments section right below this post and Monday, July 19th, we’ll select and post the top six entries.  From there, we’re going to leave it up to you, our fabulous readers, to vote for the best damn roommate.

You wanna win? Make sure to get all your friends to come back here from Monday through Wednesday to vote for you!

Voting will close at 5pm ET on Wednesday, July 21st, and we’ll announce the big winners on Thursday, July 22nd at 3:30 pm ET on Twitter and Facebook!

What are you waiting for?  Tell why you’re the best roommate ever!

Oh, and just a tip from us to you: when you get off the couch and start your Back to School shopping, check out T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. They’ve loaded the stores with major bedding accessory/decorating cuteness. Even better, the prices are low enough (up to 60% off!) that even you – an in-debt college girl – can afford it all. Yay!

Can you imagine hearing the incessant whimpering of a dog while trying to study in your dorm room? Well, it might not be too unrealistic of a nightmare/dream (depending on your take). An increasing amount of colleges are now permitting dogs in dorm rooms. Although they’re incredibly cute, how gross?! Like we really need something else to have to clean up or worry about. Aren’t moldy Ramen noodles and midterms enough? Not to mention the smell. We already have to deal with the smell of mildew wafting over from the guys’ floor, do we really need to throw in some wet dog too?

There’s a reason dogs aren’t allowed in dorms, so let’s just keep it that way, K? And while we’re at it, perhaps we should ban a few other things as well:

1. Microwave popcorn
Because no one seems to know how to make it without burning it.

2. Hair (in general)
OK, so I don’t think everyone should have to pull a Britney before unpacking in their 10X10 cells, but hair is gross. And somehow my shower flip-flops, carpet, and backpack are always covered in clumps of it….most of which does not belong to me.

3. Guitars
This past year, I was fortunate to have lived in the unofficial “artsy” dorm. If there wasn’t someone prancing down the hall in ballet slippers, there was a jam session taking place two doors down from me. Why exactly is this permitted? I’m all for musicians (of the male persuasion), but if I have to hear one more person messing up a Dave Matthews song….

4. Perfume/Cologne
Specifically Axe. How is it that no one knows how to use this responsibly? Sorry dude, but dousing yourself is cologne does not equal a shower.

5. Adults
Who doesn’t love when the parental units come to visit (and bring care packages)? Except when you think about all the empties you gotta throw away, the laundry you gotta do, and the clumps of hair you gotta vacuum up off that rug. Where is the vacuum in the dorm, anyway?

Got some college questions? Unsure of a decision? Thinking about dabbling in Adderall? (Don’t!) Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics? We’ve got the girls for you. Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”! They’ve got all the answers you need, no matter who you are.

Question:
Alright, I know this is coming really late (there’s only like 2 weeks left of school) but my roommate is driving me crazy. It’s like all the annoying things she did all year that I ignored are bubbling over and I want to punch her. She’s messy, she’s loud. Did I mention she’s messy? Like, underwear on the floor messy. I didn’t want to say anything to her because we don’t have any time left but with finals and everything I am really stressed and my room just isnt the sanctuary that I need it to be. Is it worth it to start a fight or should I just let it go? I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s not worth some big blow up (which I anticipate it being), but it’s my room too and I’m so annoyed with her I barely want to be in there.

GPA Girl:
Yeah, you’re right–this is kind of late in the game to be worrying about this, but at the same time, I can understand why you’re upset. Are you and your roommate friends? It’s not really clear from your question whether you’re close with her or if she’s just some girl with whom you ended up sharing a space. If she is a friend to you, I think she’d understand if you brought up this stuff (in a polite way, of course). Just say something like, “Hey, I really don’t think this is a big deal or anything, but I’m getting crazy stressed out due to the end of the semester, and it would just help me focus and feel better if you could keep your space a bit cleaner.” Actually, you might consider saying the same thing even if she ISN’T a friend. Unless she is the type of girl who goes completely insane at the drop of a hat, she’s not likely to get offended by a non-confrontational nudge to adopt some responsibility. Good luck!

Party Girl:
One of the many things you learn in college is just how small dorm rooms are. I’m guessing this knowledge is smacking you across the face right now as you angrily glare at your roommate’s discarded thong. Trust me, nothing you can say or do will make that room bigger. However, if you confront her about her slobbish habits, then the room is gonna seem a whole hell of a lot smaller. Although this has been a year-round issue, you have to realize it is finals time. You are way more on edge than usual and will probably say things you don’t really mean (or, if you mean them, they’ll come with a little more bite than is necessary). You said that you prefer having your room a sanctuary during finals. Girl, if you want a sanctuary, go to the library. It’s quiet, clean, and probably doesn’t have any thongs lying around (I can’t guarantee this, but I’m assuming…). A knock-down, drag-out fight with your roommate is the last thing you need right now. Pack up your books and camp out in the library. Then, after finals are over, get your hands on a few pitchers of margaritas and celebrate with your roommate. Sharing drinks will solve any roommate issue. Well…even if it doesn’t, it’ll be time to move out by that time, eh? Good luck!

Busy Bee:
Funny that you ask this question now, because I just read a quote that said, “Open your mouth – close ones don’t get fed!” Pretty much, say something about it or she’s going to think that you’re okay with it. Oftentimes, we think we can psychologically transfer mean and angry thoughts to people (I used to think so), but more times than not, it doesn’t work. I know finals are stressing you out, but like you said, it’s your room too. You deserve to have a clean floor! Try gently asking her to pick it up ASAP. If she goes crazy on you, then resort to studying in the library or another friend’s room. Don’t hold back your feelings just because you want to avoid a big blow up. If you handle the situation correctly, it may not even be that bad. Besides, if it goes wrong…she won’t have to be your roomie next year!

Got some college questions? Unsure of a decision? Don’t know what the eff to do with your life? Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics? We’ve got the girls for you. Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”! They’ve got all the answers you need, no matter who you are.

Question:
I was approved to have a single in the dorms next year. Yay! I was really excited about having my own space (and it’s so, so, so hard to get a single on my campus) with my friends down the hall. But then a few of my friends decided to get an apartment together off campus. They asked me if I wanted to live with them and I’m just not sure. On the one hand, I’d have to share a room and wouldn’t really have any privacy. But on the other, if they are all living together I’ll be alone in the dorms.

What would you do?

GPA Girl:
Tough choice, but a nice one for sure, since there are big perks to each living situation. I’m reading between the lines here, but it sounded to me when I first saw your question that you value privacy as a number-one priority. Is that right? If so, I think you should go with the single. It can be a refuge for you, and if you feel like being super-social and hanging out with your friends all the time, what’s stopping you? You and I both know plenty of people who only “live” in their rooms in the loosest definition of the word because they’re always out. On the other hand, if you choose to live with your girls, you’ll probably have to retreat to some cold and depressing corner of the library if you ever want to find any privacy at all. (Not that there’s anything wrong with the library, of course, but . . . well.) So it’s up to you, chica, but I’d nab that single while I could. Good luck!

Party Girl:
Trust me on this one – stick with the single! I have lived with roommates and I have lived alone… and living alone is far superior. You can keep your own schedule without feeling guilty about disturbing others. You can leave last night’s underwear lying around for as long as you can stand it without someone plotting to kill you.

Your friends will always be there, but thankfully, when you live alone, they don’t have to ALWAYS be there. You won’t be alone – far from it! The dorms are a great place to meet new people. You never have to spend a night sober when you live in the dorms (not that it’s super hard to find an excuse to drink when you live off campus…). Plus, your friends will be begging you for the sweet campus party hookups. No contest, sweetie.

Busy Bee:
It seems like you really enjoy living by yourself, which is different since most people I know prefer having roommates! Personally, I would take the single dorm and then make trips to visit my friends in their apartment or have them visit me. A dorm should be for taking a break from the world. Knowing that you can go out and have fun but come home to peace and quiet, is a pretty good feeling. And I am sure you will make new friends on your dorm floor! They don’t have to replace the ones you’ve got, but who doesn’t want new friends? At least it’s fun people to watch Gossip Girl with.

Also, seeing your two different reactions to having a single dorm (“Yay!) versus your reaction to rooming with your friends (“Just not sure…”) pretty much seals the deal. I’m sure you already know the right living situation for you. I know you feel like you’ll be missing out on time with your friends, but if they are your real friends, it doesn’t matter where you life.

Oh, and take it from my experience – it’s so much nicer to have down time in college, no roommate strings attached. Just a little food for thought.

Library to yourself? Score.

Endless exams and papers, constant guy drama, grad school applications, a dwindling bank account…the day-to-day worries of our college years often weigh us down.  But too often, we stress about the big issues and totally forget about the little things that make our daily routines bearable…or even great!

1. A Cancelled Class
Your alarm goes off bright and early at 8 a.m. and you can barely open your eyes.  You angrily hit the snooze button, roll over in bed and start thinking about what to wear.  Then your mind runs through all the things you have to do today: 3 classes, gym, library, chapter meeting…ugh. You’d rather stay in bed. Then – BUZZ! – your phone vibrates and you wonder who the hell needs to talk to you this early. Lo and behold, it’s your study buddy letting you know that (gasp) CLASS IS CANCELLED! Your professor is sick/at a family function/whatever, and you can barely read the whole text before you reset your alarm, pull the covers back over your head and sleep for a few more (glorious!) hours.

2. Free Stuff!
Let’s face it, in this economy getting anything for free in college is right up there with Christmas and 21st birthdays. Free short stack day at IHOP, free condoms at Student Health, those Victoria’s Secret coupons for free panties that come in the mail, and (a personal favorite at my campus) free iced coffee day at Dunkin Donuts.  And then there’s all those campus club meetings and fundraisers where they give out free food, and sometimes on hot days, free water bottles! It may not seem like much, but it doesn’t get much better than a free, ice cold water bottle.

3. Dining Hall Specials
After a long and stressful day most people want to indulge in a quality meal, and well, that usually doesn’t happen at the d-hall.  But sometimes you’ll walk in to discover that they ARE offering something completely delish and suddenly the whole day gets better. At my school we have something called “Premium Dessert Night,” where we got to follow up our meager bowl of salad or mystery meat with a stunning array of desserts prepared by special chefs! Oreo cheesecake, tartufo ice cream….mmm! There was also one guy (Will) that made the most bangin’ omelets on Saturdays and Sundays.  These were the only two things that made me actually want to head to the dining hall rather than stay in my 2×4 excuse for a room eating peanut butter out of the jar.

4. Prime Spots at the Library
An open table near an outlet with 3 open seats for your friends? And it just so happens to be behind a giant wall of books that hide your snacking from the evil library staff?  Heaven.

5. No Wait Time for Laundry!
We head to the laundry room about once a week whenever we run out of underwear and usually find all the washers and dryers already in use.  Or the dryers have been off for 2 hours but no one has come down to claim their clothes and you’re forced to pull out some guys tighty-whiteys so you can put your stuff in. The college laundry experience is annoying at best, dangerous and violent at worst (my freshman year roommate has gotten in some serious altercations over moving someone else’s clothes!). But sometimes, (usually on a weekend morning when everyone else is hungover), you’ll enter the laundry room to find the machines available! And maybe, if you’re REALLY lucky, the machine will have a glitch and wash your stuff without eating your $2 worth of quarters.

6. Random Acts of Kindness
There’s nothing like waking up to find that my roommate has already brewed coffee and left extra for me.  Or coming home to a plate of freshly baked cookies. Having people compliment your outfit on the way to class, your roomie with the killer wardrobe letting you borrow her favorite dress, or finding out that the girl you sit next to in English signed you in on the attendance sheet that morning you were too hungover tired to make it to class.

It’s easy to get bogged down with all the BS that comes with college life, but there’s so much to appreciate! So appreciate it! Make sure to recognize the small victories that come your way and take advantage of ‘em. From what I hear, things only get worse in the real world… and the free stuff isn’t nearly as abundant.

But dorm-room sex is just as challenging for the non-practicing roommate. Allow me to paint you a word mural:

You’re trekking home to your room after an excruciating night in the library. Your bed is calling your name from across campus, and it’s taking all of your energy just to make it back. Just as you are opening the door and can practically feel your blanket’s sweet embrace wrapped around your body, the familiar moans and grunts of your roommate and her ape-like boyfriend ring like fire alarms in your ears. Sexiled again.

You have two choices: Make your presence known and hope they cease and desist or opt for headphones and heavy metal. Or you can face your fate and spend the night tossing and turning on the cardboard-like couch in the lounge.

Well, if you’re a student at Tufts University, the weight of this hefty decision has been taken off your shoulders once and for all. Under a new ResLife policy, students are not allowed to engage in sexual activity while their roommates are in the room.

Personally, I think that Tufts is sticking its nose in business that should be discussed and decided between roommates themselves. Instituting a sex policy that is virtually un-enforceable seems a bit extreme. And unless the horny couple actually wants an audience to cheer them on, I think they would wait for privacy anyway, with or without the existence of a formal policy mandating it.

Common courtesy dictates that no roommate should have to be a witness to lovemaking that is not their own (unless, of course, they’re into that sort of thing), but I feel sorry for the freshman male who gets paired with a hermit roommate that never leaves the solitude of their room.  Soon dorm-room sex will be replaced with bumping uglies in the bushes and humping on top of the dining hall.

So Tufts, what is more disturbing? Public displays of fornication or a slight rocking from the top bunk? Instituting this sex-policy seems like a slippery slope. Next they’ll be outlawing co-ed sleepovers and issuing chastity belts. Stay out of my sex life, ResLife, and I’ll stay out of yours.

So… it’s April of your senior year, and you’re meticulously filling out forms about your sleeping habits (why yes, you do tend to sleep at 2 AM and think 12 PM is ‘early’) and cleanliness habits to send to your future home for the next four years. Or, you’re a college freshman re-applying for housing with your dorm BFF/sorority sister/random classmate from English 101. Come June, you receive that nice envelope or automated email from Residential Life, hoping to get for what you asked for (please no early-bird neat freak!) And in that nice little slot, lies ROOMMATE: NONE. And your address happens to have an S by it.

Yup, you’re in a single. Obviously, a single room isn’t the image most conjure up when thinking about college dorms (and most freshmen aren’t lucky enough to get one), but they’re out there.

Nervous? Excited? Don’t really know what you’re getting into/how you’ll fit all your stuff into a 120 square foot box? Don’t worry; here are the pros and cons of life in a single.

PRO: You Can Decorate However You Want

Double rooms, although slightly larger than singles, have two of everything but the same amount of wall space. In a double, you just have to hope that your roommate doesn’t have orange sheets to clash with your purple pillows. In a single, you get to decorate it however you’d like (as long as the tape you’re using won’t ruin the walls, thank you ResLife.) You’re more likely to feel at home here because you’ve provided all of the decoration yourself. Plus, you don’t need to fight with your roommate when your Hannah Montana poster looks out of place next to their Metallica one.

CON: You have to bring everything yourself

At my school, rooms are allowed one TV, one microwave, one fridge, one toaster… You get the picture. If you’re living in a double, you can coordinate who brings what. If you’re in a single, you get to bring all of that yourself. College close to home? You’re in luck there. For some people, coming by plane from 2000 miles away, it isn’t possible to bring all of those. It can be a problem if you want to store certain liquids, but you don’t have a fridge to put them in. Better make friends with the girl across the hall with the 40-inch plasma screen for your homesick Sex and The City marathons….

PRO: You get your own space

I can’t stress this enough. YOU. GET. YOUR. OWN. SPACE. You can do whatever you want! Are you a fan of Skyping at 3 AM? No problem. Like to take 3 hour naps in the middle of the day? Go ahead.  You don’t need to share your space with anyone, thus you don’t need to make any rules, like ‘Lights off by 12 AM’ or ‘No Boys Overnight’ with your roommate. Oh did I mention that you can do WHATEVER you want? So, it would come in handy when you’re entertaining a caller of the opposite sex at strange hours of the night. You’re not going to have to worry about keeping it down for your roommate. If you time it right, it’s like she/he was never even there.

CON: Muy Expensivo

You get your own space… at a cost. Dorms are extremely expensive, and singles just follow that path. Last year, my single cost approximately $6200, compare to the $4900 of that of the double. For some families, this can mean less furnishings/trips home. In the end, it’s up to you to decide if that little bit of privacy is worth the extra money.

PRO: No Roommate

You’ve probably heard stories of roommates walking in on each other, sexiling each other or all-out hating each other. No matter how much people love their roommate, their subtleties and tics can eventually gnaw on the relationship. There’s also the more common path (in my experience) of being apathetic or disliking their roommate. I’ve had friends who weren’t comfortable hanging out in their own room out of sheer dislike for their co-habitators. Living in a single you NEVER have to deal with that. Be grateful you can study in your room when that girl down the hall has to trek to the library to study out of fear for what her roommate would do.

CON: No Roommate

Yes, having no roommate has its downsides. If you’re going to a school where you don’t know anyone, your roommate can be the first friend. She can also be your source for free clothes, homework help, and a connector to new people you’d never have met on your own. Plus, for every two stories I hear about roommates hating each other, I hear one about roommates that absolutely love each other and are now best friends for life.

VERDICT: Having lived with a roommate that I loved dearly and in a single, I much preferred the privacy/freedom that the single offered me. If you have a single, embrace it! If you don’t… embrace your roommate (and all her quirks) and hope/pray for a better housing assignment next fall!

Yeah, that's right. This cork board makes people want to party.

A dorm isn’t a dorm without the staple brown cork board on the wall. You post reminders of exams, pictures of your friends, phone numbers (of that hottie you just met!), and other important info on your life.

Problem is that the ugly brown cork board is a little bored. I know it doesn’t match the rest of your gorgeous room decor, so here is an easy and creative way to transform that ugly board into an artistic and functional piece of wall decor.

What You’ll Need:
*2 Sets of Cork Tiles: You can find these at Wal-mart, Target, or any office supply store. They usually come in sets of 4. You can make your cork piece as big as you want, but I usually use 8 tiles (so, 2 sets).
*Spray Paint: Use any color you want. The spray paint will be for the background color of your piece.
*Art Paint: Again, choose any colors you want. This paint will add accent colors and design on the cork tiles after they are spray painted. Skip this step if you prefer to have a plain color cork piece!
*Ribbon: Use any color/design you want. Just make sure the color of the ribbon goes well with the paint colors.
*Small paint brushes

Easy Instructions
1. Outside in an open area, lay down some newspaper so you don’t make a mess. Lay out the cork tiles on the newspaper. With the spray paint, paint each of the cork tiles in a side to side, up and down motion until the entire tile is painted. Don’t overdo it – just make sure the color of the cork doesn’t show through the spray paint. Set aside to dry.

2. Now that your cork tiles are all painted, feel free to use the other paint to add designs on top of the tiles. Draw stripes, circles, flowers, swirls, whatever design you choose! You could also paint a letter on each tile to spell out a word or your name. Let that beauty dry.

3. Now it’s time to hang your creation. Using the adhesive stickers that came with your cork tiles, place the cork tiles on the wall leaving room between each tile (big enough for the ribbon you chose). I usually put 2 rows of 4 tiles to make a rectangle, but you could also make a square of 4 tiles, an asymmetrical pattern, or whichever looks best to you.

4. Finally, tack ribbon to the wall between your tiles so it creates a border around all the rows of your tiles. You don’t have to do this step, but it adds color and makes the tiles come together as an art piece instead of just a bunch of tiles on the wall.

5. You’re done! Now add pictures, posts, and anything else you put on your normal cork board, which is not so normal anymore.