I dropped my daughter off at college last week and I've been weeping ever since.

It's the first time many of these students get to make their own choices about their bedroom and design in their lifetime. 

As an interior designer, I was repelled and intrigued!

It’s thrilling and exciting.  The energy on campus was buzzing. The beginning of all kinds of possibilities. It's also riddled with uncertainty and self-doubt, wondering if you’re doing it right and that’s not just the room decoration. 

It’s the same feeling when you’re designing your house or doing a renovation.  Especially if you've never done it before, so the college residence halls are a great place to practice.

Am I doing it right?  I’m so excited for this opportunity I’ve been dreaming about, but I’m not sure I know how.

4 DESIGN AND DECOR TIPS for the Dorms AND Beyond. 

You will put those educational earnings to work building a new home someday, right?  The same skills apply decorating a dorm.

Always, always, always,

1. Get help. 

You have a coach, a mentor, an advisor, a guru and a trainer for everything these days.  Someone knows more than you about bedroom linens, color, furniture placement, storage solutions and can make it easier, simpler, less expensive, and MORE FABULOUS.

Instagram, Snapchat and good old Facebook are a goldmine of info.  See what dorms actually look like. We had a ball watching the girls of Alabama pledging sororities on TikTok with their #OOTD, outfit of the day check- in each day.  

“My shoes are from Steve Madden, my shirt is from Sheen,  and…” on and on they went in that sweet, southern accent.  Roll tide!  Hee Hee!  We got to see their decor and get inspiration for dorm essentials by snooping in the background of their videos.  It's all the rage apparently.  https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2021/08/13/whats-alabama-rush-sororities-that-have-taken-over-tiktok-and-we-cant-look-away.html

Pinterest.  I found a ton of design ideas for dorms, checklists for what to bring to college and useful blogs from recent grads and students that shared their experiences.

Ask anyone that has been through this before. My clients know to ask the right questions when hiring or checking references.  Learn from others mistakes, not your own! 

• What did you need that wasn't on the lists or obvious? 
• What did you want from home?
• What could you not live without? 
• What makes life easier?  (rolling laundry cart)

Put together an idea folder, a Pinterest board or a google doc.  Edit it as you go. 

Here's the top picks from a year of experience. 

MATTRESS TOPPER'S A MUST!  Here's the one we loved, but if you really love your child, I saw one hovering mom do two, a 3" foam one under a feathery down topper.  'Princess and the Pea' anyone?!  

I saw the same mattresses from the dorms in the cells of the Russian prison on Stranger Things! This is a splurge purchase.  Get the best quality you can. 

2. Check the limitations or “Constraints of the project”. 

In other words, 

• How big is the room, closet?  
• What are you allowed to bring?
• How can you hang it up?  

We received a boatload of "DON'TS"

for hanging, bringing, taping, shelving and on and on it goes….

Halogen lights, extension cords, Velcro or nails of any kind are a hard NO! Sticky putty and Command strips are a must. Here's the link!

Buy stock in Command Strips.

What size rug, curtains (flammable- that’s a no no) will fit or are allowed?  That rug is a must.  The floors in my daughter’s dorm are similar to some fairly unsavory state and federal institutions.  And if they have carpeting, oh my.  I’m itchy just thinking about it.

Luckily, the furniture choices, room size and layout have all been decided for you.  But, they seem to have been made by someone who really, really doesn't like you. 

3. Check yourself.

I have new clients do an inventory or a ‘Self Evaluation’ before we start working together.

It’s not just about ‘the stuff’ when designing spaces that work and are beautiful.  It’s much more about the people.  Look deep inside at what makes you tick and will make you comfortable away from home.

• What are your habits, traits? 
• How can you set up your space to succeed?  
• Are you an introvert?  Maybe the window away from the lounge is for you. 
• Do you need a sound machine/white noise maker to drown out late night hockey playoffs down the hall?
• Do you study late?  Can the desk be positioned away from a sleeping roommate’s view?  
• What are your favorite colors for linens and pillows, textures, smell? (No incense hippie chicks, but a diffuser does the job)
• What makes you feel comfortable, safe?  A fuzzy throw, your childhood bear, Cozy?  Bring the things you love into all your spaces. Images that make you feel good, part of something or remind you of your peeps back home are a popular staple.  
  
  

Don’t forget about privacy!

This seems to be the biggest adjustment for many.  Cohabitating with another roommate, or 6, takes diplomacy, directness and kindness.  

How do I live with a stranger? How do I do the most personal things in a room with someone I barely know?   

Establishing some privacy or space that’s defined, so that everyone knows they have a home away from home, is a must.  Many students have never shared a room, let alone a bathroom with that many other heiny’s before!

Dorm living teaches life lessons about negotiation, shared space and making decisions for more than yourself. It's not easy.  

There are many days designing homes, when I feel like the marriage counselor so that everyone gets their needs met.  It doesn’t get easier with age.

4. Last step is to try, learn and grow. 

It’s a learning experience, duh!  It will evolve.  I would be shunned by the design community if they saw my first attempt.  You will figure some things out as you go.

It won't be home, but it will be exciting!  Fire drills in the snow at 2 a.m. for burnt popcorn, sharing wardrobes with many and "Roommate contracts" to negotiate.  

Be honest about what you need to survive and will tolerate living with in a small space!  Ferrets, "support lizards" and all other nonsense abounds. 

Wanna live with a crazy person for 9 months OR go to the RA and demand they make a change.  Plenty of adjustments are necessary and it happens often. 

There are crazy people everywhere.  

Find quiet spaces on campus where you can go to make a phone call, cry (there's a lot of that the first few weeks!) or smoke. Oh please, no lectures.  Some do, just respect your roommates and go outside. The room ain’t getting any bigger and May is a long way away.  A quiet corner of the library or a spot overlooking the river will do.

I went back for a visit a week later because it was a long weekend, many students had left and my daughter asked me to, so I’d drive across the earth.

When I got there, the rooms were different than when I left.  The students are settling in, finding their way.  

More pictures and posters had gone up.  The mess has begun....

As my daughter explained, “They throw your laundry on the floor if you’re not waiting for the timer to go off on the dryer.  Animals!” 

The sign on her suite reads, ‘please take off your shoes!’  

“We make them take their shoes off because they track dirt into our lounge.”  Well, isn’t that something! 

The cute white boards outside some of the suites, kind of like a message board, had been commandeered by local artists and polls.

Oh, boy that just brought me back. 

White boards, oh, the white boards.  A clever throwback to when people actually “called for each other” so you can write a note when you’re not home.  Sweet, right?  Not so much.

My daughter’s hall had several.  The first asked new students to leave your snaps and @IG handles so they could follow each other.  How nice, I thought.  

“I’m your RA, here’s my info…” was next, good.  But, we had a long way to go.  

As I inched closer to my daughter’s end of the hall, there was the ‘Question of the day’ board.  On the day of my visit, the poll was, “Is your ass pale or burnt?” And so it went, until.... 

Last, but definitely not least, was the “D*@k door”.  Every day, new art, enough said.  This tradition brought me back to my University of Buffalo days and I’m secretly delighted it’s alive and well. 

Trends for 2021

The dorm decor and designs I saw were as expected.  I peeked at what was trending before arriving. Not interfering, but come on!  I’m a designer, relegated to handing over the credit card. Having little say in the design was excruciating. But it’s not my space. For design to work for her, it had to be her choices.  More letting go on the mom side of things.

The ladies -  

The looks - TikTok fabulous or Twinkle Hippie chill.  The main difference seems to be the lights.

• Strip neon lighting vs. string or twinkle lights, click for the links.
• Neon signs. 
• Personalized initials. 
• Plants, macramé and all things earth, moon and sky. 
• Classic rock is still alive and well.  Abbey Road tapestries and AC/DC rocks on!
• Bulletin boards and inspirational quotes.
• Photo collages with similar filter tints and pictures of home.
• Pillows, lots of pillows.  Some fluffy, faux fur or loaded with interest.
• A throw at the end of the bed, preferably something with texture.
• Peel and stick wallpaper, yass!  
• Body pillows and chair pillows, probably the same ones from the 80’s.
• Headboards.  That was a new one I didn’t know.  There are both wall mounted (Command hooks again!) and another more standard headboard that claims to slide between the frame and mattress. Hmmm.zzzz...
• A tension rod (shower curtain rod) and curtain (coordinating with bed linens and rug, of course) to cover the closet. 
• The bed skirts for the elevated beds are a Maybe?  They block the plastic drawers that many bring from home.  Not as popular as I thought.

Resources

Buy a rug from Overstock, Wayfair or Home Goods and toss it in the trash in May.  That floor is cold and ugly.  

Marshalls and similar places are a great place for unique and inexpensive decor and those extra non-essential essentials.  We found lots of choices for peel and stick wallpapers, fancy knobs for the inmate dresser provided, fake plants (I’m a realist), pillows and a rug for the barren, shared lounge at Home Goods.

Amazon, Dormify and Walmart seem to have cornered the ‘dorm in a box’ college kits as well as all the individual items student’s might need.  So if you’re a design center type vs. a flea market find shopper, the larger retailers have a one stop experience vs. a scavenger hunt adventure.

Etsy fits right in that scavenger hunter.  Unique pieces, like the personalized sleep masks, signs, initials and macrame are popular.  Yes, macrame.

The young men -   

The look - Inmate fabulous.  I envy the moms of boys. 

• A couple of team pennants
• A poster of their favorite band (probably a classic from back when I was moving in)
• A bulletin board
• A couple of hats on some thumbtacks and you’re good to go. 

As far as the hole in your heart, it's all the same.

Best,

Liz