Dorm decor
Right now, Katie Hastings is doing something she’s done at the end of every summer for the last four years: She’s moving into a plain-vanilla, box-like room on a college campus. And like students everywhere, she wants to add a few touches to make it reflect her personality.
Hastings is a senior psychology major at Whitworth College, in Spokane. As the dormitory resident assistant, Hastings moves in early to ready rooms for student athletes who report to school several weeks before other students appear. She also sets up her own quarters.
Although she has lived in both dormitory rooms and student apartments, Hastings prefers the ease and social benefits of life in the dorm. And, after four years of education, she’s learned to be a little smarter about it.
As a freshman, Hastings bought into the dorm-room-in-a-bag craze. “I totally thought everything had to match,” she said. “And I bought the works.”
Armed with a package of coordinated and trendy goodies, Hastings and her freshman roommate filled their room with matching bedding and accessories. “I was very concerned with coordinating and matching everything,” Hastings said. She went all out.
“We even hung a sheet on the wall for color, like a piece of art,” Hastings said. “What we discovered was all that stuff made the room feel smaller.”
Hastings has scaled back and opted for a simpler style, but dorm décor continues to be big business for incoming freshman and their parent’s credit card.
Discount stores like Target, Linens ‘n Things, and Bed, Bath and Beyond, pack their aisles with everything one could possibly need. And, a whole lot more you might not need.
The trick, according to Hastings, is to choose carefully.
Hastings learned to choose neutral colors for basics like bedding, and then to add interest with accessories. “Instead of buying a colorful comforter, and then having to get a new one each year, I bought one in brown,” she said. “Then, my roommate and I can get creative with our sheets and things.”
She also cleared the clutter from the walls. “I like a more serene look, without so much stuff all around,” she said. “I think it makes the room more comfortable to live in.” Rather than hanging posters and prints, she and her roommate make a collage of photographs of friends and family.
Luckily, Hastings’ roommate, Toree Pfursich, shares that feeling. “I don’t like a lot of stuff everywhere, either” she said.
As a perk for Hastings’s status as RA, she and Pfursich share a bedroom with an attached living room and kitchenette.
Other students in their dormitory move into suites comprised of a double bedroom on either side of a shared living area and kitchenette. The kitchenette is outfitted with a microwave, sink and small refrigerator.
Although Hastings eschews the full dorm-style packages found in catalogs and discount stores, taken individually, she likes the idea.
“Oh, you always need things like lamps, storage items and accessories,” she said. “It’s great that you can find those things, and that they look good.”