One of the initial challenges of college, and perhaps the most infamous, is dorm room size. A harvest of creativity is required from students in order to keep functionality and personality intact within these four cramped walls. Because of the immense amount of planning, Pinteresting, and roommate collaboration that go into some rooms, we wanted to give students a chance to show off their unique and inspired spaces.
Merissa Schmidt, Junior and Swanson TLA resident, focused on fusing her room from home with her room at school. “I have a picture above my bed that was in my room at home. It makes me feel more calm. Especially being a transfer student, it’s a new situation to jump into,” said Schmidt. For many, having items that are reminiscent of one’s home can provide a stable, personal part of a students life when everything else is dauntingly new.
Katrena Pienkowski, freshman Westerlin resident, took room decorating as a way to get to know her roommate over the summer. Pienkowski and her roommate met at orientation and were able to view their room before the school year. “They way is was laid out made it look really, really small so we were a little worried and then we started moving around the furniture until we got it a certain way that made sense for both of us,” said Pienkowski. Over the summer the two got to know each other by planning the color scheme, bed spreads, and individual accent colors for their own sides of the room, “It was cool to see both of our interests and see how they went together,” said Pienkowski.