For most college students, a dorm room acts as a first taste of independence. With their newfound freedom, students employ their creativity to invent spaces that reflect their personalities.
Ella Jones, a freshman psychology major from St. Louis, and Johanna Kruyne, a freshman business management major from St. Louis, are roommates living in Residential College South who had a specific look in mind when designing their living space.
“We were doing blue, LoveShackFancy, and we have some touches of pink here and there because our rug has pink,” Kruyne said.
They also thrifted matching furniture from Facebook Marketplace, allowing them to find dorm necessities at a much cheaper price.
“Those middle cabinets are usually like $1,000, but we got ours for $50,” Kruyne said.
Jones specifically noted the larger items they were able to find for a bargain, stating that it was a large help in lowering the cost of their decor.
“Yeah, all the big stuff we got for like $200,” Jones said. “It was really nice.”
The roommates value features that blend comfort and functionality, pointing them out as the favorite aspects of their dorm.
“I like my vanity because it has this big light,” Jones said. “It blinds me every time I turn it on, but I like it.”
Kruyne’s favorite item is a set of chairs.
“We have these comfy chairs; they’re like the criss-cross chairs,” Kruyne said. “That’s probably my favorite part. I love them.”
Harbor Ketchum, a freshman biology major from Salt Lake City, lives in Residence Hall 1, and he incorporated some of his hobbies into his decor to put his personal touch on his room. He purchased a record player stand to showcase his vinyl collection.
Other decorations included LED strips, records on the wall and a couple of rugs. He and his roommate planned how they wanted their dorm to look months before their arrival on campus.
“(My roommate) was my best friend in high school, so we just picked stuff on Amazon,” Ketchum said.
Ketchum appreciated the space and function his dorm room provided, which was apparent when discussing his favorite aspect of it.
“I guess the size of it (is my favorite thing). I thought it was going to be small,” Ketchum said.
Unlike Kruyne and Jones, Ketchum said that he and his roommate did not thrift anything. They bought “everything new” from Amazon and Homegoods and brought some items from home.
Anna Cooper, a freshman marketing major from Oxford living in Residential College South, said that she and her roommate connected with a former building resident to get some items secondhand.
“We bought the desk hutches and the bedside shelves from a girl who had already lived here,” Cooper said. “And the girl who gave us some bedside shelves asked if we wanted the headboards for free because she wanted to get rid of them. We picked all the big furniture together, and then everything else was just our own things that we brought ourselves.”
When in need of inspiration and planning assistance, the duo turned to a couple of different apps.
“We had a Pinterest board for like a year,” Cooper said. “Honestly, TikTok, just watching and seeing what other people do (provided inspiration).”
She purchased several pieces from The Depot Antique Mall in Oxford, which is one of her favorite places to shop.
Cooper added that because she and her roommate are Oxford natives, it was easy for them to coordinate and gather what was necessary for their dorm in person.
“We just went (shopping) together some days after school, and we would go buy little pieces,” Cooper said. “And it kind of just built up over time.”
The roommates also had a color scheme that they used when picking their decor.
“We decided that we wanted pink, blue and gold,” Cooper said. “Our bathroom kind of has a little bit of purple in it. And that’s kind of what we stuck to for the most part.”
Even though this room will be the roommates’ first space as independent adults, they still had help from their parents putting it all together.
“I feel like we initiated what we wanted and then they helped financially,” Cooper said. “My mom went and helped me pick out all my decorations, and then with the furniture — obviously our dads moved them. But a lot of the things we picked out, we just liked.”
