Every September, students find themselves in a foreign room with a lofted bed, blank walls, and whatever they can fit in the back of a car. Yet somehow, in the span of one week, these rooms transform into hangout spots and a home away from home. Here are some unique rooms found around campus.
Elisabeth Nelson ’28:
“[Annie Liebhoff ’28 and I] didn’t really come in with a lot of plans to coordinate specifically with each other’s aesthetic, but I feel like the way that our room came out has each side really complementing the other. I have a lot of pink, and I have some of my favorite stuffed animals. We have a one-room double, as opposed to the more traditional two-room doubles that Day House has. So, we didn’t have many options for moving furniture in and out of one room into the other. [However,] my roommate and I both did move our dressers close to our beds to use those as nightstands, which was helpful. My favorite part of my room is probably all of the little mementos that remind me of home and help create a cozier, more comfortable environment in our dorm, you know, our home away from home.”
Tue Linh Nguyen ’29:
“I’d say my dorm room was pretty cozy. I have a lot of things on the left and right sides, but I like to keep the space in the middle open. That way I can sit there on the floor, walk around, and have that nice little space to get out of bed and for a little movement. My parents and I actually argued about how to keep the dorm [arrangement] when we first got here. I said it was fine just as it was, but my dad was really insistent. He ended up moving all the furniture for me. He put my bed on the right side of the room, and then he put my desk facing the window, and then moved my drawer so it was kind of covering my bed, so if anyone opened the door, it wouldn’t just be me sleeping [right there]. It’s actually way better, and I highly recommend moving around your furniture if you don’t like it. In Vietnam, [photo booths] are really popular for going out with your friends and taking at least one photo booth photo. My earliest [photo] was when I was in sixth grade, but this year it became really popular because I started going out with my friends more, since I knew I was gonna move.”
Fabiana (Fabi) Guerrero Cohen ’30:
“[My room] is green and pink. Those are my two favorite colors. I was mainly thinking about how I’m gonna be living here. This is my home now, and I need to make it feel like my home. Also, I just wanted a cute aesthetic. I bought most of my decor from Amazon. I already had my books, and then I also got my two paintings. One of them I made, and the other one is a print from the Frick Collection in New York. I’m really proud of my paintings. They really make the room pop out. [My roommate and I] didn’t plan anything, but it did end up being coordinated because her sheets are also the same shade of pink, with little flowers and a little bit of green.”
Abigail Wang ’27:
“I was decorating my dorm room, and I didn’t really have a specific theme in mind. I felt it would be coziest and most homey to fill it with whatever. For example, the decorations on my fireplace are just small trinkets I used to have on top of my drawer last year, but they wouldn’t work out this year because my drawer is in a corner, and I wanted them to be displayed and visible. So, I displayed all my figures, keychains, and other random trinkets on my fireplace because that’s where I can see them most easily. And then, my stuffed animals go on my bed, and the posters go on my wall. I just put them where I can see them the most. I had a lot of posters on my wall from last year that I took home and then forgot to bring back. After winter break, I’m gonna bring them back so I can decorate my walls even more, because they’re barren right now.”
