Make Dorms Tacky Again!

Does your dorm represent you?

That doesn’t mean a neon sign of your name above your bed, or matching monogrammed pillows with your roommate you may never speak to again next year.

Could a random person walk in your dorm and know it was yours?

A bedroom is an intimate view into your life: posters of favorite bands, friends from high school, gifts received years ago that you haven’t gotten the courage to get rid of. Or maybe your space is a little more minimalistic, with just the necessities.

For incoming college freshmen, it’s a right of passage for students to plan what to put in their dorm before move-in. Students spend hours wondering how they’ll possibly fit their entire life into what feels like a shoe box, yet end up going home with more than they came with. 

Girls especially may consult their roommates to coordinate duvets and wall art.

With the rise of interior designers and carefully constructed appearances, the dorm has transitioned from a representation to a dream — the version of yourself that you want to be, not who you are. 

Interior designer Shelly Gates went viral last month for her “dream dorm” transformations on tiktok. Her account @marymargaretdesignsdorms on TikTok has amassed over 33,000 followers and raised criticism from the public. 

Her clientele — mostly southern college-bound students and their wealthy parents — spend up to $20,000 on a single room design. 

Gates created a career on curating aesthetics and creating personalities for her customers. The intimate, personal nature of the bedroom has become a for-profit sector that reveals the financial disparities between students.

Some may choose to spend thousands of dollars, while others without the opportunity, spend as little as possible, just enough so they are comfortable.

At the end of every year, dumpsters fill with storage organizers, appliances and furniture that are too much of a hassle to take home and for some students, they could buy again in the fall.

Lehigh’s Community Service Office holds the Move-Out Collection Drive every year with collection points for students to leave items they don’t want to take home. The items are then sorted and priced for the Great Southside Sale held in June.

Although the sentiment is there, donation doesn’t stop consumption. 

For many first-years, the room is the first impression. 

College is sold to students as the perfect time to find themselves and figure out their place in the world, with many traveling out of state and even internationally. This choice comes with a sacrifice: they must choose what parts are worth showcasing and what will be shoved under their bed until move-out.

The first-year dorm is a trial run. Students are over-excited to reinvent themselves and during the year, realize what’s sustainable and what isn’t. That matching white bedding wasn’t going to last a whole year without getting a stain on it. 

After the first year of college, as students find their people, they no longer feel the need to perform as much for others. Students pack less and admit to themselves maybe they weren’t as clean as they advertised on My College Roomie or Instagram DMs.

Dorms fill with polaroids of friendships, miscellaneous items from club events and inside jokes that were only funny to those that were there. The albeit crinkled printer paper posters are rehung on new walls with a new meaning.

There’s a beauty in building an aesthetic over time, where each item has a distinct story and couldn’t be replaced the next year. Individualism should be celebrated, not purchased away or hidden behind a compromise with a roommate. 

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither should your dorm.