$10,000 for a dorm room designer?

The moms pay the fines for any violations. Interestingly another mom in our group with a UVA daughter said UVA will not allow major alterations and the school will simply take it down if the student won’t.

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I’ve worked on movie sets and this kind of reminds me of one. Or a store display.

The curtains are covering an “ugly wall” and not a set of windows, though. Right?

The lighting looks custom. Wonder how that works.

That being said, if the roomies are comfortable, so be it.

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None of these alternations would have been allowed at my D’s school - no to the curtain wall, no to the curtains on the windows, no to the hanging light fixtures, no to the headboard alterations, etc… Students can have their housing contracts voided if they don’t follow the rules. And there were regular RA checks at the beginning of the year.

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Wow. How’s that going to help when all that stuff accelerates a fire?
My D complained endlessly about not being allowed candles in her dorm, but at least they took fire safety seriously.

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They’ll sue the university

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Yes the curtains are covering an ugly wall that couldn’t be painted. Apparently it is very common at this school for everyone to do this.
She used two seamstresses for the decor but did repurpose some things which older girls had passed down. (So maybe the upside you sell your decor after freshman year!)

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At my d22’s school, the only thing they are allowed to use is blue painters’ tape. Even command hooks are banned. Even the very richest students tend to have pretty basic dorm decor. Different strokes, I guess.

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At Southern schools, these types of rooms are very common—hundreds of girls are doing this look, so it is very commonplace. Obviously, it is quite different from my college years and, I think, very different from schools in other parts of the country.
But I do think curtains on the window and headboards are pretty common even with basic decor.
I think I went a little crazy with my son’s room this year, plus his roommate was international so I outfitted his side of the room since the child arrived with only a suitcase and didn’t even have towels or sheets.

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That’s nice that you helped out the other kid, @shmom41. They can always change it out later if they feel strongly enough about it!

My kid’s school is, I think, pretty rule-oriented on wall decor rules (although they allow Command Hooks - there’s one in the room already but in an awkward spot near the door so it’s use hasn’t been determined yet.

At my kid’s dorm, someone did small printed 5"x7"-ish cards for the students on my kid’s floor (perhaps the whole dorm? don’t know). They depict anime/cartoon show characters, along with the student’s name. Also, somehow kids (perhaps freshmen who showed up a week early for frosh week bonding) ended up with small personalized license plate name placards, also on their exterior door. Cute things that don’t match but are fun and a nice touch to young students just starting out. Don’t see my kid or the roomate changing what’s on their door; they are rolling with the kind gesture. Each door seems to have a permanent white board on it with an erasable marker. The effect is fun, ersatz student vibe.

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I think even at 18 I would have felt claustrophobic in the rooms with all the curtains and desk coverings. It wouldn’t have stayed nice for long as I know i’d come in and dump my backpack on the white bed and misplace a throw pillow on the first day.

Plus, I need way more pillows to sleep and I like a down comforter.

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@shmom41 That room is so pretty!

I have a friend who has a daughter at one of the above mentioned Southern schools where some families drop tons of money on designer dorm rooms. Her kid’s room looked like that, but other than new matching bedding, pretty much everything else was bought second or third hand from upperclassmen that had lived in the same dorm (custom cabinet between the beds, desk hutch, art work, fabric covering the desks, etc). The roommates and moms planned for months but they did it pretty inexpensively.

I do always wonder about the rooms with glass coffee tables in front of the sofa/futon with the fancy CHANEL/GUCCI coffee table books on top. Do they stay like that all year? Is someone going to dust/clean the fingerprints off that glass? Will the glass table shatter if a heavy backpack gets dropped on it?

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I’m always surprised when kids do use desks to study or do homework because mine never did. My daughter was a double engineering major and studied just like she did in high school, on her bed. She used her desk as a hair and make up vanity!

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I’ve been scrolling this thread looking for a post referencing the ceramic pineapple :joy::joy::joy:

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To me, some of those rooms look like they’ve been set up for a 5 yr old’s Pottery Barn Kids room.

But hey, I don’t have to live in the room, so no big deal. However, I give them just a few frat parties, and I guarantee that somebody will end up projectile vomiting all over the fluffy white, blue, and champagne pink bedding and rugs. Good luck getting that out.

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My daughter set a curtain on fire in her dorm with a candle (I HATE candles, see no need for open flames inside a home, when we have a fire pit night I have the hose right next to it). My youngest is a commuter, but I have learned his school doesn’t allow curtains, outside furniture except plastic bins, no flags or tapestry on walls, due to a dorm fire years ago. Bravo.

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Ironic that the same parents whose lobbying and complaints led to “safe” turf instead of grass at their kids playground, only serving bottled water due to concerns about toxicity in their drinking water, etc. are fine adding flammable items (with no function besides aesthetics) to their kids dorm rooms. You want fire hazards in your own home? That’s on you. But in a communal living situation?

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There was a comment above about lawsuits (maybe more…)… this whole thing will come to a crashing halt the first time the one of these rooms catches on fire.

You’re 100% correct… you’re putting my kid at risk with your design choices.

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Thanks for saying it! My first thought was that it looked like the room of a toddler beauty pageant contender!

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I was a transfer student who couldn’t get on campus housing so went straight to a studio apartment. The only new piece of furniture I had was a futon, everything else was thrift stored or poached from my parents.

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NiceUnparticularMom gave me a look in the Target when I pointed out to S24 that darker neutrals will help hide those stubborn fluid stains that just won’t wash out.

Doesn’t make it any less true!

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