<p>Having moved two daughters, I can relate to this column, but still mystified about all the stuff they needed. Consistent with the article, my admittedly cloudy memory of my own college move in the dark ages consisted of a foot locker, bicycle, and my boy scout backpack (also never understood why my girls needed a new backpack every school year).</p>
<p>There are companies that some of these dormifying girls hire that coordinate everything for you. The companies arrive on move in day and set everything up, including removable wallpaper. </p>
<p>Another stereotypical article about girls vs. boys. Yep, all boys love trucks and cars and all girls want to be ballerinas. Please! I do think that girls tend to take more stuff, and communicate better with their roommates but not all of them are into decorating the rooms to a tee. Our daughter moved herself into college with less then either of our sons and probably spent less because both boys had to have their expensive electronics.</p>
<p>I didn’t think it was that bad - having just moved a son into an apartment and a D into a dorm, there definitely was more stuff for the D. From the article - </p>
<p>“She had not amassed piles of wasteful items, just many of the basics commonly selected to equip a dorm room, eschewed by my minimalist son, plus storage for the grooming supplies, healthy snacks and clothing accessories not typically associated with boys.”</p>
<p>My D’s both spent more time picking out sheets and a duvet cover than my son, and researched things like lap desks, etc also. They also decorated the walls more than he did, and bought things to store jewelry, hang scarves, etc.</p>
<p>^Same for my girl. Didn’t need anything new or coordinating deco. She just completed her collection of posters for her dorm room and plans to keep them until graduation.</p>
<p>Last year, when my daughter moved in as a freshman, she slowly decorated the walls of her room - putting up decals, pictures, posters, etc. She called it nesting - it really helped her feel at home.</p>
<p>Neither of my boys required very much. They took the clothes from their closets (on the hangers) and threw them in the back seat of the truck. They left all bedding, toiletry and miscellaneous stuff up to me. Both of their roommates supplied the TV’s. Microfridges were provided by the university. Hooked up the electronics and they were done. I think they put up some posters as the year went on. We never saw either of their dorm rooms after freshman move in day. Both moved off campus after freshman year.</p>
<p>My daughter “dormified” her room, but with inexpensive things like posters, paper lanterns, twinkling lights, fabric and a few things from the container store. That article was extreme. As she moved up in yrs. at school, she needed less and less, left more of her stuff at home.</p>
<p>That was a pretty stupid article. It’s just decorating. Some people care about it and some don’t, just as adults vary in their interest in making their living spaces look “put together.” I know someone who has lived in her house for two decades and not hung a single piece of art on the walls. That would depress me.</p>
<p>D2 spent a lot of time and effort decorating her room and apartment living room a week ago when we helped her move in. She has a contemporary sensibility and it looks like something that could be on HGTV or a magazine, all done with Wallmart, Garden Ridge, and Pier One. DH and I were completely exhausted by midnight when we finally got finished.</p>
<p>Her boyfriend, on the other hand, threw his stuff in the closet and called art a Texas Flag and poster of the football schedule. Done!</p>
<p>Title should be: “My daughter dormifies, my son just moves” </p>
<p>I never decorated. I know a lot of women who didn’t. I know some males who decorated. I know a lot who didn’t. I actually didn’t notice any real difference between men and women in how they did their rooms- with the exception, maybe, of the guys having more posters and girls having more variety of decorations.</p>
<p>I wonder how much people spend to “dormify” (what a stupid word IMO) and then whether or not those same people end with a lot of debt that they’ll proceed to whine about. It’s not necessary to have that much “stuff”. Just put it towards the bills. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>I had lots of knickknacks, two posters, and quite a bit of stuff (ie. fridge, tv, stereo-that dates me). S2 (S1 lived at home) didn’t decorate at all, but he had tons on musical stuff. H&I moved him into his dorm room and put things away so we could remove the containers while he got his ID and books and other things and his roommate’s parents proceeded to try and dismantle the furniture and rearrange his side of room, learning about about 2 hours of work that there was a reason for that configuration (furniture wouldn’t fit any other way–if you wanted the doors/drawers to open!). Other than music stuff, he was quite minimalist and never decorated. He brought the fridge, roommate brought the printer. </p>
<p>When he moved into an apartment senior year, he rented a U-Haul and collected all the odds and ends of furniture his older friends were leaving when they moved–3 fridges, mattress and box springs, kitchen table and 4 (all different) chairs, desk, futon. He’s trying to figure out what to do with it next year when he leaves. I told him everyone should carve/write their name on things so there would be a history of how many times the pieces had been handed down.</p>
<p>Don’t have any experience with girls except my own, but that was so long ago…</p>
<p>While there is something to those stereotypes, it’s also highly individual and dependent on various factors. </p>
<p>I think a correlation between valuing aesthetics enough to expend the effort or not is much more of an accurate yardstick for these factors. </p>
<p>One former post-college roommate decorated and organized his room in such a manner some of my younger friends insistently thought I lived with a woman…until he walked into the apartment and into that very room. He is meticulously organized and has an aesthetic preference for bright colors sometimes stereotyped as preferred by women. </p>
<p>On the flipside, while I also have aesthetic tastes, it’s not to the extent of needing to bother expending the effort to decorate my room considering I wasn’t home most of the time due to work, social activities with co-workers/friends on evenings/weekends, and generally enjoying going out and about in the area. My room was mainly to store stuff, sleep, etc. </p>
<p>Even now, it’s been nearly 2 years since I picked up a free painting of a 19th century sailing ship and I’ve yet to hang it up.</p>
<p>S1 dormifies to an extent. He likes his school sports posters and NE Patriots stuff. He moved into an apartment this year with a roommate who also likes Mad Men, so his Don Draper poster has pride of place in the living room now.</p>
<p>Daughter dormified the first year. Since she met her roommate on move in day they couldn’t coordinate who was bringing what (ie, mini fridge, microwave, printer), but it all worked out. Their bedding even matched, though neither one cared one way or the other. The walls were all decorated, and it felt homey. In subsequent years, the fridge and microwave stayed home. It’s amazing how much they think they need…when in reality it’s really pretty easy to make do with what is provided. Plus the move out is SO much easier without all the extras.</p>
<p>Son…well, he was the polar opposite. Sent him to a Service Academy with his backpack with 12 pairs of white socks, tees, and underwear, and his small bag of toiletries. Easiest back to school shopping ever :)</p>
<p>I decorate by throwing up a couple of posters. I currently have two posters of The Godfather, two of The Boondock Saints, one of the Rat Pack, one of Eminem, one of the NY Jets and one of The Wanted (not the most “girly” posters ever, unlike my previous roommates). In our living room, I put up a black and white one of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean and a rainbow-colored Hollywood sign poster. </p>
<p>My roommate loves to decorate but that’s not my thing. So I let her take over because I honestly couldn’t care less. So it depends a lot on the person.</p>
<p>It’s just so hard to believe that someone would write something like this in 2013. Girls need to dormify? Whatever. There are three girls in d’s suite this year. D moved in with one trip to pick up her stuff from storage, along with a couple duffel bags and a backpack. One of the other girls moved in with two minivans and multiple trips for the 7 or 8 kids who helped. The other girl brought all her stuff in one car and it took one trip for the 3 or 4 who helped. D was just glad that her roommate was the one with the one carload. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t have bought my d that much stuff from BBB. My theory is to start with the minimum, then add to it as you find things that you really need. </p>
<p>I expect my S to be pretty much like my D. What he lacks in hair accessories, he makes up for in Rubik’s cubes.</p>
<p>My younger son does more than older brother, but less than some. He has a single this year that was built as a double, so along with hanging posters, Arabic calligraphy, fabric he picked up in India, he’s also got plans for extra furniture. Chest of drawers face down make great coffee tables according to him, and he’s gotten himself a loveseat from the lounge which he says no one uses in senior dorms. He’s still working out how to get a projector computer going so he can watch TV shows on the big screen.</p>
<p>Both of my kids have accumulated quite a bit of STUFF, but fortunately didn’t start out that way. It is tougher storing when you own too much stuff. S sold much of it on Craigslist. D gave some away. Both of my kids had tasteful lodging in college but didn’t bother with decorating much. D hung up a poster or two. I believe S did as well. </p>
<p>Both kids put up blackout curtains, which they found very helpful for sleeping when there were lights or sunlight that would otherwise stream in. </p>
<p>S has been furnishing his apartment now that he’s working full time and has been there over a year and renewed his lease. Like his room at home, its very well organized, neat and attractive. He is very discerning about what he puts into it. His room at home was always the neatest space in our home.</p>