<p>D2 lives in an apartment with 4 girls. Two are into the nesting and decorating thing. Two others couldn’t care less. Are those girls “masculine?” Nope, not at all.</p>
<p>BTW, being really into the decorating aspect of one’s home doesn’t necessarily mean you are spending a lot of money. Not at all.</p>
<p>But maybe it does…
[TCU</a> students turn their cramped dorm room into a cozy sanctuary | Home & Garden | Dallas-Fort…](<a href=“http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/29/5118736/tcu-students-turn-their-cramped.html]TCU”>http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/29/5118736/tcu-students-turn-their-cramped.html)</p>
<p>But then, that situation was all the mom!
Be sure to click on the “photos” link…</p>
<p>^^^^^Product placement. Beautiful room paid for by Chi Omega?</p>
<p>Lol, pretty room. Probably pricey. 
D2’s apartment decor was a bargain, especially considering the difference in tuition between TCU and a Texas public. Then again, the girls in the article got a professionally decorated room without paying a decorator’s fee (professional decorator was Mom, so I’m thinking she waived her fee 
).</p>
<p>The article exactly matched our experience with S and D.</p>
<p>I am unimpressed with that room…sorry. The gray and lilac are far too muted against the ugly “dorm white” walls. And the monogram theme has been used to excess, IMO. I appreciate the effort but I don’t think it’s anything better than what some of my non-decorator friends with girls have done for their rooms.</p>
<p>Am just wondering how many years these women will live there. That’s a lot of effort and expense for nine months, unless they have an option of staying there for 4 years and can store the stuff in place? Hope the girls want to continuing rooming together. Would throw off the decor to only have 1/2. :). Not my style, nor our kids. Wouldn’t want expensive furniture for student housing personally.</p>
<p>My youngest DD does not dormify to the extent that some of these girls do lol. I think last year (her freshman year) it was frustrating a bit to her roommate (and roommate’s Mom) that DD bought her comforter without thinking about matching to her roommate lol. There were constant emails from mother/daughter about decorating schemes. In hindsight it is funny but at the time I was a little embarassed that DD was not into decorating (aside from wanting a zebra print shower curtain - which the roomie nixed). We just let the roommate and her Mom do their thing and it was fine. They ended up being great friends. Dd would have been just as happy in a bare bones room without colorful curtains and place mats (they were in an apartment style dorm). </p>
<p>Same thing happened this year when DD moved into an off campus apartment with 3 other girls. She just cared about finally getting her zebra shower curtain (this year’s roomie said OK lol). All the other girls came with a UHaul and a packed car each. We came with a packed car lol. First and foremost in DD’s mind was having her shoe collection and full length mirror. After that, she is pretty go with the flow lol.</p>
<p>Anytime I read about these kids whose parents seem to indulge their whims (wants disquised as “needs”), I wonder if these parents plan on subsidizing these kids for years after they’re “on their own” because their new-grad salaries aren’t likely going to be able to afford all of these “needs”. </p>
<p>Sure, it’s nice to have a cute container from BBB for every cosmetic, brush, jewel, etc, but it’s not necessary. many other kids are putting those things in a plastic container from the Dollar store. </p>
<p>The idea of showing up at BBB and finding a dolly “piled high” with likely unnecessary things is just silly and indulgent. Certainly this young lady didn’t spend 4 years in high school with nothing to organize her “stuff”.</p>
<p>I imagine that many a future guy will label this girl as “high maintenance” and quickly move on.</p>
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<p>Of course, I am biased, but I was impressed what D2 did to her apartment (everything gray and depressing looking, carpet is awful) at really bargain basement prices. It looks really cool now vs. very drab and neutral. I would probably have thought she had the help of a decorator if I didn’t know better. DH and I did help the girls hang pictures, which takes a while because he is a perfectionist (hence not getting out of there until almost midnight). Garden Ridge is a discount home store, and D2 found an amazing rug to cover up the gray filth that they arrived to. It was marked down to a fraction of the original price; she found it under a pile of other discounted rugs, and it just changes the whole room.</p>
<p>Having a warm and pleasant home environment is not an indulgence in my opinion. I am a homebody, and I love having warm colors in my environment and pretty art around me (none of it very expensive). D1 and D2 are both the same way, very attentive to their surroundings and both thrifty but creative at the same time.</p>
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<p>I agree completely; and it does not necessarily cost a lot of money. Interior decorating is an art that I am not very good at doing, but I am very good at appreciating. I don’t understand the criticism of students transforming their prison-cell-like dorm rooms into inviting havens if they want to do it.</p>
<p>I think it’s a good thing to “homify” a dorm room. But we all know that can be done within a sensible budget, by including some things from home, buying a few new things, etc. The idea of having parents show up at BBB to pick up and order only to be shocked at the sight of a loaded-up-dolly is just nutty (and spoiled) to me.</p>
<p>My Ds didn’t have all that much stuff because they travelled to the other coast for college, but they probably would have brought much more if it had been feasible. All of their bedding and bath towels at home were pretty ratty by the end of high school, so it made sense to buy everything new and more “adult” for the next four years. Storage containers are not expensive, and come in a variety of colors and styles now. I really think it is more a function of the availability of very cheap room accessories that allows students to maximize decorating their rooms. Even monogramming is not expensive. By the end of four years, my Ds’ college room decor was pretty worn out, so other than their bed sheets, they pretty much started over again on their apartment decor with their own money.</p>
<p>*All of their bedding and bath towels at home were pretty ratty by the end of high school, so it made sense to buy everything new *</p>
<p>well, of course replace ratty things whenever that happens…at the end of high school, mid-college, etc. It just didn’t sound like that’s what went on in the article. It sounds like the girl essentially came up with a wedding registry list of sorts, ordered all of it online at BBB (likely with parents’ CC), and they were shocked to see the amassed treasures at pick-up time.</p>
<p>I know more than one set of parents that likely would have then said, “Ok, pick out 25% from that pile, and the rest goes back.”</p>
<p>My kids have grown up surrounded by art and color and visually appealing things, so it makes me sad to think of how “unloved” my son’s dorm room looked when I picked him up at the end of freshman year. His roommate was from China (meaning, he traveled with very little) and my son had neither the wheels nor the inclination to decorate, so their room looked like a prison cell. This year he is living in a triple with two friends, one of whom cares a lot about making the space more homey. They have triple-stacked their bunk beds so they have room for a couch, coffee table and TV. I am sure the walls will be tastefully decorated.</p>
<p>The other thing I care about is decent-quality linens. I was so disappointed with my son’s bath towels from last year–they were super soft and fluffy when we got them at Target but they got thin and flat quickly after being washed. I felt bad that he used them all year without complaining. So he did get new ones for this year.</p>