Dorm Décor Phenomenon

Need v. Want

When I committed to Smith, the first thing I thought about was decorating my dorm. Not the schoolwork, what classes to take or how Smith’s dining was. I was more eager to decorate than anything. I went through plenty of “Dorm-Checklists”, looked at so many dorm pictures on Tumblr and Instagram and scanned Target, Wal-mart, Christmas Tree Shop, Sears, Kohl’s and other stores constantly.

Although I did buy a lot of décor for my half of a 12’x14’ room, I did try to limit my spending so I didn’t totally fall into the dorm décor phenomenon. I didn’t go for the 32” flat screen TV, the bed-risers with electricity outlets, microwave etc. Gawronski’s company’s survey states “students tend to spend about $600 to $700 on stuff to outfit their dorms, not including electronics like computers and televisions”. After calculating the costs of my dorm “outfit” and everything that I bought for dorm living, I spent roughly $425. This number seems way more reasonable than Gerry Thornton who figures that “he dropped about $4,000” for his daughter’s dorm at the College of New Jersey.

After moving everything into my room in Gardiner House, I was happy with the way everything looked, the décor, my bedding, the way everything matched each other in some way and how “home-y” things felt.  The sad part is, I was even more excited to most a picture on Instagram to show my friends than to live in my dorm.

After settling in, and actually using the things I bought however, I thought: “Wow, I spent a lot of money on useless but nice things”. These were things that I could definitely live without like my lanterns, my dream catcher, memo board, designed comforter set, etc but that’s how dorm sellers wrap college students in. They design beautiful living areas and have students buy into the idea that they NEED this set of sheets or NEED this particular bedding. A lot of the Smithies that come into my dorm say “wow your dorm is so nice! I NEED to decorate mine now” and I think: “no, you really don’t”. I think it’s a horrible hidden expense for college living considering I could easily live without any of my “useless but nice” purchases.

Oh, and it was nice seeing that my IG friends really liked my room, but still, dorm decor is useless.

Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/dorm_decor_among_hidden_costs.html