For some students, the days of rushing to Bed Bath & Beyond the day before college started, clutching 20% off coupons to pick up colorful crates and snap-on desk lamps, are long gone. It was a long time ago.
Many undergraduate students, especially in southern states, are now hiring interior designers to completely renovate their dorm rooms, at a cost of several thousand dollars per room.
And even if they don’t arrive on moving day with a professional designer by their side, students are still spending nearly twice as much as they did just 10 years ago. According to the National Retail Federation, college students will spend about $87 billion this year, down from last year’s peak of $94 billion, but significantly higher than the $48 billion spent in 2014. This equates to an average of $1,365 per student. Group reports.
“We’re moving away from IKEA and into the opposite of fast furniture,” says Urbanology, a Dallas-based luxury interior design space that works with pre-college students.・Ginger Curtis, founder of Designs, says:
She said students can be supported with a budget of $7,000 to $8,000, but costs can be higher. Depending on how much the student (or really their parent) is willing to spend, Ms. Curtis recommends curtains, monogrammed pillows, linens, custom fabrics for the sofa and coffee table, headboard, and dust ruffles. Handmade murals and removable wallpaper. High-quality lighting equipment that replaces fluorescent lights. Real wood sheds, shelves and cabinets custom made to fit your room.
When Leslie Luckman started her freshman year at the University of Mississippi, where in-state tuition is $9,400, she was surprised by her dorm room. She said it was “completely impossible to live in.”
So this year, Rachman, 18, partnered with Essentials with Eden, an interior design firm that specializes in dorm rooms. Lutchman and her roommates spent about $3,000 on a design firm to create a New York City-style dorm room with a modern look and a touch of Southern charm. This included lamps, custom cabinetry, lettering above the bed, and curtains in shades of pink, blue, and green with gold accents.
“I leave the door open with great pride and confidence,” Lachman said.
Eden Bowen Montgomery, founder and owner of Essentials with Eden, came up with the idea for a dorm-focused design company after her freshman year at Ole Miss University. By the time she graduates in 2021 with a degree in integrated marketing communications, Montgomery has already started her own business.
This year, her dormitory has more than 200 customers and a need for 25 seasonal employees. Full-service costs about $10,000 per room ($5,000 per student), and Montgomery and her team must arrive on move-in day and assemble the room from scratch. Montgomery charges $100 for an initial consultation, during which the young women (mostly young women) explore fabric options and discuss their goals for their dorm rooms. Most students are looking for custom bedding and curtains, stylish cabinetry to hide the mini-fridge or microwave, wallpaper, and a matching headboard. But some people have even higher expectations.
In a rare case, Joyce Houston, lead interior designer and co-founder of New York’s Decorilla, works with male clients (her dorm clients are also often female) and he requested that his room be converted into a bedroom. Amazon rainforest.
“He wanted a living wall, a water system and everything else,” Houston said. “After many meetings, sharing ideas, and setting expectations, we agreed on a gorgeous plan. Add some plants, a breathtaking mural, and a funky hanging chair. I did.”
Houston’s design packages vary, but flat rooms range in price from $549 to $1,849, which includes a concept, 3D rendering, custom floor plan and shopping list.
This lofty dorm room trend started to take off after the coronavirus pandemic when students realized how important it is to feel happy and comfortable in their own spaces. TikTok and Instagram further reinforced this trend, with students sharing before-and-after photos of their dormitory makeovers.
Lachman proudly explains that her dorm TikTok went viral, while University of Alabama freshman Sadie Perkins, 18, said her designer dorm room, complete with matching desk hutch, pillows, lamps and decorations, He said he received about 200 compliments. Like on TikTok!
Mississippi interior designer Dawn Thomas is one of the leaders in the luxury dorm room trend, which she started about 20 years ago when her daughters were in college. Every year, she and her three helpers arrive at the dorms on move-in day and set up room after room, each taking three hours to complete. However, Thomas’ alma mater, Ole Miss, which is one of the schools most desired to have indoor dormitories, faces several challenges.
“We had to wait two hours to get our stuff into the elevator, so we had the moving team carry everything up nine flights of stairs,” Thomas said.
Montgomery agreed, adding that the technical aspects of moving day are the biggest challenge of the job. Most of her students come from Ole Miss or surrounding schools and all have the same transfer date. This year, she completed 12 complete installations, taking 12-hour days to make them happen.
Surprisingly, some parents (or students themselves) are still DIYing their dorms with some success.
Edith Gomero’s son arrived at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with clothes, some posters and a cork board. Gomero, who lives in Oak Park, Illinois, bought the items at Target and Marshalls.
“He didn’t want exposed walls, but he also didn’t want extra pillows on the bed,” Gomero said of her son. My son is happy that he was able to get a relatively empty dormitory room.
Angela Hogan, design director at Ashton Woods Homes in Georgia, says people looking to build their own dormitory should start with the mattress. Hogan said you can add at least a 2-inch mattress pad and a few types of high-quality sheets to mix and match to make it look like an intentional design.
Most dorms don’t have table or bedside lamps, so it’s helpful to have a few that can be clipped to your bed or shelf. Elevating your bed with risers will give you more storage space, but you’ll probably want to bring a step stool (or better yet, a step stool with storage) to make getting on and off easier.
Complete the look by placing a toiletry closet organizer above the door and adding a rug, Hogan says. If you want to be extravagant, Hogan said, buy a few tension rods at Target or Amazon to use as curtains to cover open closets or windows.
Overwhelmed? Are you a high school senior? Interior designers who specialize in dormitories said they have already received applications and reservation fees for fall 2025 dormitories.
