By Madison McCollum, Opinion Editor
Every fall, students can find a “college checklist” from Bed Bath & Beyond in their mailbox. The pamphlets feature categories like: bedding, storage, lighting and electronics.
Some students grab the essentials and move in. Others prefer to take it to the next level and a large number of these pinterest-board worthy rooms are located in Carrocci Hall.
Senior Regan Casey, freshman Lauren Khurt and freshman Sydney Khurt have taken their rooms to the next level.
Casey, who describes her room as “comfortable and classy,” has a room that looks fairytale-esque. She color-coordinates everything with pink and black, her favorite color combination and thinks taking your room to the next level is the key to the college experience.
“As silly as it may sound, I believe in the saying, ‘Look good; feel good’,” Casey said. “When I can come back at the end of the day to a nice, comforting room, I feel like I can de-stress and relax a lot more than if I come back to a room with plain walls that looks like a prison cell.”
Casey is all about decorating on a budget and has even created a canopy above her bed out of PVC pipe. She confesses, proudly, that it was “less than ten dollars.”
“If you look for deals online and shop at stores like the Dollar Tree, you can put a lot of small things into one big nice thing,” Casey said.
Lauren Khurt and Sydney Khurt have a very similar mindset. The twins share a room on the second floor and have a very minimalistic approach to their decoration.
White sheets for both beds, an accent pillow, hanging lantern lights and pictures of friends and family are the things that jump out.
“We live in Houston, Texas. So, we’re about nine to ten hours away,” Lauren Khurt said. “Even our mom was like ‘make sure your room feels like home to you. You can get home sick’.”
This homeyness is important to both sisters, but Sydney Khurt said a balance between minimalistic and cozy needs to be maintained.
“We wanted to make it a place that we can come in, and it just feels like personal to us and we can just chill,” Sydney Khurt said. “But we don’t want to get too cozy where we just stay here the whole time and not go out and meet people. We still try to make it our own.”
The sisters said they shopped at TJ Maxx and Homegoods for a lot of their stuff but don’t believe students have to spend hundreds to make their room impressive.
“One thing is like when you’re decorating your room you don’t always have to do big pictures and stuff. I feel like smart things that are cheaper–literally just pictures of you and your friends, means the most,” Lauren Khurt said.
Casey offers inspiration to students who think their dream dorm is out of reach.
“Don’t ever think ‘I can’t do this,’” Casey said. “Get an image or an idea and execute it. If you find a cute idea on Pinterest or online somewhere, give it a try. Patience and creativity will take you a long way.”
PHOTO: THE KHURST TWINS have made their dorm into a little piece of Texas in the middle of Kansas. Madison McCollum, Opinion Editor
