It's back to school time, and for a whole new generation, that means packing up their butterfly chairs, Target bedding and their favourite band posters all in preparation for making a new home on campus. But before you settle in, young fresh faces of college, perhaps you might want to consider planning out how to furnish and decorate a space that will be yours to make your own for the next year (at least half of it, if you're sharing like we did)...
DesignYourDorm.com is an online tool which allows users to decorate and layout their dorm room in 3 dimensions. You can get started on a dorm room design, send it to your assigned roommate to collaborate upon before moving in, and then have it all set to decorate by move-in date with your 3D plans and checklist of items. The site's catch is that it revolves around you purchasing stuff to be delivered to your dorm, but we see this as a viable tool just to plan out a room without the worry of filling it with a predetermined selection of stuff from their data banks. Because half of the battle of decorating is having visual plans of where and how things fit in relation to one another, and DesignYourDorm.com's visual tool is helpful in this regard (though sometimes a bit slow).
Moms and dads can also use DesignYourDorm.com to send care packages, with a reference to determine whether Timmy Jr. really needs another bean bag or whether a new rug will help bring his decor altogether.
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Cool. It would be better if universities would set up something like this though as they actually have the layouts and the available pieces in specific rooms. Most freshmen have no clue as to the size and specifics of their room is before moving in.
view tarsengreen's profile
This post makes me happy to be out of college. I lived in the dorms for 4 years. :\
view witchbaby's profile
I would recommend www.floorplanner.com for a more complete floorplan and decoration, 2D and 3D view.
view techalex74's profile
If your college doesn't have online floor plans (many/most do) and/or you haven't seen your assigned room or at least one in that dorm, assume the worst. Assume a tiny tiny room with almost no ability to move furniture around and no room for extras. Top that off with probably a roommate you've never met that you have to agree with on all the set-up plans and its back to working on the fly. Just bring as little as possible the first term and fill it out after break.
I lived in 4 dorms in 4 years- a double with captains beds with about 2 feet of space between and desks on the ends blocking the closets, a double with bunks built into the wall, a nice large room with EVERYTHING built in except the chairs, and a single with a loft bed where I could touch both walls at the same time.
But I hear most new built dorms are on par with a nice hotel so even the freshmen might not be stuck in a closet.
view Faithbck's profile