Decorating Budgets Stress College Seniors

Opening that college letter and seeing the words “Congratulations!” on the top is the first realization for seniors that their normal bedroom room will soon be transformed into half the size when they reside in a dorm room.

“$45 bed sheets, $12 hangers, $88 storage, $500 later and you have yourself the essentials for living on your own for the next 10 months,” Lindsay Sherman says. Sherman is a 2014 Arrowhead High School graduate, and a current sophomore at the University Eau Claire.

According to USA Today’s article, “Costly college prerequisite: Decorate dorm,” new freshmen spend the most on college dorm room items, averaging to $1,200.

For college dorm room ideas and essentials, some students head towards their local Target, Kohl’s, and Bed Bath & Beyond stores. This shopping occurs usually from mid August to early September.

“Target had most of the things I needed for my dorm. They had the styles I liked and a lot of items for storage and organization. I splurged on a few items, though. I headed towards Urban Outfitters new dorm room line. It’s expensive but I purchased a few items that will really make my dorm stand out from others,” says Deme Haros, an Arrowhead 2014 graduate, currently attending The University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a sophomore.

There are then options like Urban Outfitters and PB Teen. They do cost more, but can provide college students living in these dorms with more unique and different styles than what students will find in Target or Kohl’s.

But if you’re willing to make your dorm room look like the cover of PB Teen magazine, it’s going to come with a steep price. For example,  according to the PB Teen and Target website, the Target, ClosetMaid Cube Storage Fabric Bin storage is priced at $5 to  $11 and the PB Teen Basic Underbed Bin storage, costs from $30 to $39.

“I think I’m going to head to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond for the basics of my dorm room stuff, but for when it comes to getting things that will give it a lot of character, I’m considering heading to Urban Outfitters,” says AHS senior Lauren Goetz.

Arrowhead seniors, Maddie Hemmer and Kyla Edwards, say they are now starting to think about dorm rooms and housing as they have received acceptance letters in the mail.

“I didn’t even think that this was something I should start looking at right now, but now that I’ve been getting a few acceptance letters, I’ve noticed that this is really happening, and fast, so I need to start preparing,” says Edwards.

Senior Lindsay Bertram says, “I think to me, one of the most exciting parts about going to college is picking out all your dorm room accessories. You can start fresh on patterns and colors and it’s fun to pick through all the options.”

“I’m actually really nervous when even thinking about my dorm room and housing. But the biggest thing is money. It’s going to be ridiculous. Yes, I want my room to look awesome, but my sister spent over $600 on dorm room stuff and that’s just crazy to think about when you already have the cost of tuition,” says Arrowhead High school senior, Cassidy Valade.

According to USA Today’s article, Costly college prerequisite: Decorate dorm, new freshmen spend the most on college dorm room items, averaging to $1,200.

Students can head over to YouTube.com, and to account, How To: Live Your Style, and find DIY tutorials on things for bedrooms and home decor. Sharrah Robeson recently posted a video for specificlly dorm room decor, linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g_52zeGbKE.

Turning to DIY for home and room decor, could save students money instead of paying full price at a store. SmartCents’s article, “13 Cheap and Easy DIY Dorm Decor Ideas”, proves this by showing you multiple DIYS. Click the link to see their money saving ideas for dorm room decorations: http://smartycents.com/articles/13-diy-dorm-decor-ideas/.

Some of the DIY projects posted in the SmartCents article are items that look similar to items on Urban Outfitters. For example, SmartCents’s article showed a DIY called, “Pretty Painted Wall Art.” It looks fairly similar to Urban Outfitters, “Letters On Love Why Hello Art Print.” A difference is that SmartyCents’s price lies at $40 while Urban Outfitters is $90.

Beginning August 27th of 2016, The University of Milwaukee and The University of Madison, will have their official move in days.