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Male dorm room made in pastel colors and decorated with posters, fully equipped with gadgets and personal items.
Chances are, if you’ve gone back to your college campus in recent years after a number of years away, you’ve noticed that things aren’t exactly the way you remember them.
Gone are the days of having to put a box fan in the window to cool down your dorm room, and dingy apartments have now been swapped out for luxury units that almost all have private gyms, pools, and any other amenity you could think of.
The latest trend for college life, however, may have just taken things a step too far.
College Students Pay $20,000 For Dorm Room Interior Designer
If you’re anything like me, your college dorm room or apartment wasn’t exactly the most high-class living quarters. It probably had a big TV, a number of empty alcohol bottles, and maybe some posters of your favorite movie or musicians.
Sure, female dorms and apartments tend to have a little more design thought behind them. But even then, it was nothing like what you’d see in a home.
Now that’s all changing.
@marymargaretdesignsdorm My favorite part of any job is getting to see my clients react to their new space. And I adore watching my moms excitement for this new chapter in life!!! @Premier Fabrics Ridgeland,MS @SleepyheadUSA @Amanda Ray Foxx Art @Elaina Baugh #dorm #dormlife #bamarush #bamarushtok
The latest trend among college students, particularly in the South, is to hire an interior designer to style their rooms before moving in for the semester.
Think that sounds ridiculous? Wait until you find out how much they’re paying to do so.
Shelly Gates, who handles the styling for Mary Margaret Design, charges $20,000 to style a room (which does at least include purchase and installation of any furnishings and bedding, etc.)
She reportedly designs anywhere between 15 and 20 dorms per year, and her TikTok channel has nearly 26,000 followers.
As you can imagine, most people found the idea absolutely insane.
“Between this, the graduation parties, and just about everything else, their coming-of-age experience feels lightyears away. But this is definitely what my friends at other schools pictured High Point to be, even way back when,” one person posted on X.
“So mom & dad just wasted $20K on a dorm makeover she won’t need when she moves into a sorority house next term,” said another.
What do you think? Fair game, or way over the top? Let us know in the comments below!