Although dorm rooms are usually associated with cinder blocks and old scratched-up furniture, they have as much potential for coolness as any other small space. But what about school rules, you say? You can't paint, you can't put a bunch of holes in the wall, and you're pretty much stuck with the room you get. Maybe so, but that hasn't stopped design-minded students from making the most of their rooms.
- Tim created a cozy hang-out space by adding artwork and rugs. He also moved out some of the the standard-issue furniture and replaced it with a few affordable pieces of his own choosing.
- Tim used an IKEA shelf, a corner hutch, and an armchair to form a comfortable reading nook.
- Sara and Rogan aren't your average dorm dwellers. They live in one of NYU's models for sustainable housing, created from four rooms combined into one space.
- Baker House, an MIT dorm designed by Alvar Aalto, is one of the smallest coolest university buildings we've seen.
- Aaron's room is a student rental that he transformed using a loft bed, a cool tech setup, and some well-chosen artwork.
- A dorm in a Zen Buddhist building keeps it simple with white bedding, wood furniture, and lots of light.
- Rachel dressed up her dorm room by adding curtains, a rug, and some colorful pillows.
- A sconce above the bed adds style and function to Erin's student room in Harlem.
- At the Rhode Island School of Design, professors helped to design functional, streamlined furniture for the student dorms.
- The RISD rooms show how a simple palette and clean-lined furniture can make a dorm room feel very modern.
Photos: Tim, Liz Vidyarthi, Phillip Greenspun, Aaron Francis, Zen Buddhist Student, Rachel, Erin, RISD
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Where was #3 when I went to NYU? My dorm looked like a prison cell. A very, very small prison cell.
cinder blocks and scratched-up furniture that was bolted to the wall... those were my college surroundings. oh, that AT was around a decade ago to help me out...
I have a small cool dorm, too! Also at NYU, but nothing like photo #3... they don't make those for freshman, that's for sure.
Check it out:
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And here: http://manhattannest.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/dsc_0017.jpg
Sometimes it's not even the cinder blocks and shitty furniture -- it's the dim lighting and 1 small window. I spent four months in student housing when I was enrolled in a summer program. I did it to save some money, but in retrospect, it wasn't worth it. I was accustomed to living with my roommate in a well-lit 2-bedroom apartment, and it was a big adjustment.
Does anyone know the origins of that artwork in the first picture? I love it.
Is it just me, or do the photos seem out of order with captions?
If only I was so lucky to have hardwood floors instead of stained, disgusting, moldy, 30-year old carpeting.
And if only I had beautiful exposed brick - or even just some drywall! - instead of cinderblocks with peeling beige paint and plywood painted poop brown.
And if only my built-in desk was made of shiny, new maple instead of a 30-year old, poop brown (getting a theme here?), chipped, scratched, stained, carved-up, graffiti-ed, paint-splattered, laminate-topped monstrosity.
But we can't all be so lucky can we?
These "dorms" are amazing. The zen-like apartment is so beautifully decorated! Unfortunately, the dorms at the Univ. of Maryland are nothing like these dorms. But then again there is a difference between a traditional (prison cell) dorm and campus apartments & suites. Either way, we pay so much to live in matchbox sized spaces. lol!
wow, my dorm was nothing like this. :) grubby gray tiles; prohibited to hang anything on the walls (fire hazard); florescent light; peeling paint...
i really like #1, #2, and #8.
I have always been a huge fan of this dorm room on Saucy Dwellings. It's definitely a normal dorm, but her wall treatment is absolutely incredible.
Happy Tape would also give students w/ non-cinderblock walls some interesting options. More here
I'm all about seeing pretty dorm rooms, AT, but please please please show some of the terrible ones and what you can do with them!
When I went to the U of R, I had the same exact desk as in picture 1.
Oh, and NO dorm room has a kitchen. yeah right! Most of these places are apartments or campus apts, and that doesn't count.
That top bunk in #5 is VERY close the the ceiling. I feel short of breath just looking at the picture.
People, just give up on any dorm post - they are never actual normal dorm rooms. They are always singles or apartments.
Wow. Wish my dorm room was that nice. Mine was a 1940's building with a radiator that was ALWAYS on (with no A/C), a wall of window above the radiator and cinder block walls with a weird popcorn (rumored asbestos) ceiling with rounded square indentions? It was the largest room on campus though!
Is it just me or do only the 1st and last ones look like dorms?
As a current dorm-liver I must say those students have luxurious living situations in comparison. Imagine all of your furniture is peeling and 60 years old (same age as the building), you can't move it out and you have no room to add your own. Imagine cinder block walls with mold growing in hidden places if you don't pay attention. No closets--just built in cabinet things to store your stuff. Brownishgreyish linoleum tiles with a few green ones mixed in because some broke and had to be replaced. Throw in a roommate with bad decorating sense. This is what happens to the academic scholarship kids.
PS fluorescent lighting. :|