What’s Timeless Vs. Trendy? Comparing A Mom and Her Daughter’s Dorms, 30 Years Apart

After our youngest daughter Emily decided to attend The George Washington University in 2011, she began the joyful process of decorating her college dorm. Her move to Washington, D.C. kicked me down memory lane to my freshman dorm at Simmons University in Boston (then Simmons College), and back into the small room I shared with my high school friend Sara about seven miles from home.

I graduated in 1982, but I still remembered how I had packed for my journey into the big city by tossing my teddy bear and random stuff in milk crates after arranging my course schedule to make sure I wouldn’t miss a single episode of “General Hospital”. Meanwhile, Emily spent months cherry picking items to decorate her college dorm over 450 miles from home, liaising with her roommate Ana, a complete stranger.

A quick scan of a photograph from my college dorm reveals some of the staples of the 80’s dorm: floral comforter, stereo speakers, cassette player, stacked milk crates, posters adhered with double-sided tape with at least one corner dangling, a Caboodle with Maybelline mascara and BonneBell lip gloss, record albums, and a hideous rug. Notably absent is any hint of technology. While some of us paid to have our rotary phones activated, others had to wait in line for the hall phone. 

Although our dorm rooms were not alike, Emily and I both relished in making new friends and discovering creative ways to express ourselves. She used a laptop to create poems, and I banged away on a typewriter pretending I was Marlo Thomas on “That Girl”. All the ways to make your dorm your home may change over time for college students, but certain things also never go out of style.

Emily and I may share some of our taste in things like Marimekko’s Unikko pillows with jumbo poppies, board games like Scrabble, and certain books. But dorm life—and life in general—was just really different for us. Here are a few examples:

My college friends and I gathered around a small TV to watch our soap opera every afternoon at the same time. Not only could we not record the show, we had to sit through commercials. Watching shows was more immediate and tailored and less of a social experience for Emily—Netflix, which became big her junior year in 2014, offers infinite TV shows and movies to watch on her small personal laptop. 

My college fridge was stocked with Tab, Fresca, Sprite, and bottles of cheap wine. Emily stocks her fridge with Diet Coke, Poland Spring Water, bottles of Pinot Noir, Barbera and Zinfandel she learned about during her semester abroad. She’s been exposed to so many more options than our generation was and has the taste to prove it! 

While I banged out essays on my typewriter, Emily uses her laptop to create her masterpieces. A simple backspace will do for editing for Emily, while I used white-out or dramatically tore up endless pieces of typewriter paper. Her rewrites are easier, but maybe we learned to be more careful to begin with? Or maybe we just wasted a lot of time. 

My friends and I spent many days lying on our college beds listening to the sound of James Taylor and Carole King through our ginormous speakers. It makes me happy that Emily used her parents records and album covers to decorate her dorm walls. This is the generation that loves #TBT after all. 

In fact, there are a few other notable similarities between her dorm life and mine. Road-tested dorm decor manages to remain a constant. Here are the things that both Emily and I packed our freshman year:

Because if there is any universal expectation, it’s that shower stalls are communal and slightly gross. This is a “trend” that I’d love to see on its way out any moment here.

It’s a timeless fact: You can’t always bring the laundry home to your parents. 

Because one truth persists: Cheap wall art that expresses who you and what you’re passionate about—and that helps your bond with your new dormmates—will always be in style. 

Yes, today’s college students can scroll through hundreds of family photos on their phone, but there’s something extra special about leafing through a tangible, curated book of family moments. 

It always has been, and always will be, the only way to get through finals. 

Music will always be in order for heartbreaks, hanging out, and homework. And a timeless dorm practice will always be to respectfully play it as loud as you can get away with.

Doodling and dreaming may not be on the college course list, but a college journal will always be a safe place for expression and something you’ll want to look back on.

Want more dorm ideas, inspiration, and stories? Head over to Dorm Therapy HQ!