Dorm room decorating, once an expression of personal style, has become a unique business that continues to grow through social media trends. Parents and students boast the extravagant decor they spend months planning and purchasing to create a perfectly curated dorm room, encouraging viewers to add items to their wish lists.
While this may seem like a harmless trend aimed at students looking for decor inspiration, it has serious implications for students and families’ mental health and finances.
Shoppers are expected to spend $88.8 billion on college supplies as the new semester approaches, according to The New York Times. A significant portion of this money is poured into essentials that are required for dorm living, but unnecessary decorative items like press-on wallpaper, furniture covers, custom neon signs and complex storage systems have quickly dominated online spaces.
While this extravagance certainly is not the norm on most college campuses, the popularity of dorm makeover videos on TikTok causes students and parents to feel pressured to fit the aesthetics that seem to be expected of them.
These trends are made popular by influencers who post content promoting their impeccable style and justification of thousands of dollars spent on a tiny room for TikTok fame. This can range from designers such as Lara Becker who create complete model dorm rooms for clients to college transition support group leaders, according to the NYT. This includes the Facebook group Dorm Room Mamas which has 240,000 members looking to create the perfect space for their child, according to The Cut.
Viral parents turned amateur designers have a loud voice in these online spaces, but established interior designers shifting their focus to college students are also present. These design firms — such as Design Alchemy headed by Deborah Costa — work to establish a home-like comfort within their upscale designs, according to The Washington Post. Design Alchemy typically charges $2,500 for the design and $3,500 on materials for a standard dorm room.
These social-media-curated expectations can have a negative impact on both students and parents planning for college. Room decor can be used as a point of connection for students as posters may express favorite movies and colors can set the room’s mood, but decor also allows others to make a quick judgement of one’s financial situation and personality.
Former resident assistant at the University of Georgia Hazel Tugbiyele explained to The Washington Post that the decor students are financially able to bring to their dorm room is a signifier of their future friend groups. Tugbiyele stated that students in her residence hall who decorated extravagantly often did not interact with those who did not.
Knowing this, incoming students who constantly see TikTok videos flaunting these styles may begin comparing their plans to those of influencers. This comparison creates an entirely new challenge for students anticipating the start of college.
It is not a secret that social media can easily impact mental health. When one perceives an influencer to be “doing better in life” or another student as “doing worse” this can be harmful for the self-esteem of every individual involved, according to a study by the University of Florida. This comparison quickly creates a toxic environment where someone’s self-perceptions are only relevant when contrasted with others.
Within the context of dorm decorating, this can make students and families competitive with their purchasing as they believe they must establish their place in this complicated intersection of style and finances. Parents wish to prove that their student is loved and prepared to take on a new challenge while students hope to curate the perfect space.
This could include all of the 16 pages of Amazon-linked “essentials” that Dorm Room Mamas has curated, according to The Cut.
What is not posted on social media is the financial ability of these families to make the decision to hire a designer or follow an elaborate checklist. Parents must work to prevent normalization of this decorative pattern for themselves and their child to avoid the perception that parental care is synonymous with the amount of money they spend.
While students should strive to feel comfortable in their new living space, this can be done without outside pressures of what that comfort looks like and the stress of spending thousands on a room that will only be used for a year on many campuses.
For many, a perfectly matching pastel room decorated with generic prints and elaborate coffee stations feels sterile and simply expensive rather than home-like. Students should instead spend their time and money on items that hold value to them. This includes bringing items from home, thrifting unique pieces and using their DIY craft skills to brighten up the space while reducing cost.
While this decor may not create a viral TikTok or follow the thousand-dollar advice of dorm decorators, it will certainly hold value for students easing into the transition to college and remind them to be authentic.
