Many prospective college students and their families are embracing a trend of creating luxurious, custom dorm rooms, including wallpaper, luxury linens, bed skirts, curtains, framed art, and even registries for gifts. Parents sometimes spend $5,000–$10,000 assembling these rooms. Proponents suggest that cozier, personalized rooms may reduce homesickness. Critics question whether such outfitting replaces traditional rites of passage and whether it creates inequality among students who cannot afford similar comforts. The trend raises questions about what families hope to accomplish—comfort, continuity with a luxurious home environment, or easing the separation process inherent in leaving for college.
Evidently, there is a TikTok trend where people post photos of luxe dorm rooms. And evidently, kids heading off to college soon see these and want them. Or, some kids do. According to The Washington Post, some almost college students are having their dorm rooms wallpapered; they are getting luxury linens, bed skirts, curtains, and framed wall art. And, once they arrive at college, their parents spend hours putting these rooms together.
Some families are even creating registries so that friends and relatives can give luxury items for the dorm room in advance. What happened to posters put up with tape and sheets and a comforter you didn't have to worry about? Or, for my generation, an old camp blanket, the worst sheets in the house, and a trunk for the rest of your stuff? Not anymore.
Some parents are spending $5,000 to $10,000. So, I wonder... what does this trend mean? What is it kids are looking for when they insist on outfitting their rooms this way? And how do the kids who can't afford these luxuries feel when they see these rooms? This leads to a related question: What are kids and parents trying to accomplish with these rooms?
One designer suggested that custom outfitted rooms would be cozier and prevent homesickness. Let's reflect. The idea that the nicer the dorm room is, the less a teen will miss home is interesting. Is it the comfort of home, or even the luxury of home (when they come from luxurious homes), that kids miss when they go to college? Well, perhaps this is some of what they miss.
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