Decorating the dorms

By Rory Sa

Students at University Courtyard know how to make themselves at home.

Everyone brings their own appliances or puts up a message board on the door. But the really creative students go above and beyond.

They have talent. They have creativity.

They have beads.

Freshmen Natalie Freita and Jaclyn Lardierri draped their front door with beads. Sophomore Cody Andrus uses beads in the doorway separating his main room from the back half of the suite.

The rooms weren’t bead-dazzled in the beginning. The rooms, from the residence suites to the community-style halls, begin each semester as barren as the arctic. Freitas and Lardierri found their new home to be barren and white, “like a hospital bed,” Freitas said.

When it came to making his suite livable, Andrus brought in his mother and sister.

“ Very trading spaces,” Andrus said.

Another common theme is the beach. Posters, photos and cutouts from calendars cover the blank spaces on the walls, with palm trees and sandy coasts. Andrus has pictures and posters of the beach throughout the main living area of his suite.

“ Me and my roommate are very into beaches,” Andrus said.

Juliet Guaglianone and Josie Stotte have a rule: if you enter their room, you can’t leave without making a photocopy of your hands. Using their personal copy machine, the two have gathered dozens of photocopied hands on their wall, each one featuring a note from their visitor.

When it comes to lighting, some students decide to bring their own lamps, rather than use the “hospital sick light,” as Guaglianone described the flourescent lights.

Guaglianone and Stotte started the moving process by reorganizing the beds. The modular beds can be changed from bunk beds to regular beds, and any combination in between. Several students moved the furniture around to suit their needs. This setup allows students to situate desks underneath the beds.

Roommates who’ve known each other for years have an advantage over those who’ve only recently met. They can coordinate their purchases and decorations, saving time and money in the process. And the best places to save money are thrift stores.

Guaglianone and Stotte said they shopped at Cost-Plus and at Salvation Army stores. They also made their own bedspreads. “Everything, total, cost us $200,” Guaglianone said.

“ We have the coolest room on the third floor (of Baker Hall),” Lardierri said.

Cynthia Dondero, the marketing and summer conference coordinator for University Courtyard, said that room decorations have improved each year.

“ I think it’s exciting and fun to see the students make their rooms be their home,” Dondero said. “I think that that’s important to have a good environment to study in and relax.”