Final Dorm Room Design & Empty Nest! - The Painted Chandelier

A few months ago, we moved our youngest son into his dorm spacious apartment at Kennesaw State University. I don’t know about y’all, but back in “the glory days,” (my college years) we had a small dorm room with twin beds, a desk, closet, and vanity. AND we hiked it down the hall to the community bathrooms to shower, etc. These new style dorm apartments come with either 2x2s, 3x3s, or 4x4s, meaning the number of bedrooms and baths for each student.

Our oldest son lived in a traditional style dorm his Freshman and Sophomore years then moved to an off campus apartment; our middle son lived in a 3×3 his Freshman year and is now in an apartment off campus living with the same roommate/friends, and our youngest is living in a 4×4 dorm style apartment on campus his Freshman year with some high school friends, plus a new guy that got assigned to live with them (which btw worked out very good-he’s a great guy!)

All these new spaces, necessities and decor can add up quickly, so we had the guys divvy up who would take which spaces and come up with some ideas of things they liked (colors, styles, artwork, etc) I made a few idea boards with different items and they gave feedback as to what they liked, didn’t like, etc.

With all 3 sons, I have tried to come up with a few good investment items they really like and would be proud to use throughout college and possibly into their first post-college apartments. Things like good art, lamps, rugs, throw pillows, office chairs, and bedding. It’s a little different if it’s an old school style dorm, but even then, I invested in some nice European Star Wars Storm Trooper art for our oldest which still hangs in his apartment and is quite the conversation piece! I don’t keep buying all new items each year, so the idea is to buy good, classic pieces that are timeless to last at least the 4 years. (any longer is just a nice bonus!)

I’ll share the idea boards first, and then links and some after photos so as not to make the post too long, but will hopefully give you a starting point with some ideas/resources if you’re about to have kids in college.

Each guy has his own bed/bathroom, them they share a Living Room, Kitchen, and Laundry Room. Pret-ty sweet, huh?

A few dismal “befores….” ( especially so because I forgot my Canon and had to just use my iphone in this dimly lit space! I trust you’ll forgive 😉 )

And a few more hopeful “afters….”

Our youngest son and his roommates are all doing really great and adjusting well to the College Life! Our middle son is also at KSU and is a sophomore this year, while our oldest son is a Senior at UNG. I think our boys thought we were going to be really sad and depressed when they all left for college and Mark and I were finally Empty Nesters, but turns out we’re handling it just fine! I’ve been able to go on a few business trips with Mark, which have been so much fun. Besides, who has time to be sad when you’re busy raising 2 wild German Shorthaired puppies?!! We do love them but man, they are ACTIVE!

Saw this while dorm room shopping and had a good chuckle…..