This Fall, for the first time since I can remember I won’t be going back to school. And, for the first time in eight years I won’t be moving into a dorm room. One of my favorite parts about going back to school has always been decorating my room. I loved creating a little oasis filled with my favorite artwork, pictures, hats and mementos that could bring me joy even on the bleakest winter day. I’ve come to view one’s dorm room as a type of self-portrait. The configuration, style, and décor of each little shoebox room on a hall is so different and acts as a reflection of its inhabitant. I love seeing how people put together their little home away from home.
Over the course of my eight years moving in and out of dorms, I’ve accumulated items that I’ve grown attached to and that became my dorm room staples while others were thrown away or replaced the following year. My room this past year was one of my favorites, but it took me eight years to get it to that stage.
At 15 years old, I moved back from Switzerland with my parents after completing middle school there. I was so excited to be coming home and eager to start boarding school. I did not know what to expect, what to bring, and had never seen the inside of a typical girl’s dorm room. My only insight into life in a dorm room was from visits to my older brothers’ rooms which were decorated with movie posters and sports memorabilia. Their advice was to get some posters.
On the walls of my freshman year room at Deerfield hung two posters. One was my favorite Salvador Dali painting, “Meditative Rose”, and the other, my favorite movie at the time, Bridesmaids. What a combo. The two posters in juxtaposition pretty much summed me up: nerd with an okay sense of humor.
Starting at Deerfield after living abroad for a few years was a culture shock. I felt out of place, behind, and clueless to what was considered “cool” and “popular”. I quickly learned that in order to fit in, one needed Roberta Roller Rabbit bedding, shin splints from wearing Jack Rogers, blisters from Frye boots, a Barbour jacket, and other such items.
I vividly remember sitting at my desk in my room on Mac 2 freshman year during study hall, when the senior squash captain decided to pay me a visit. She was quite possibly one of the most intimidating people I have ever met. She said hi, walked into my room, sat down on my bed, and just stared at my posters. “Those are… nice.” In this moment, I most definitely broke out in my signature splotchy red rash which I get when I’m embarrassed, nervous, flustered, or have been drinking cheap alcohol.
The next year, I put in a little more effort into my room decoration. The Salvador Dali poster was thrown away. But, I kept Bridesmaids up. I stand by that being one of the funniest movies ever. I hung my favorite pictures from that summer in matching white frames which stayed with me for the long haul until they were shipped back from Dartmouth a few weeks ago broken. I eventually conformed and got a Roberta Roller Rabbit (actually though, what type of name is that) quilt, which I now plan on reusing in Ody. I doubt Roberta ever thought their bedding would be used in a van, so that makes me laugh. And, by the time I got to college I was a pro at moving into dorms, I knew what I needed and had mastered my set up.
Though a part of me over the years wanted to fit in, have what was considered popular, and have a room that looked cool, I learned that I can create a space that is still a reflection of me and what I like without conforming to some type of mold. Though the Salvador Dali and Bridesmaids posters were no longer featured in my room, I’m still that girl, the nerd with an okay sense of humor.
My favorite addition to my room this past year was hanging my own Ablaz Design Co. prints. Waking up to those in the morning brought me so much joy. I prided myself on having a room friends liked hanging out in and that when new people came in, looked around, and asked about different things, didn’t turn me splotchy red.
Over the past eight years, I grew to love curating my space, and it’s one of the stages I’m looking forward to most about my van build- turning the inside of Ody into my home. I’m excited to decorate, but I also plan on leaving space for things I find along the way. One of my favorite things is collecting art from places I visit. I envision the inside of Ody as being an ongoing portrait of where I’ve been and changing over time, just like my dorm rooms.
Many of my friends and peers have upgraded their square footage and are experiencing the excitement of moving into and decorating new apartments. And, though I might not be moving back into a dorm room this fall, I’m excited for my new little shoebox home. The past eight years have trained me well for tiny-home living.
ABLAZ 