Entertainment
Tuition: $9,400. Dorm Room Interior Designer: $10,000?
Some students arrive on campus expecting certain comforts. And they, or their parents, are willing to pay thousands to settle in.
For some students, the days of racing to Bed Bath & Beyond the day before college starts, clutching a 20-percent-off coupon to snag a colorful crate and a snap-on desk lamp, are long gone.
Today, a waveof undergraduates — especially in the southern states — are hiring interior designers to completely makeover their dorm rooms at a cost of thousands of dollars per room.
And the students are spending nearly double the amount they did just a decade ago, even if they don’t arrive on move-in day with a professional designer by their sides. This year, according to the National Retail Federation, college students spent about $87 billion, a drop from the high of $94 billion last year, but significantly more than the $48 billion they spent in 2014. This equates to an average of $1,365 per student, the group reports.
“We’re moving away from Ikea, and getting the opposite of fast furniture,” said Ginger Curtis, the founder of Urbanology Designs, a high-end Dallas-based interior design space that works with students preparing to go to college.
She said she can help students on a budget for $7,000 to $8,000, though the costs can grow much higher. Depending on the amount students (or really, their parents) are willing to spend, Ms. Curtis will recommend custom fabrics for the curtains, monogrammed pillows, linens, a couch and coffee table, headboard and dust ruffles; handmade murals or removable wallpaper; luxury light fixtures to replace fluorescent lights; and real wood hutches, shelves and cabinets custom-made to fit the room.
