Dorm life can be hard. The space can be small, the walls bare, and the prospect of finding the time or resources to decorate can be daunting. However, some students have found a way to create their own home away from home.
Bed Loft – Miranda Mueller – Saylor-Ackermann
Miranda Mueller, junior psychology and criminology major, has created her own secret hideaway in her dorm by lofting her bed. Mueller sleeps on the top part of her bed loft, but beneath her mattress lies a cubby hole where Mueller stores a TV, PlayStation, comfy chair and a number of odd objects and items that make her happy. In addition to this setup, Mueller has attached a sliding curtain in front of her bed loft’s hideaway for an extra measure of privacy.
Mueller has always wanted to have a lofted bed since she was younger. She finally got her chance last year when she bought her current loft from another student.
“I was lucky that it was made by another Capital student,” Mueller said. “It conformed to the rules and regulations.”
When asked what it meant to her to have this room within her room, Mueller said, “I’m happy to have this space. It makes me feel like I have more room to express myself or put up things that mean a lot to me … The only disappointment I have with my bed loft is that I don’t have a slide to get out of it in the morning.”
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Poster – AJ Beran – Cotterman
Sophomore philosophy and political science major AJ Beran loves D&D and has a poster hanging in his room to prove it. Beran has only recently begun playing the game but received this poster as a gift from his grandparents back when he was a child.
“I got it as a birthday present … because I love mythology,” Beran said. “My grandparents are the most important people in my entire life, so the fact that they got me something [after] they talked to me and understood what I was into … made me feel really good.”
Beran prizes his poster and went out of his way to ensure he could hang it up in his dorm without breaking any of the rules.
“I’ve had that poster for years now, since I was around 10 years old,” Beran said. “It just felt natural that now [that] I’ve started playing it to bring it with me.”
Dish Washing Propaganda – David Lankitus – College Avenue Hall
David Lankitus, a junior biochemistry, chemistry and biology triple-major, has found a way to motivate his roommates to do the dishes by printing out several flyers worth of dish washing propaganda.
“I have seven roommates, and a lot of times, we’d have a lot of issues with dishes being piled up,” Lankitus said. “So, I wanted something that would inspire us … to wash the dishes more regularly.”
With PowerPoint as his program of choice, Lankitus combined a picture of one of his roommates, some Russian propaganda he found on Google Images and Russian text from Google Translate to create the flyers.
When asked about his stylistic choices, Lankitus said, “I took some Soviet Union era propaganda, and I put one of my roommates into that propaganda to really connect us … to that propaganda itself to help inspire us as a room to wash dishes.”
Lankitus has found his flyers to be quite effective and is proud of his work.
“It has very special meaning to all of us,” Lankitus said. “I’ve never felt prouder to be in this room. I’ve never felt prouder to do dishes and to do my part as a roommate. This piece is very close to my heart.”
“Get Naked” Shower Curtain – Neva Ríos – Trinity Apartments
Junior creative writing major Neva Ríos has quite the commanding shower curtain. After realizing that she would need one for her apartment for the upcoming school year, Ríos saw the shower curtain on Amazon and “was like [I] gotta have it.”
She loves her curtain because of the reactions people have when they see it and thinks that it is funny to watch how they respond.
“I think we’re very happy with our shower curtain,” said Ríos. “It’ll be with us for a long time.”
Hand-Crafted Wood Pieces – Andrew Rus – College Avenue Hall
Junior business management major Andrew Rus brought his own artwork to Capital to hang in his dorm. He crafted three pieces of wood on his own that feature the American flag, the Cleveland skyline and an outline of the state of Ohio.
“This is a project I did last summer,” Rus said. “Two summers ago, I made [a] coffee table and then [a] loft … and then I wanted to do something that was more creative … that resembles what I’m like and where I’m from.”
When asked what drove him to create the pieces, Rus said “It’s just a creative side that I’ve had. I can see something, I’ll think it’s cool, and I’ll think of ways I can improve it and make it look better.”
After being asked to give advice to other students about dorm decorating, Rus said “Be creative. Find stuff that you like, find stuff that represents you … You’re going to make a living space and live in it for a year; you might as well enjoy the stuff that’s around you. So branch out, try new things.”
