50p
Turning Your Dorm into a Home
75p
One after another, Brentwood’s students enter the campus and their new lives, houses and dorm rooms. Empty walls await them, naked, like a blank canvas ready to be filled. After leaving a home with years of emotional investment, the echo is unfamiliar. At home, family portraits, drawings from when you were young, and simple scribbles latched together and composed a world of your own.
You unpack. Boxes and bags soon are hollow and your closets and drawers are stirring with potential. The walls are still hovering, towering in silence, vacant and neglected: you respond by greeting them with sticky tack and pictures. Posters soon plaster themselves against the neutral paint and dorms begin to take on a life of their own. Soon a fridge is stocked with comfort food - not necessarily healthy, but satisfying nonetheless - and this once unfurnished space transforms into a version of a new home.
The couches and carpets shortly follow the fridge, filling the room with coziness. Roommates agree upon a colour scheme or a general theme. They shop with excitement for stick-on-chalk boards or national flags and hockey jerseys are hung with pride. Whether you want more space or convenience, furniture is positioned. Each room is designed for relaxation or entertainment, but no two dorms are alike. The independence and originality of a room says much about those who reside within it. The thought and attention displayed on these walls show the effort that two - or in the case of some Alex House dorms, four - people will contribute in order to fabricate a ‘second home’ here at Brentwood.
During some of the more intellectually grueling periods (i.e. December and June exams) your dorm can be your best friend, your de-stressor, a place where you can close your door from the endless hustle and bustle of Brentwood life and unwind with some music, temporarily close your eyes and prop up your legs. Your dorm is a sanctuary!
So be crazy and get inspired! Express yourself and what matters to you. Switch up the arrangement of your furniture every once in a while. Anyone up for some interior Zen decorating? You’re here for a year so you may as well make it your own, starting with the dorm you’re living in! Be passionate, bold and daring!
You unpack. Boxes and bags soon are hollow and your closets and drawers are stirring with potential. The walls are still hovering, towering in silence, vacant and neglected: you respond by greeting them with sticky tack and pictures. Posters soon plaster themselves against the neutral paint and dorms begin to take on a life of their own. Soon a fridge is stocked with comfort food - not necessarily healthy, but satisfying nonetheless - and this once unfurnished space transforms into a version of a new home.
The couches and carpets shortly follow the fridge, filling the room with coziness. Roommates agree upon a colour scheme or a general theme. They shop with excitement for stick-on-chalk boards or national flags and hockey jerseys are hung with pride. Whether you want more space or convenience, furniture is positioned. Each room is designed for relaxation or entertainment, but no two dorms are alike. The independence and originality of a room says much about those who reside within it. The thought and attention displayed on these walls show the effort that two - or in the case of some Alex House dorms, four - people will contribute in order to fabricate a ‘second home’ here at Brentwood.
During some of the more intellectually grueling periods (i.e. December and June exams) your dorm can be your best friend, your de-stressor, a place where you can close your door from the endless hustle and bustle of Brentwood life and unwind with some music, temporarily close your eyes and prop up your legs. Your dorm is a sanctuary!
So be crazy and get inspired! Express yourself and what matters to you. Switch up the arrangement of your furniture every once in a while. Anyone up for some interior Zen decorating? You’re here for a year so you may as well make it your own, starting with the dorm you’re living in! Be passionate, bold and daring!