Dorm View: A Window into Reedie Rooms
Moving away from home for the first time is something that everyone grapples with and confronts differently. While there are many important parts of this process, a major aspect is being able to have the freedom to make your new space your very own. As someone who recently moved away from home for the first time living amongst many friends and peers experiencing the same thing, I’ve found that a lot of time is spent thinking about things: what important items you want to take from home, how to decorate your room, what to put on display, whether or not you want a roommate or pets, and how to mold your space in order to fit your personality. The answers to these questions translate into our spaces and allow us to feel at home in a place that seemed so foreign to us at one point.
Inspired by Adrienne Salingers In My Room, a photo series of teenage bedrooms from the 90s, I wanted to take a look into Reedies’ dorm rooms and see how they expressed themselves through their personal spaces.
Here is a glance into some of the most individual spaces of our very own Reedies;
Left to right; Upper row: (1) Lee, 19, Richmond, California, (2) Natalie (and Magic), 18, Washington, D.C., (3) River, 19, Boulder, Colorado. Bottom row: (4) Romina, 18, Durham, North Carolina, (5) Sophia, 18, State College, Pennsylvania, (6) Sophie, 18, Long Beach, California.
Taking a peek into the lives of others through their curated spaces gives us insight into who they are as people. Favorite albums and movie posters, art, plants, and keepsakes show us what influences our lives, and what we want others to know about us through our interests. Especially at a time in our lives when our spaces have an expiration date every year, there is a heightened importance to how we use them to express ourselves. Our dorms highlight what is truly special to us, and through those special belongings, they show others how we want to be perceived.
Photos by: Madeleine Voth