In defense of not decorating
“Your dorm room looks like a mental asylum” is a thing that people irl feel way too comfortable saying to me.
It’s true, I don’t decorate my dorm. My room at home has plenty of posters, but when did we decide it was a necessity to pack a bunch of posters (which you somehow have to avoid getting creased in transit), drag them halfway across the country, put them up, and then 9 months later take them all back down, repack them, and bring them home to start the cycle over again? In an environment where they can fine me $100 for scratching the paint, which is literally the thinnest, crappiest paint ever. It’s like the consistency of white-out. I’ve seen fingernail polish that was more durable.
The more stuff you bring, the longer it takes to unpack when you arrive and repack when you leave. And considering that move-out and finals are the same week, you don’t want to be spending any more time packing than you absolutely have to. I’m not a minimalist by any definition, but I definitely don’t bring anything more than the bare minimum for this reason. When it’s time to unpack, I just cram all my clothes into the dresser and dump everything else into the desk drawers. When it’s time to repack, I just cram everything back into the suitcases. This is also why I try not to buy anything during the school year. Having to run around looking for extra storage bins two days before move-out is stressful enough when I’m doing it on behalf of someone else. Plus I don’t store anything on campus, so I have the extra constraint of everything having to fit in my car.
“Oh well, you can just buy decorations and get rid of them at the end of the year”. Do you hear yourself? Why would I do something wasteful just because someone else thinks my room is depressing?
Yeah, anyway I deeply relate to the people on r/maleLivingSpace. If all you need in life is a beanbag and a flatscreen TV, you have it made. Decorations are overrated.