In Refinery29's Sweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women. Today, Sydney and Reygen share what a two-bed dorm room looks like in Texas State University.
appearance by Reygen Thompson; appearance by Sydney Walters.
Reygen and Sydney knew that they were destined to be best friends from the moment they bonded over the Jonas Brothers in the second grade. Their senior year of high school, they spent the one class they had together looking through Pinterest for dorm room inspiration.
Their two-bed dorm room in Texas State University’s Butler Hall costs them £2,260 a semester. Reygen admits, “I feel like it’s a lot but I don’t know how much it costs to live in the real world.” Their dorm is close to the river, their classrooms, and the campus square. The RA’s are nice, there’s a ping pong table, and the hall hosts community nights that give the girls a chance to meet their peers.
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But dorm life is dorm life: “Compared to my room back home this room is about half the size so it was definitely a really hard transition moving in with another person,” Reygen says. With the help of chalk and some measuring tape, Sydney and Reygen drew out the dorm’s floor plan on Sydney’s driveway. Using the measurements of all the furniture and items they planned on having in their room, they drew out the layout and made sure everything fit. Reygen adds: “It was a bit shocking that the whole dorm could actually just fit in your driveway.” They share four toilets, four showers, and four sinks with about 50 other girls.
How big is your place? And how do you guys deal with living in such close quarters?
Sydney: It’s 130 square feet. My room at home is bigger than this room and I’d never shared a room with anyone, so learning to share a room and be considerate of what I’m doing was a learning curve. Like, do I change here or do I go to the bathroom? I have to be mindful.
Sydney: It’s 130 square feet. My room at home is bigger than this room and I’d never shared a room with anyone, so learning to share a room and be considerate of what I’m doing was a learning curve. Like, do I change here or do I go to the bathroom? I have to be mindful.
I’m not bothered by my dirty dishes overnight, but she might be. If we leave anything in the kitchen it will get thrown away.
What’s the most expensive thing in your apartment? Your splurge?
Reygen: We have a Persian rug, a handwoven Persian rug that’s the most expensive in value but we got it at a garage sale for $20 (£16.54).
Reygen: We have a Persian rug, a handwoven Persian rug that’s the most expensive in value but we got it at a garage sale for $20 (£16.54).
Sydney: We just knew that we were going to make it our own and make it not feel like a dorm. When we Googled our dorm online they just didn’t look inviting or comfy or like a home, this is where we are going to be sleeping and we want to be comfortable.
Reygen: I knew I would be spending a lot of time in this room and we looked for design inspiration from social media influencers we follow on Instagram.
Where do you shop for home decor and furniture?
Reygen: We shop mainly together. All of our purchases, we put stuff we liked in a cart and took it to the cashier and split it 50/50. I love Target, HomeGoods. I like to thrift a lot of stuff; sustainability! We also got a lot of stuff from home goods and the Container Store, and a lot from World Market.
Reygen: We shop mainly together. All of our purchases, we put stuff we liked in a cart and took it to the cashier and split it 50/50. I love Target, HomeGoods. I like to thrift a lot of stuff; sustainability! We also got a lot of stuff from home goods and the Container Store, and a lot from World Market.