The first hurdle freshmen in the dorms tackle is arranging three twin XL beds, desks, chairs, and dressers

Twin XL beds, desks, desk chairs, dressers and endless arrangement possibilities are presented to students upon their arrival to Chapman. Although Residence Life and First Year Experience (RLFYE) have the furniture arranged in a random configuration, students are allowed to configure the room to best fit their needs. It is a subjective decision-making process that requires collective creativity to create a functional and comfortable space for everyone. 

After conversations, trial and error, and observing what others had done with their dorm spaces, my roommates and I finally decided on a layout. What worked best for the three of us was having an “L” shape configuration of the beds. With our desks adjacent to our beds, it created sections of space that could function as our own.

Dividing the room into sections this way gave each of us our own area to keep our belongings in without being in each others’ way. What ended up being effective was creating individual and personalized spaces within the tiny room that we all shared. 

To maximize the storage space in the space in the room, students can either opt to loft their beds or put their dresser under their bed to create more space along the walls or middle area of the room. Others may decide to convert to bunk beds to further maximize floor space.

Jordan Lebowitz and Jimmy Farley are freshmen business majors living in Henley Hall who took up the challenge of redesigning the RLYFE configuration.

On move-in day all three beds were positioned vertically next to each other and their heads would touch the wall, which made the room feel small.

Currently Lebowitz’s room consists of three beds in an “L” formation against two walls. Two beds are positioned against the left wall and the third bed is vertical to make the bottom of the “L” along the end of the wall in the corner. Two desks are placed back to back in the middle of the room to form an island. The third desk is against the right wall by the bathroom door and their dressers are located under their lofted beds

Farley and his roommates decided to use bunk beds to optimize the space, which allowed them to fit a couch they found on Craigslist. Along the right wall is the bunk bed with a desk at the end, which Farley uses to climb up to the top bunk. The third bed is positioned in the corner of the front and right wall and their dressers are located in their closet. A desk is used as a television stand.

“It’s open and I like to have a lot of friends over all the time, so this is the best setup for everyone,” Farley said. “You can sit on the bed, the couch, you can entertain and all hang out.”