Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students have not been able to visit and admire each other’s dorm rooms and houses. Thus, Arts & Culture Editor Talia Zitner ’23 created the series “Wesleyan, Welcome to My Crib” to showcase the creativity and ingenuity of student interior design. This week, Hannah Docter-Loeb ’22 shares her rocking room on Knowles Ave.

The Common Space

Although we had one of the last picks for three-person wood frames, we got pretty lucky with the space we ended up with. We’ve decided to keep most of the University furniture as is, but we did purchase a rocking chair at Goodwill that really revolutionized the living room. We’ve designated the area above the chair as our Argus wall, given that two-thirds of the members of our house work are on the masthead (and Elle contributed a drawing!).

We have one of the few houses with a dining room area separate from the kitchen, though we have yet to realize the layout’s full potential. We did invest in some chalk wallpaper, and although we were initially nervous it wouldn’t come off and we would be fined by ResLife, it seems to be pretty easy to remove and is a fun way for guests to leave us messages.

Our kitchen is also quite spacious and required the addition of some non-Wes furniture (thank you Facebook Marketplace!). We definitely have more cabinets than we need, but that’s not a terrible problem to have. I also made my roommates get alphabet magnets, and they’ve proven to be a hit. 

The Back Porch

When we were house searching we really wanted a front porch. Unfortunately, due to our aforementioned bad lottery number, we weren’t able to pick a house with a huge front porch, but our screened-in back porch makes up for it! We’ve tried to make it super cozy and I tend to utilize it for phone calls.

My Room 

My room is one of my favorite places on campus (alongside the Argus office, of course). I’ve always been one to do schoolwork in my room (yesterday marked my first time going to Olin in two years and it was just to print something), so having a space of my own that I feel comfortable to do work in is very important to me. I like having my desk next to the window so that I can let light in—my desk lamp is purely decorative. Above my desk are posters of things that speak to my personality. There’s a weird gap in between two posters because I’m still waiting on my “ogres are like onions” poster—the Etsy lady seems to be ghosting me :(

As for my bed, I’m still a bit apprehensive about having a white/ivory bedspread and sheets, but they seem to be okay so far. Above the bed is my shrine to my hometown, Washington D.C., and the geographic tapestry is just a relic from freshman year. My favorite part of my bed is the pillow I took from my grandma’s old house that reads “ewe’s not fat, ewe’s just fluffy.” I’ve never seen anything else like it so I guess you could say it’s one of a kind. 

I think the only downside to my room is that you have to walk through it to get to my roommate’s room, but hey, at least I’ve got a full bed. 

Hannah Docter-Loeb can be reached at hdocterloeb@wesleyan.edu