College Student Shares Shocking Before and After Photos of Her Completely Transformed Dorm Room (Exclusive)

Addison Standley shares how she and her roommate used DIY decor, reused items and wallpaper to make their dorm room feel like home.

Courtesy of Addison Standley (2)

NEED TO KNOW

Addison Standley transformed her dorm into a cozy, personalized space with help from her mom and roommate

Her viral TikTok showcasing the dorm received 13 million views but also drew unexpected negative comments

Standley reused many items from last year and incorporated DIY projects to keep costs low and add unique touches

Decorating college dorms can sometimes feel like a competition for incoming college students to see who can transform their room the most. But for Addison Standley, it was more about making the usually dull room seem like home.

The incoming sophomore at Nelson University tells PEOPLE she spent around nine months planning how she could make the space “feel like home.”

“Having a dorm room that really expresses you and helps you feel comfortable really helps that transition. It’s just a space that you want to feel comfortable and happy in,” Standley, 19, shares.

It helped that Standley knew who she was moving in with, noting that “ever since the school ended or spring semester ended, we were already planning what we wanted, how we wanted it to be done.”

With the help of Standley’s mom, the two girls pulled inspiration from Pinterest and other social media.

Courtesy of Addison Standley

“We were ordering stuff throughout the summer. Then we moved in a day early than what we were required to and we both came here in the afternoon and started setting up about 2:00 p.m. after we moved all of our stuff in ... and we were basically done that night,” she shares. “It didn’t take long at all.”

Standley and her roommate even put up peel-and-stick wallpaper to make it feel more like home, but admits it was a tedious process.

“The thing that took the most was definitely the wallpaper, just because we wanted it to be perfect, so it took a little more time,” she shares.

“We definitely made it fun. We were just talking, enjoying decorating and just really seeing the room come to life,” she adds.

Standley notes that several things in her room — from the decorations on her desk to her desk shelf and some furniture — were from last year, so she didn’t have to buy everything new.

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“The only things that I really purchased that are new are the rug and my chairs from last year,” she says. “I did get a new quilt on my bed and the pillows, and then the frames and lamps are new.”

She can’t estimate how much everything cost, but adds, “It was not much at all just because I reused things and I would continue to reuse them.”

“We have many DIY things here. My headboard’s DIY; that was maybe $10, if I had to guess. My grandpa and I built my desk shelf and my roommate’s desk shelf. My mom DIY’d one of my little frames that are on my desk.”

Anything she did buy, she says, came from places like Amazon.

In the end, Standley notes that their vision truly came to life, describing the space as “our entire Pinterest board.”

Courtesy of Addison Standley

Part of what made the process so fun was having someone to do it with.

“Last year I didn’t have a matching room. I had a random roommate, and so only half my room had pink wallpaper,” Standley admits. “I do love sharing this room with my roommate. We have so much fun.”

While her favorite part is the pair’s portraits of their dogs front and center, her least favorite part was figuring out where to put all the school-issued furniture.

“They do provide us furniture; they provide us a desk, they provide us the bed, they provide us a shelf, and they provide us a wardrobe, but that’s for two people,” she explains. “So it’s hard to make a good spacious arrangement. We did figure it out. We did put the shelves under the bed, but it is just really hard maneuvering around all of that.”

Courtesy of Addison Standley

Earlier this month, Standley posted a TikTok of their dorm transformation, and the video went viral, amassing over 13 million views.

While many people admired the finished product, Standley was admittedly “shocked” reading some of the negative comments.

“I was not posting to flex on anybody. I love transition TikToks, and I love my dorm,” she explains. “I was posting, and I really didn’t think it would go that viral. Obviously, I’ve gotten a lot of great comments, but then I’ve also gotten a lot of negative comments that have really just shocked me.”

“I’ve definitely had to work around that, and it did send me in a little spiral for a couple of days, but I’m okay now,” Standley shares, affirming that she’s focused more on the joy her dorm brings her, rather than strangers’ mean comments.

“It was never meant to set an expectation for anybody. Everybody’s dorm can be what helps them get through college and makes them feel at home. A dorm room is what expresses you the most. It’s your personality. So this is mine. A lot of people don’t want to do all this, but this is definitely my personality, so I love it,” Standley shares.

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