Dorm room boom
SPENDING an average of $600 per person, the back-to-school set amounts to a $2.6-billion dorm-furnishings goldmine, according to the Container Store. While JCPenney hawks its MTV Cribs furniture collection and Sears has TYU, Ty Pennington’s Extreme Makeover: Dorm Edition, the Container Store gives shoppers a chance to define their style through three multiple-choice questions at www.thecontainerstore.com. The Scout answered the call, saying he is male, wants his dorm room to look “bold, sophisticated and contemporary -- the hippest dorm room on campus,” and most worries about “sharing a bathroom with other people when I’ve been used to having one all to myself.” The result: The website prescribed a style labeled “Mod about organization,” with the items shown above. In other stores, the color palette is anything but black and white, with a rainbow of colors including a tray table ($9.99) and hangers ($5.99 for a dozen) from Bed Bath & Beyond, as well as a meowing alarm clock ($18) from Lost & Found in L.A., (323) 856-5872, all shown below. Another big trend: wild and woolly. At www.pbteen.com the rugs of choice, flokatis, have sprouted from the floor into the Furlicious line of beanbags ($149) and shaggy retro rockers ($189).
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A two-turntable head turner
Folks, do not be fooled. This beautiful “blobject” by design visionary Karim Rashid may come with dual lamps, but it is definitely not a study station built for two. Even if your college-bound tax deduction is majoring in music appreciation, Rashid’s twin-deck fiberglass tune-mixer, the DJ Kreemy, is not on any university’s list of suggested class materials. However, for a mere $3,400, this voluptuous schoolhouse rocker will undoubtedly make you the most popular parent on campus. With two turntables and a mixer with front-loading jacks, DJ Kreemy is just shy of 6 feet long, is mounted on a powder-coated steel double pedestal and comes in orange, pink, yellow and white. Beastie Boys CDs and additional student loans sold separately. It’s from www.target.com.
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Putting it in the right spot
At times “Dorm Room Feng Shui,” a chatty new primer on the ancient Chinese art, reads as if it were written for the sorority sisters of Delta Gamma Ding-a-Ling. Authors Katherine Olaksen, Elizabeth MacCrellish and Margaret M. Donahue go so far as to promise, “This book is easier to read than Cliff Notes.” Good thing the handbook (Storey, $10.95) also delivers practical advice, guiding students in arranging furniture, choosing colors and eliminating clutter according to feng shui principles for a balanced life. Another plus: Profiles of problematic rooms include ideas for low-cost improvements.