Stepping into Marissa Wingerter’s Mississippi State University dorm room is almost like entering a page from an interior-design magazine. The twin beds have matching white headboards, green bedskirts, white shams and pink duvets. At the head of each bed, monogrammed pillows sit atop green and blue decorative pillows and lighted name signs hang from the wall.
Between the beds, on a cabinet, matching pink lamps flank a painting of a young girl with a head of flowered curls. A vase of pink roses rests near a stack of coasters on a gold-rimmed glass coffee table, and a soft hot pink love seat invites guests to lounge for a while.
The room won third place in the cover photo contest of the Facebook group Dorm Rooms of Mississippi and Beyond. Tamara Wingerter and Stephanie Knight created the group, which now has more than 74,000 followers, four years ago, and People magazine featured the Facebook group in one of its recent issues.
“People are mesmerized by how beautiful the rooms are in the South,” Knight said, “People just don’t have that taste, and they don’t have that beautiful southern way of decorating, and I think they’re mesmerized.”
Wingerter believes the tradition began with sorority rooms on the MSU and University of Mississippi campuses in Starkville and Oxford, respectively. She said the embellished rooms reflect southern culture and style. However, the group’s popularity has spawned interest in other states, prompting Wingerter to create a new group called Dorm Rooms of Mississippi and Beyond in March. It already has more than 73,000 followers.
“A lot of people say we didn’t have that back then,” Wingerter said. “We didn’t have cell phones, either. We didn’t have internet. We didn’t have a lot of these things. Times have changed, and if I can do something to make my daughter’s transition to college more enjoyable and easier, then I’m all for it, and I think a lot of parents feel that way.”
Wingerter, an advertising manager for Gulfport, Miss., radio station WJZD, The People’s Station, said she never felt she was good at interior design. Through perusing photos and posts, she learned the general formula for the rooms. They usually include tall headboards, wall ornamentations, hutches, a seating area and bedding. Custom vanities with mirrors and lighting are also popular. Rooms with bathrooms may include over-the-toilet storage, shower curtains and decor.
For her first project, she created a design board for her daughter Marissa’s dorm room and presented the ideas to her daughter so that Marissa and her roommate Peyton could select the pieces they liked best. The single mom shopped early, buying pieces over several months and taking advantage of Black Friday and other sales to gather materials and gift them to her daughter as Christmas presents.
Wingerter purchased some of the girls’ decor from a dorm resale page called Mississippi State Buy and Sell, Dorm Rooms, Student Apartments and More, which she also started. That page acts as a consignment space for dorm decor. Parents and students can recoup some of the money spent on dorm rooms or purchase items at a fraction of retail costs. As early as January, moms start to post room items for sale with availability in May. The two groups have made dorm rooms such as Marissa’s more accessible to parents of all means.
Dorm Rooms of Mississippi and Beyond has become a community of parents who share tips, information, measurements and more. Parents who have collaborated on dorm designs stay in the group after their children have moved on to give advice and guidance to others. One parent who figured out a way to hang wallpaper without damaging the walls started a whole new trend during this year’s move-in season.
“I think a designer room doesn’t mean you have to have a designer,” she said. “You can do this room on a budget. You can do this room with parents and students working together to create the room.”
Dorm Rooms of Mississippi and Beyond make that possible for many moms like Wingerter who are not sure where to start.
“What’s great is that it’s not just a group that (lets you) look at these beautiful dorm rooms. It really has become a community of moms who share information. They teach each other,” Wingerter said. “Someone asks how to hang the bed skirt, and another mom will say what they did and what products to buy. They (may send) some pictures or a video.”
The online group has also become a source of residual income for Wingerter, who added an Amazon storefront to supply moms with shopping links. She has also begun creating design boards for moms. Wingerter and a Gulfport company have teamed up to offer a line of dorm products called the Collegiate Collection, which will provide desk hutches, headboards, refrigerator cabinets, coffee tables, console tables and other items. Additionally, she has partnered with Attic Space, a company that specializes in college storage, and two textile stores from which parents can select fabric for pillows or drapes.
“I’ve had the group for four years and never really thought about monetizing it, but more and more I’ve been able to add little things to monetize it,” Wingerter said.
The empty nester is now focusing on managing the group and sharing the knowledge she has learned. Wingerter’s son Matthew graduated from MSU in May and returned to the university to earn his Master of Business Administration. Marissa began her freshman year in August.
“My daughter will be living in the dorms again next year, so we will have another dorm for her sophomore year,” she said. “It just probably will be a little more simple.”