Students at the University of Arkansas upon admittance are given the option to live on campus in one of the 19 residence halls. While the location cannot be beat compared to other living opportunities, many of the residence halls can be described as older and overall bleak.  

To counteract this common idea, freshmen Ana Kate Bohlman and Claire Stewart turned their Reid Hall double into a true second place to call home.  

While many students choose their roommate either based on someone from their high school or by random, Bohlman and Stewart chose their childhood friend from a different state to share their new home.  

“We made a joke about living together either junior or senior year,” Bohlman said. “And we joked about it to our moms, and they still make the joke about if she [Claire] still wanted to live with me.”  

Upon decorating the famous TikTok space, Bohlman and Stewart had to decide on it. From colors to the overall theme of the room some decisions were easier than others.  

“I found these pillows on Pinterest a while ago,” Stewart said. “And I told Ana that we just had to have them. So, they ended up becoming the centerpiece of the room.” 

Despite the pillows being for certain in the room, some ideas were made on the fly.  

“I moved in before Claire since I’m an in-state student.” Bohlman said. “So, my stuff was set up first. But even with everything up, the room just felt bland. So, I ordered like 12 rolls of adhesive wallpaper on a whim.”  

Stewart said they decided to put up the wallpaper because they were sure that it would tie everything together in the room.  

Many students can say that their freshman dorm did not look anything like Bohlman and Stewart’s. However, this roommate pair turned what can appear to be a bleak and degraded shoebox into a bright and happy space to call home for the remainder of the school year.