With back-to-college season officially in full swing, dorm decorating is once again all over our TikTok feeds. But it’s no longer just about finding the perfect comforter. Think custom headboards, coordinated curtains, statement lighting, built-in storage — rooms designed around aesthetics ranging from Southern belle to Barbie and Scandinavian chic to coastal grandma.
Basically, the stereotypical beige college dorm has gotten a serious glow-up — and sometimes, it’s a professional one.
In August, Mississippi designer Shelly Gates of Mary Margaret Designs went viral on TikTok after sharing a University of Alabama freshman’s 2026 dorm makeover, complete with custom bedding, furniture, and a fabric-covered hot air balloon. The room quickly became a conversation starter, with viewers debating everything from the matching decor to the price of having a professional dorm decorator transform a teenager’s temporary living space.
But beyond the discourse, the video put a growing niche of interior design into the spotlight: professionally decorated dorm rooms. While hiring a designer for your college bedroom might sound like a new phenomenon, designers have been quietly turning bare-bones dorms into personalized spaces for years — and social media is now making these makeovers much harder to miss.
So, what happens when your dorm room glow-up goes from DIY to designer? Her Campus spoke to an expert about what the process looks like — and found out how much it can cost.
What does a dorm interior designer actually do?
For Misty Hall, founder of Loose Ends — an interior design business specializing in dorms — it all started with her daughter’s dorm room at the University of Mississippi in 2019. Hall and her husband built and sewed custom pieces for the room, and other families soon began asking where they could get similar items. Hall has worked with students at around 30 universities around the southern United States, designing dorm rooms and creating custom pieces like hand-built cubbies, shelves, and desk accessories.
“My job is to kind of create the vision and help it come to life — [take] what they have and make it better than what they could have thought it could be,” Hall tells Her Campus.
To kick off the design process, Hall gets to know both the student and their vision for the room, discussing everything from budget to fabrics, textiles, and custom details like sconces.
For Hall, it’s not just about creating a picture-perfect room. It’s also about making the transition to college feel a little easier. She believes that creating a space students genuinely love can help them feel more comfortable, settled, and at home in a new place.
“I think it gives them that calmness that everything’s taken care of,” Hall says.
OK, but… how much does it cost?
This is where things get complicated: There isn’t exactly a standard dorm designer price tag. Hall says this is because every project can look completely different depending on the student’s budget and needs. Some clients opt for a full-service, turnkey room; others purchase just a few custom pieces, and do the rest on their own — incorporating items they already have, and shopping secondhand or other budget-friendly options to fill out the rest of the space.
“I think that people misunderstand that you have to have an unlimited budget to do it,” Hall says. “Whether you order one piece from me or an entire room from me, you’re going to be treated the same. You’re going to have the same customer service and attention, just as if you did the whole room.”
That said, the cost of these makeovers can get very high. People reported that Gates of Mary Margaret Designs charges up to $20,000 for some full dorm transformations. That doesn’t mean every professionally decorated dorm is coming with that kind of price tag, but it does show just how luxe the category can get.
So, no, you don’t necessarily need a five-figure budget to get the designer dorm treatment, but, it turns out, you could if you wanted to.