A 4th-grade teacher found a lucrative side hustle: designing decadent dorm rooms for college kids for $5,000 apiece

I’ve done 20 rooms in total now including every school around here like Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Methodist University, SMU, and the University of Southern Mississippi. I’ve also done Mizzou, Bama, Belmont, and Arkansas.

I did just one room my first year. Then I did seven, which really got me in over my head. This year, I limited it to just five projects.

There are just so many little details that have to be taken care of, and so much background work, before you even really start to design.

I started with a design fee, and then I charge hourly for installation. I’ve been able to increase my fee, but it really depends on the project, whether it’s for both roommates, or how big the space is. This year it was around $5,000 total a room.

I’ll start months in advance using TikTok to find out the dimensions of rooms

A big part of the initial part of the design is determining which school they’re going to and which dorm they’re living in.

I have to find the dimensions and layout. The measurements that the university provides are not always to scale.

Their freshman year, they might just have a room with twin beds. But eventually, they’ll move into an apartment or the sorority or fraternity house, where they’ll need to decorate again. I want the bedding, lamps, and art to easily transition with them.

On the flip side, I always try to get a cheap rug, especially during Amazon Prime Days and super sales like that. Rugs are always gross at the end of the year and you should just throw those away.

I usually find really good deals for rugs around $100. These are 18-year-old kids — they don’t need a Persian rug.

One thing that is also a must-have is a really great bed skirt. I get mine custom-made by a fabric store down in Ridgeland, Mississippi. You’re lifting the bed 36 inches to get all the storage possible — and all of a sudden have this space exposed underneath.

I’m sure that a lot of them choose to spend their money on things that are important to them, but for my clients, this is where they want to spend their money.

I read hate comments sometimes and think, “Well, I don’t really tell you where to spend your money, right?”

My end result is that my students are happy and that my moms and dads are happy. That’s my ultimate goal — to create a space that they love.

I’ve been able to segue the business into other avenues as well. In the South, a lot of people will buy condos in whatever town their child goes to school. So I’ve designed those for the parents of dorm clients.

I teach fourth grade full-time so it started out as a fun summer thing, but I would love to do it full-time. Hopefully soon, I can hire additional designers and grow my business.