On-campus residents recognized in University Housing competition

Student rooms judged on originality, style, functionality

After tidying up their already decorated room and watching nervously as clipboard-carrying judges inspected their living-space, Kimberly Chambers, freshman political science major, and Sydney Niemi, freshman pre-nursing major, said they were thrilled when they were named the winners of Georgia College Housing’s first room-decorating contest.

Georgia College Housing embarked on new territory this year by introducing the inaugural room decorating contest to students living on-campus and at The Village at West Campus.

After announcing the contest, there was participation from residents to show off their personalized rooms as well as a $250 CatCash prize to each resident of the winning room.

To enter, students had to uphold residency on campus and submit pictures of their rooms to Housing. The judges reviewed many aspects of the thirty-four potential winning rooms.

“The judges looked at the impression the door and entrance gave, originality, style, functionality, and GC spirit of each room. Based on those aspects, rooms were rated on a scale of one to seven,” said Cindy McClanahan, Housing Marketing Coordinator. The judges then decided on one finalist per hall based on who had the highest score.

Housing chose a mix of judges from campus.

The judges included Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Judy Case, University Decorator, Alissa Torchia, Coordinator of New Student Programs, Tiffany Bayne, Admissions and Enrollment, and Dr. Larry C. Christenson, Executive Director of University Housing.

After getting a feel for the rooms in pictures, the judges visited the finalists’ rooms in person. By visiting the rooms, the judges were able to experience the vibe each room gave off. They were especially looking for a room that was a warm and welcoming environment. After rating each of the rooms, the judges made a decision.

The finalists weren’t the only ones eager to show off their rooms. “All students wanted the judges to see their room even if they weren’t finalists. It was really nice to see residents taking pride in their rooms and skill and talent,” said McClanahan.

Bell Hall residents Kimberly Chambers and Sydney Niemi’s dormitory was proclaimed the winning room. They each received a prize of $250 in CatCash for their extraordinary decorating talents. The other finalists were not left empty-handed, though; all other finalists received $15 CatCash.

The winners did not label their room with a specific theme. “It did not exactly have a theme. We decided on a color scheme first, and we knew we wanted our room to look chic, classy, and a little bit girly at the end of the decorating process,” said Sydney Niemi.

“We hope our room gives off a very cozy and homey vibe while still being accessible and organized,” said Kimberly Chambers.

For any students kicking themselves for not entering the Housing competition this year, there will be another room decorating competition next year and years to follow. After the exemplary participation of the decorating contest, Housing is hoping to hold more competitions soon. Chambers and Niemi’s advice to those students planning on participating in the contest next year would be to keep in mind that “an important element is how you use the space and not just what is inside the space.”

“We did promotion over orientation and knew people were excited,” said McClanahan. As it turned out, the winners were especially thrilled when they found out that they had won.

“We were ecstatic when we heard the news. After looking a the other fantastic room entries, we still felt we had the edge but we were biased of course,” said Niemi.

Posted by Heidi Barrows on Sep 27 2012. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.