For freshmen and other dorm inhabitants, the question of dorm design can be the same as deciding a major: go glamorous or go functional? Most dorm dwellers scope out Target or look online at PB Teen to furnish their home away from home only to come up with a personalized, albeit generic room. Some students, however, break away from this habit and take it to the next level.

Sam Scheidler, a sophomore majoring in economics and finance, doesn’t see a wall with posters of “The Walking Dead,” American flags or paraphernalia from America’s Thrift Store when he walks into his common area in Ridgecrest West. When Scheidler goes into his living room, he sees a 45-degree rock climbing wall with more than 130 handholds.

Scheilder said the wall adds character to his and his roommates’ dorm space.

“People remember the room if they’ve popped in once. They don’t normally forget it,” he said.

Kellan Schroeter, a resident advisor majoring in physics, is behind the rock wall, having built it last summer with his dad. The wall is sized to fit into a dorm bedroom and can fit a bed up behind it, operating much like a bunk bed. To move it into Ridgecrest West, Schroeter had to disassemble his wall completely and then put it back together. He said an added benefit of being an RA was getting to move in early enough to assemble the wall without a lot of bustle from others moving in.

“From inspiration to completion was only about three weeks. Like once I get an idea for something, it’s hard to not do it,” Schroeter said. “So I decided I wanted to do it and then drew it up and made a computer model.”

The wall and its holds total upward of $300, most of the holds having been collected since Schroeter began climbing last summer. He said he and his roommates, all of whom now at least dabble in climbing, try to get to the gym as much as homework will allow.

“That’s the good thing about having it out here. You can be watching TV and just jump on it for a little bit,” Schroeter said.

Scheidler said having the wall keeps climbing on his mind, holding him accountable to the sport.

“It kind of always has you thinking about it, even when you don’t get out to the Rec or outside and doing it, you’re always just looking at this and thinking whether it’s time to give it another go,” he said. “It’s always on your mind.”

Dorms don’t have to include rock walls to be elaborate, though. Roommates and Birmingham natives Molly Snyder and Bradleigh Smith took another route in their decor, decking out their Burke dorm room in a sea of green and turquoise chevron patterns. To add a neutral break to all the color, the two added touches of brown and white.

Their beds are lofted high with homemade headboards to create small alcoves beneath for workspace for alone time. Picturesque of an ad in PB Teen, their room still retains an individual flair that represents both of the nursing majors.

“[Bradleigh’s] favorite color is turquoise, and my favorite color is green, so we just kind of dispersed it throughout the room,” Snyder said.

Because their room is so personalized, the two have found themselves spending more time in it versus friends’ rooms around campus. The room is the result of tips from Snyder’s mother, an interior designer with more than a few Do-It-Yourself tricks up her sleeve, and the roommates’ close proximity to each other in their hometown.

“We started with the comforter and went out from there,” Smith said.

Despite the professional help, their room is not unattainable for someone looking to refurbish their dorm space post-first semester. A few of their dorm features can easily be re-created over Thanksgiving break.

Custom fabrics can be purchased on sites like Dorm Suite Dorm and Spoonflower, which even have “design your own product” options. An easy shoot-off point for a redesigned dorm room is to begin with a comforter, which is simple enough to find via Bed Bath and Beyond.

After a new comforter, matching or complimentary fabrics can follow suit. The next best thing to add to a dorm space is custom wall decals, which help to present a theme to any space.

By looking through Pinterest and talking to others with polished dorms, recreating a space cheaply over the Thanksgiving and winter breaks is breezy. The key is fabric, pattern and a little personality.