CHAPTER 23
RENTED ROOMS

The purpose of this chapter is to provide handy information for
those who live in dormitories, sorority houses, or in any rented
rooms. Most of this material is presented in its general aspects
elsewhere in this book but is here applied to the specific problems
of procuring comfort, personality, and beauty in one room at
small cost. •••'

DORMITORY ROOMS

Students occupying rooms in dormitories or sorority houses
should voice their opinions about their buildings and facilities to
the proper authorities in order that future dormitories may meet
the needs of students to the greatest extent possible. Architects
should be informed that ample daylight and ventilation are more
important to students than architectural style. Some features that
are needed are roof porches for sun bathing and large screened
porches for outdoor living. Larger closets containing ample shelf
space are urgently needed; the supplementary wall board ward-
robes that are necessary in many rooms spoil their appearance.

Most students want some kind of a pin-up place on their walls
which they can puncture with pins and tacks at will. In building
a dormitory or sorority house a strip of cork or a soft board about a
foot wide can be set into the plaster at the eye level on all the walls
in each room. This board should be painted the same color as the
plaster. In a finished building a flat, softwood molding affixed to
the walls about 6 feet from the floor would be a great improve-
ment over the usual high picture molding, which is hard to •reach.

Rooms occupied by women students should have drying rods
on which to hang wet hose and undergarments which are too
precious to hang in a common laundry room. In suite bathrooms,
overhead bars above the tub or shower are advisable. See page 174.
A shelf with pull-out drying apparatus underneath is convenient.

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