As temperatures get colder, students’ dorm rooms and apartments will get brighter as they decorate their spaces in time for the holiday season.
Steven Zdanowicz, sophomore in LAS, said he plans on making his apartment a little festive this year.
“I may bring some holiday lights and hang them up on the walls,” Zdanowicz said. “I don’t think I’m going to bring like a (full-sized) tree or anything obviously.”
Zdanowicz said he lived in the residence halls last year and bought a mini Christmas tree for his dresser. This year, however, he has a lot more space to fill his apartment with decorations.
“I’d say we have more room this year, which is a definite plus,” he said. “Maybe if we’re feeling into the holiday spirit, we’ll definitely buy some more decorations.”
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
To supply students with the tools they need to celebrate the holidays, retail stores such as Target are offering a variety of different products.
Michaela Gleason, spokeswoman for Target, said the retail giant is stocking everything from stockings to trees to ribbons this year.
“Everybody wants to save a little money this season, especially college students,” Gleason said.
She said the company is also selling tinsel, lights, glitter and other outdoor decor that make for good decorations around residence halls and apartments.
Target is also offering more varieties of decorations this year, including expanded light bulb counts and more color options based on customer feedback, Gleason said.
She said one good option for students looking to save money are shatterproof ornaments, which cost around $1 and last longer than normal ornaments.
Benji Corpuz, sophomore in FAA, said he will get into the holiday spirit as well.
“We’re definitely going to put up a bunch of Christmas lights, and maybe we’ll have some sort of fake ‘mini tree,’” Corpuz said. “Something arbor–like, some sort of representation of a Christmas tree.”
Corpuz said last year, he only put Christmas lights up, but he and his roommates will probably make a bigger effort this year.
Lauren Welker, sophomore in LAS, said she’s not going all out, but instead is sticking to “simple stuff” to decorate her room this year.
“We have some holiday candles out and potpourri, and I have a snowman lotion dispenser,” Welker said.
Welker said she had a small misfortune last year decorating for Christmas after picking up a small Christmas tree for her room.
“I bought this little live wintergreen and I left for Christmas break and forgot to take it forgetting that it would not live for a month without water,” she said.
