Getting privacy in a dorm room

[Night Elf]

My dd found the idea to hang curtains from the bottom of her lofted bed to enclose the under-the-bed space. How would I do that? I'm assuming it's just a mattress on a wooden frame. Any ideas?

 

cross-posted on Chat board

[regentrude]

Replied on chat:

my DD used a cord to hang a fabric shower curtain in front of a wall recess that served as a closet but had no doors. 

[Nan in Mass]

They do sell bunk curtains. My kids have had them at various times on ships. They usually are black so one shift can sleep without the other watch waking them.

 

I did this for my boys when they were little by stringing wire along the top edge and sewing a simple curtain. I have also done it more temporarily with cup hooks and string with a length of cloth doubled over (when I dodn,t have a sewing machine). A beach towel and safety pins on string held up by comando hooks might work, too. In a pinch (and more destructive), you could thumb tack up a piece of material. Cheap sheets are a good source of material.

 

Nan

Edited July 24, 2016 by Nan in Mass

[Luckymama]

Older d's loft frame was metal one year, btw.

[Harriet Vane]

My dd is planning to do the same. We bought a shower curtain. It's a little too long, so I am hemming it up a few inches. You can buy tension rods for showers--I haven't bought one yet, but that is my current plan.

 

If the tension rod won't work for some reason, my next plan is use wire to hang a curtain rod. The wire would loop around the corners of the bed and the ends of the rod. It's possible I may need to also loop a wire in the center.

 

We are planning to use shower curtain rings to make it quick and easy to pull the curtain open and shut.

[angela in ohio]

My roommates and I did this in college. We had a quad and each bed bunked above the wardrobe and desk. We used tension rods (not as big as shower rods, smaller in length and diameter) and "sewed" curtains out of sheets with iron-on hemming material.  Put Christmas lights and a beanbag/pillows inside each one and we each had our own "pod" to study inside of when others had company over.

[frugalmamatx]

Check with the University's Res Life before doing anything. Ours didn't allow curtains OR beds being lofted. We could use risers no higher than 6" to add extra storage under the bed, but that was it. 

 

Is your daughter someone who NEEDS her privacy? Or is she just concerned about studying / etc with a chatty roommate? If she is someone who really needs her alone time to decompress / calm, I would recommend getting a single room. It costs more, but is WELL worth it IMO. If she is just concerned about studying - well that's what the library is for :)

[Night Elf]

Curtains are allowed and the beds are meant to be lofted. She's toured in the dorm and seen pictures online.

 

We decided to go with a shower rod. We found one that extends to 86" which should work just fine. She also chose regular rod pocket curtains. We tried the shower rod in the pocket while we were at the store so we know it works. I'm thinking of taking a clothes line as a backup but I don't know how I'll thread it in the rod pocket of the curtains without difficulty. I've got high hopes for that shower rod.

 

It's not that she needs total privacy or quiet. She just likes to be alone sometimes. She said she will be happy just to have the illusion she's alone. It remains to be seen if the roommate respects that. She seems nice, but that could change. Living together is hard, IMHO.

[Nan in Mass]

To get a cord through the pocket, you need a bodkin. It is like a big, dull needle. You can make one out of a piece of wire from a coat hanget. Just bend a loop in one end and tie the cord to the loop. Then you stick the bodkin in the pocket and scrunch the fabric up on it, the pull through. You do this bit by bit, feeling through the fabric to do it. It is harder to describe than to do. I have used a slice of plastic milk carton to do this, too. Or a plastic trashbag tie. Or a piece of stiff cardboard. It just has to be smooth enough and stiff enough that you can push it through the pocket.

 

Hopefully you won,t need to do it. You might bring needle nose pliers. Tape for the sharp end, and a wire hanger, just in case, though.

 

Nan

[Night Elf]

To get a cord through the pocket, you need a bodkin. It is like a big, dull needle. You can make one out of a piece of wire from a coat hanget. Just bend a loop in one end and tie the cord to the loop. Then you stick the bodkin in the pocket and scrunch the fabric up on it, the pull through. You do this bit by bit, feeling through the fabric to do it. It is harder to describe than to do. I have used a slice of plastic milk carton to do this, too. Or a plastic trashbag tie. Or a piece of stiff cardboard. It just has to be smooth enough and stiff enough that you can push it through the pocket.

 

Hopefully you won,t need to do it. You might bring needle nose pliers. Tape for the sharp end, and a wire hanger, just in case, though.

 

Nan

 

I know exactly what you mean. It's like using a safety pin to get a drawstring back through a hole. Good idea.