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By Jaime DeGroot & April Smith
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Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski
Before: Ashley Jackson and a friend study in Jackson’s chaotic living room in Columbia College’s Residence Center. |
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Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski
After: Colorful picture frames, window hangings and bottles, along with some rearrangement of the furniture, made the room less cluttered and more fun. |
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Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski
After: Purple flowers tie into the Purple Line theme and bring needed color to the room.
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Roommates Ashley Jackson, 20, and Maggie Dibardino, 20, weren’t excited
about their lifeless living space in the South Loop. Echo offered to transform
their living room into a ride through Chicago on the CTA Purple Line in our version
of The Learning Channel’s “Trading Spaces.”
There were, however, a few revisions to the rules. We had two roommates, one designer,
no switch, a variety of dorm rules and a budget of only $250.
Jackson and Dibardino live in Columbia College’s Residence Center. They
use their living room for studying, lounging and entertaining. It was largely
undecorated and was cluttered with papers, food, clothing and CD cases.
“It’s just four plain white walls,” Jackson says. “This
is my third year in the same dorm. I want to add more decorations and rearrange
the furniture.”
With dorm restrictions in mind (no painting the walls, no candles, no nails in
the walls, no fire hazards and nothing hanging from the pipes) Echo staff member
Jaime DeGroot set out to transform this chaotic living space into a fun and functional
room with lots of color. Because the dorm is a temporary living space, she wanted
most of the changes to be removable.
First DeGroot and her assistant, Danielle Krenz, cleared and cleaned the room.
As they moved the furniture, they realized it took up most of the room if it wasn’t
carefully arranged.
They placed two canvasses with the Purple Line theme behind the couch. These featured
an abstract “L” line made of electrical tape with the word “Loop”
cut out of a Chicago map, an “L” map, and a vintage postcard with
the words, “Avoid Street Congestion. Ride the Elevated Train.”
On the facing wall, they put up an old Chicago advertisement for “Spring
in the Dunes,” which has purple accents and a garden that would tie into
the flowers and plants that would later be added to the room. Because nails were
not allowed, the poster and the canvases were hung with numerous mounting squares.
DeGroot then filled the room with things that fit the fun and purple themes: iridescent
candleholders (without candles, of course), picture frames, colored bottles and
a vase of fake flowers. She chose a live cordyline plant for its purple foliage,
and potted it in an inexpensive terra cotta pot that she spray painted gold.
Some of the roommates’ existing furnishings fit with the new decor. DeGroot
kept Jackson and Dibardino’s faux animal-print pillows, but she added an
eggplant velvet pillow and a raspberry shag pillow to bring out the eccentric
textures. The roommates rejected the idea of a purple area rug, but they agreed
to a luxurious grape-colored chenille throw.
DeGroot persuaded Jackson and Dibardino to paint paper stained-glass windowpanes
and hang them in the windows. These panes picked up the colors of the glass bottles
on the windowsills and mirrored the classic Chicago architecture outside the windows.
When the redesign was over, Jackson and Dibardino were pleased with their new
living room. “I like the accents and the furniture,” Jackson says.
“I didn’t expect to have purple as a dominant color. I thought it
would be more dormish. It looks more homey.”
“I love it,” says Dibardino, “I wasn’t expecting such
cute things.” 
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