Exeter Cribs: Kathryn Welch’s Hangout
Kathryn Welch/The Exonian
By: Andrea Nystedt, Jessica Huang
“Bright and fresh” is how two-year upper Kathryn Welch would describe her spacious room in Dunbar Hall. Each part of her room is tastefully decorated and taken care of with close attention. “My pride and joy is my room,” Welch said, gesturing to a space full of life.
Most of all, Welch’s room is cozy: a tapestry with black and white flowers adorn the wall, plants perch on a bookshelf filled with books and supplies and curtains twinkle with fairy lights. The curtains, which frame the windows, are one of Welch’s favorite parts of her room. “I think they make the whole room a lot less gloomy,” Welch said. “I really like the lights on them because at night, it looks like stars.”
Providing ample light and keeping her broom bright, the two windows in Welch’s room keep her room spacious and open. Prep Esme Shields said that the windows “fill the room with sunshine and [Welsh’s room] lights up and gives it a happy spring vibe.”
Welch keeps extra lamps in her room along with a fireplace that glows with LED lights on the mantle to keep her room from getting “dark like a dungeon.”
The abundant light in Welch’s room illuminates her impressive “tribute wall,” a collection of all her favorite things, on the other side of her room. Posters of her favorite movies and TV shows such as Ocean’s 11 and Friends add a personalized and lively touch to the otherwise white walls, which Welch dislikes. To fill up more space and reduce clutter in her room, Welch hangs her backpacks on the walls. Resting on the mantle of a stone fireplace in her room is Welch’s lacrosse stick, conveniently placed for her to grab it and go when pressed for time. Above the lacrosse stick hangs a fun photo collage of her friends and family. “[Welch] is very grounded in those she loves,” Welch’s advisor Hannah Lim noted. “Having her dearest ones posted up throughout her room in a massive photo collage helps keep them with her while she’s on campus.”
While decorating her room, Welch aimed to “fill up as much space as possible” while efficiently transforming it into a welcoming and homey place for everyone. She even has a TV at the foot of her lofted bed for her and her friends to watch movies on, which is one of Shield’s favorite memories with Welch. Shields also recalled how the room is a frequent spot for “tea time,” with Welch’s room having “a little corner in her room solely for our tea bags and a little jar of honey!”
“My room is like what me and my friends consider ‘The Hangout,’” Welch added.
Impressively, Welch put together her intricate room within one day. According to Welch, the photo collage took the longest to assemble: around 3-4 hours. Lim is impressed with Welch’s speed and attention to detail as well. “It looks like she’s been in the dorm all year, but she only just arrived on campus in February!”
Despite her already comfy room, Welch is looking to add more in the future. Since a blackboard covers the fireplace, Welch has plans to decorate the blackboard with random doodles or a fake fire as she has seen in other Dunbar rooms. Welch is also thinking about hanging a flag in the empty wall space in front of her desk as an extra embellishment. “If you have the things that you really like, then [your room] will come together in the way you want it to,” Welch advised.
With the perfect balance of spaciousness and coziness, Welch created a space that’s open to everyone, complimenting her role as an organized and well loved Dunbar resident. “Her room reflects [her personality] because it is always neat, her bed is always made, and nothing is out of place. She is also a very welcoming and kind person, and her room is welcoming, too,” Shields noted. “Homey, just like her.”