I wanted to share my daughter’s dorm room/entire unit at The Callaway House (TAMU) – College Station with you. I’ll show you some things that we did to make the living arrangement easier and to give you some decorating ideas for your own room. Plus I took a TON of pics, so you’ll have a visual reference to use as a resource guide – and 2 short videos of the unit itself! Let’s get to it! Living at Callaway House TAMU: Our Before & After Pics.
*Videos at the very end of post.
Living at Callaway House TAMU: Our Before & After Pics
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- White Frames Cocktail Prints – bedroom
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- Dorm Room Headboard Hack – bedroom
- College Dorm Essentials Checklist (for girls)
- Dorm Packing & Moving Tips
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Living at Callaway House TAMU: Our Before & After Pics
First Thing First:
I decided to do this post as a before and after post because I took so many pictures during our model home tour AND while my daughter Sadie and her roommates lived there.
- Their floorplan was a 2 Bed/1 Bath – Shared.
- There was no model with the bunk beds- debunked, so I wanted to show that with you.
- Plus we forgot so many things while touring, that it was great to have pictures to go back to.
Second:
The model home pictures/layout will be a little different from my daughter’s actual layout.
- The model home is set up showing all of the different room options, and I think their model kitchen is set up for a 4 Bed/2 Bath floorplan.
- Our rooms were to the left of the living room – and we had the bunk beds.
- So, I flipped some of the model home pictures for this post (so they would fit with the same direction as our pictures).
Ok, let’s get to it! Living at Callaway House TAMU: Our Before & After Pics.
Living at Callaway House TAMU: Our Before & After Pics
- Living Room
- Dining Area
- Kitchenette
- Utility Closet
- Bath
- Bedroom – 2 Closets
- Bedroom – 1 (Walk-in) Closet
- Videos – Bedroom & Living Room
This is how the pictures will be set up for this next part:
- The before pics will be under: Model Home Pics
- The after pics will be under: Our “Room” Pics
Ok, let’s get to some pictures! Living at Callaway House TAMU: Our Before & After Pics.
Our Before & After Pics
#1) Living Room
Model Home Pics
Our Living Room Pics
- We bought 108″L curtains – recommended by Callaway.
- One of the roommates also bought that long tension rod because we could not get hardware to go through the walls.
- The rug is 5×7, but you could do 8×10 also (we saw people bring 8×10 rugs in).
Model Home Pics
Our Living Room Pics
- See links above for TAMU Wall Art.
- We had the upholstered furniture version while they were waiting to get the new brown leather ones back in.
- They now are back to the leather furniture.
Model Home Pics
We did not have this niche in our unit. We had a flat wall.
Our Living Room Pics
This was taken after the girls had been living there – lol – so it’s messy of course!!
- The girls moved the chair to go under the window, added the full length mirror in the corner, and moved the tv stand to the flat wall.
*TV is not included with the dorm furniture – FYI.
- We also used a desk from my daughter’s bedroom and made a coffee bar out of it, but we ended up tweaking it a little bit.
- We added the white bookcase to give them extra storage.
More to come on that soon in the 1 closet bedroom section.
Our Before & After Pics
#2) Dining Area
Model Home Pics
All the dining room furniture is included – just not the wall mirror or table accessories/linens.
Our Dining Area Pics
And here is what our girls did.
- So, you can tell from this picture that our bedrooms are to the left side.
- The door in the back left is the bathroom door, and both bedroom doors are in that same area.
And here is a wide view.
I just wanted to be able to give you some ideas on spacing because the model home pictures don’t always give you a true idea.
Our Before & After Pics
#3) Kitchenette
Why do they call it a kitchenette?
They call this a kitchenette (and not a kitchen) because it does NOT have a stove or oven.
- ***Because….. this private dorm comes with a meal plan included.
- It does have a microwave, sink, and full-size fridge – that comes in so handy!
Model Home Pics
Yep you can tell that my daughter…. well everyone actually…. was tired of me taking pictures during our tour!! Haha!!
But – you know what – Sadie and all of her roommates sure did ask me to look at these pictures so they could remember what the unit looked like!
BAM! Momma knows best π
Our Kitchenette Pics
And this pic was taken after they had been living there for awhile, but I wanted to show you the difference.
- We have a different kitchenette shape with a wall in our floorplan.
Bonus:
The door to the left of the front door is a utility closet. I’ll show pics of that in the next section!!
Model Home Pics
The model shows the kitchenette flush on one wall – in a straight line.
- This goes with the 4 Bed/2 Bath floorplan (I think).
Our Kitchenette Pics
Our kitchen was L-shaped, and not in a straight line (like the model home pic).
- So, it is definitely smaller and tighter.
- But is such a great perk to have!
- And I think that most of the kitchenettes are L-shaped – like the one our girls had.
Side views of our kitchenette.
Here is the L-shaped part – by the left side of the fridge.
And you just gotta have a mirror…… while you’re “cooking” in your kitchenette – LOL!! Girls π
Our Before & After Pics
#4) Utility Closet
I decided to include this front hall utility closet – because it’s one of those hidden treasures that you forget about when touring.
- I didn’t take any pics during our model home tour – and that’s exactly why I am showing it here – in case you forgot it also.
It is the door to the left of the front door.
And this front hall utility closet was a life-saver!!
It holds SO MUCH:
- extra storage for pantry items & paper products
- brooms, mops, iron/ironing board, & step-stool ladder
- rolling carts to hold items
- air mattress for guests
- cleaning products
Our Before & After Pics
#5) Bath
The bathroom in our 2 Bed/1 Bath shared unit – means that 4 people share the shower/tub and toilet (sorry to be so blunt) combination.
- And then each bedroom has it’s own sink/vanity – super bonus!! (more pics in bedroom section).
Model Home Pics
The bathroom is your basic size, and probably a little small for 4 people to share.
But it is inside (private) their unit, and that’s really enough said!!
- We bought quite a few different shower racks/hooks so that the girls could store all of their own individual toiletries and towels.
- And they learned how to work together quickly to come up with a shower schedule (great teamwork again)!
Our Bath Pics
I’ll go ahead and apologize here….. but they’re in college and should get to “express” themselves!
- Eye Roll Inserted!
Now, you know why I apologized π
Anyhoo – carry on!
Our Before & After Pics – Bedrooms
NOTE: There are 2 different bedroom layouts in these dorm units (A & B).
- one bedroom has 2 closets (could be A or B)
- one bedroom has 1 walk-in closet (could be A or B)
***They could be different depending on your unit’s layout – so double check.***
#6) Bedroom – 2 CLOSETS
Model Home Pics
The model for the room with 2 closets is staged with the full xl bed.
- Our bedrooms are opposite layouts from the model home pics, so I flipped the model home pics – to fit with the same direction as our rooms.
Our Bedroom (With 2 Closets)
My daughter had the 1 closet bedroom, so these pics are taken while her roommates were living there already.
- They didn’t have a chance to clean, but were so sweet to let me take pics anyway!
- Thanks girls!!
I just wanted to show you how it looks with the twin xl beds unbunked.
- Update: I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.
***UPDATE: THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***
Model Home Pics
So here is 1 of the 2 closets – with the sliding door.
Our Bedroom (With 2 Closets)
And you can tell that one of the beds fits on that wall – so it is very snug.
Model Home Pics
Here is the other closet with 2 doors that open into the room.
Our Bedroom (With 2 Closets)
Model Home Pics
In the model they have it staged with:
- full xl bed with – 1 desk/1 dresser/1 nightstand.
And this bedroom has a nice hallway with the vanity/sink by the door.
Our Bedroom (With 2 Closets)
But with the shared option you have:
- bunk beds with – 2 desks/1 dresser/1 nightstand.
- or 2 twin beds when debunked
It is definitely tighter when the beds are unbunked.
The girls put the second desk on that wall where the dresser was in the model picture above.
They put the dresser between the 2 beds, and the nightstand in one of the closets.
Model Home Pics
Our Bedroom -w/2 Closets Pics
I didn’t take a vanity of our girls’ area – because it was a little “full” – LOL!
But here is a different angle – so you can see the spacing in the hallway.
- The vanity/sink is on the left, and the bathroom is directly across the hall.
Our Before & After Pics – Bedrooms
Bedroom – 1 CLOSET
This was my daughter Sadie’s room with her roommate.
- Again, I have flipped the model home pics to fit in the same direction as our room.
Note: There will be 2 versions of this room!
- How it looked when we initially set it up on move-in day,
- Then how it looked after the girls rearranged it!
Model Home Pics
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
So we initially unbunked the beds so that they were parallel, and put the nightstand between the beds.
- Update: I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.
***UPDATE: THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***
Model Home Pics
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
And we initially took this desk out, and put it into the living room/dining area to make the coffee bar.
We also added this white bookcase to fill in that niche (where the desk was), and added the white 108″L blackout curtains (and tension rod).
- You could add a shorter curtain, but I’ll show you where I used the 2nd one in a second π
AND…. it was very tight!
So, the girls decided to move things around and it gave them so much more room!
Now it looked more like this.
Model Home Pics
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
These pics are taken when they were not clean – shocker!! So beware LOL!
They turned Sadie’s bed perpendicular to her roommate’s bed, and then moved the nightstand to the inside portion of the niche.
- This gave them a little extra floor space and room to walk around in.
- Love the problem-solving skills!!
***Note:
- My husband and I tried this on move-in day but failed…… because that desk was still in the niche.
- So both desks will have to completely come out of the room – to be able to get this to work.
Model Home Pics
Here is the niche again.
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
But now it has the head of the bed and the nightstand inside – instead of the bookcase.
- And the bookcase was added to the living room wall for the coffee bar station.
Model Home Pics
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
Model Home Pics
These pics are flipped again – so dream looks a little weird here.
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
The girls decided to turn the desk into their vanity area since they both liked to study in their beds.
Model Home Pics
The vanity/sink is connected to the bedroom on this layout – versus having the hallway separating it like the other bedroom.
- So we knew that the light would come directly into the bedroom and might disturb the other roommate when they were sleeping.
- And it really doesn’t give them privacy for the same reason.
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
So I had a rare “proud momma moment” – and came up with a solution! Privacy Curtain!
Since we knew that we needed 108″L to block out as much light as possible, and give the girls some privacy – we just bought a pair of the blackout curtains.
- Here is the second white 108″L blackout curtain (and tension rod).
- Sorry this pic isn’t the best! But hopefully you get the gist.
Model Home Pics
Our Bedroom (With 1 Closet)
Sorry that I didn’t take any pics of the vanity/sink or closet when they lived there.
- They were always a mess – like ALWAYS!
Model Home Pics
Here is the model home walk-in closet pics – top portion.
And I flipped these again – so the shirt is backwards!
And here is a pic of the 4-drawer dresser and bottom portion of the walk-in closet.
VIDEOS
- Bedroom – SADIE – VIDEO CALLAWAY BEDROOM.
- Living Room – SADIE – VIDEO CALLAWAY LIVING ROOM.
I hope that you have found some helpful information and tips for choosing to live in the Callaway House TAMU.
If you have any questions – just use my contact page or shoot me a comment!
- Update: I have had a chance to measure the UNDER bed height when unbunked at highest level – for storage.
***UPDATE: THE UNDERBED HEIGHT WHEN UNBUNKED – 29″H***
Have a Great Freshman Year at TAMU!!
Love & Hugs !!
8 Comments
Love the real-life pics of Callaway! My daughter is moving in in August. Is 5×7 the best rug size for the bedrooms? Thanks!
Hi Laura! Yes, the 5×7 will work the best (in my opinion). There is just not a ton of space in those rooms, and it will be easy to transport too!
Good Luck to your daughter this year!
Hugs – Jael π
So appreciate seeing this! Can you tell me how the headboards work with the existing headboard? I think I see one that had to put it behind?
Hi Ashley! We used a dog bed hack for my daughter’s headboard – lol – so we didn’t have a fixed one. I can’t remember how the other roommates attached them – sorry! You might be able to call Callaway, and see if they can help you with this question.
Have a great Freshman year!
Hugs – Jael π
Thank you so much for posting these pics. Boy Mom here and this is huge.
Hi Kirsten! Glad the pics helped out!
Hope you’re son has an amazing Freshman yr!
Hugs – Jael π
Great info……Do you remember how tall the beds are when unbunked but raised to highest level?
Maximum underbed container height?
thank you
Hi Nina! I don’t have the exact under bed measurements when raised, but my daughter used a 3-drawer plastic storage bin that measured 24″H and it worked fine.
Hope this helps!
Hugs – Jael π