An illustration of Veronica's profile. She has long, brown hair, medium-toned skin, and is wearing a blue tank top.

*THE* double by Veronica P. '27

a room tour from an (only slightly) obnoxious duo

Meet my roommate and me:

Layla smiling and holding an iPad that reads
layla: the awesomest roommate ever, nyc native, collector of hobbies and lover of clothes
Veronica smiling while holding an iPad that reads
veronica: now known by many as ronnie after she told layla "nobody's ever been able to make that nickname stick", currently writing this blog

I’m not quite sure when it happened, but if I had to guess it was sometime around 3 am, sharing food on the sofa of our freshman year suite and undoubtedly procrastinating far more important matters—

 

“If we’re doubling together, I feel like we could really lock into making our room, like, the best room ever.” 

“Oh not just any double, THE double.” 

 

And thus, The Double was born.

The inception of this idea sent us down a pinterest-boarding, wishlist-making, room-blue-printing spiral. By the time we said our goodbyes in May, The Double was already a space in our minds. Sometimes, when I found myself gazing for long enough upon my childhood bedroom— the one that, post-graduation, felt eerily like every bit of me that I’d thought I’d outgrown or discarded— I’d close my eyes and visit that corner of my mind, letting our brainchild buoy me back to Boston.

Soon enough, of course, we found ourselves actually back on campus— our return expedited by promises to help our floor (Burton One!) run events for all of the newcomers to our building. And while that promise probably took a year off our lives — story for another time?— it gave us time to lock into the double before classes came around. As soon as we got the chance, we borrowed a car and headed out to Cambridge Antiques and IKEA, resolved to finish The Double by the next day.

A Selfie of two girls in a car with furniture in the back

a photo from our travels

Well, until we developed the motto, “The Double is never finished” — tapping into some optimism that each new outing presented the chance to find another addition to our home.

And, three months into The Double, I can confirm that quite a bit has been added. As of right now, however, here is a completely updated tour:

THE view:

A window looking out onto the Charles River, with trees and a street in the foreground

our room looks over the Charles, and we always get a great view of the sunrise (in the rare moments where we’ve been awake for it)

THE desks:

two desks laid next to one another with a window above each. There is a wall in between with a caricature drawing and a string light of polaroids.
we got this caricature done at MIT's SpringFest last year, which is now employed as a reference for which side of the room is which.
A wall with a caricature drawing of two girls that says

 

A desk, featuring a sewing machine and a turkish lamp
layla's desk
assorted trinkets and sewing supplies. fun fact: i have gifted all of the perfumes pictured
A Turkish Lamp
layla's lovely turkish lamp, which she bought at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul this summer!
A sewing machine
one of layla's favorite things to do thirty minutes before heading out the door is deciding she must alter whatever she is waiting
Two 3D printed chair miniatures and one wooden miniature.
iterations from layla's chair design class, 4.500
Books arranged on a windowsill
my desk, which I forgot to get a full picture of
A lamp stacked on a pile of books and a tarot card set
my palm-shaped ring dish, my tarot cards, my mini magic 8 ball, and some of my favorite books. the lamp was a going away gift from one of my best friends
A mirror and a basket of makeup
my makeup corner, featuring a basket i thrifted

THE beds:

A light blue bed with blue string lights and a collage on the wall behind it.
A green bed with stuffed animals and a collage on the wall behind it. There is a gold star lamp
layla's side and my side
A collage with a blue sun mirror in the center
layla's collage- mirror thrifted in nyc
A wall with six bags hanging on command hooks and a projector on a shelf
THE bag wall (not pictured is layla struggling to reach the tall ones on the days they go best with her outfit). we also set up a projector for movie nights
my collage, shamelessly inspired by layla's
a star lamp
one of my favorite parts of the double, purchased at Boston's Snowport Market last holiday season

 

THE floor seating:

a coffee table with a knit flour details with two floor cushions arranged around it. there is a navy blue carpet underneath.
our coffee table, found at cambridge antiques, with floor seating that is optimized for amateur tarot readings
a metallic patterned table beneath a round knit cloth.
(surprise: there is a second, potentially cooler table beneath the table cloth)

THE dresser:

A dresser with a full length mirror next to it. On the dresser is a lamp and assorted trinkets. There are license plates on the wall.
our shared dresser area, formed by stacking two dorm drawer sets atop one another.
A Maine License plate, a Texas License plate, and a sign that says
texas license plate acquired at home, maine license plate acquired in massachusetts, warning sign acquired in maine...
The interior of a mirror, revealing a jewelry and nail polish collection.
the inside of layla's mirror, aka her pride and joy.
A small hanger with necklaces
my necklace hanger, sourced also from Cambridge Antigues. duck acquired from taking 6.100L
An assortment of trinkets
assorted trinkets
a vintage lamp that looks like a lantern
this lamp, my favorite that i've ever thrifted that feels like it belongs in tangled

THE shelves (are u tired of this bit yet):

missing the normal version of WNRS which is currently on loan.

THE mini fridge:

A purple mini fridge with a photo on the door.

“of course you guys won’t even get a normal mini fridge”

And that’s about it! I’ll admit, I probably have an inordinate amount of love for a few square feet that I’ll have to pack up in about six months. But, when I consider all the memories this room has collected for me—along its walls and upon its surfaces— and all the memories made within this room— devising outfits in the mirror and tackling projects on the desks and outpouring emotions atop the floor cushions— that love doesn’t feel all that inordinate to me.