This fall, the Office of Campus Life (OCL) held its first Room of the Year competition, encouraging students to submit photos of their room decor for the chance to win a Williams merch package and housing points to be used in next year’s room selection lottery. OCL received 193 submissions from students in single and double rooms—from those, they chose 10 finalists. Finalists were selected based on the creative and innovative ways they personalized their spaces, with a focus on cleanliness, use of space, and unique personal touches. The student body then voted for their favorite finalists, and the top three winners were announced in October.

Third Place: Hannah Pressman ’28 & Tess Halpern ’28, Sage Hall

The third place winners, Hannah Pressman ’28 and Tess Halpern ’28, adorned their small double in Sage Hall with vines and posters, two photos from Williams Art Loan for Living Spaces (the Williams College Museum of Art program known as WALLS), and postcards. The first-year students met online over the summer and found that their plans for the room were “really similar,” says Halpern. Pressman adds that though some aspects of the room were planned, they brought their own stuff, “and it turned out to work very nicely together.” Both of them identify Pressman’s plant-shaped lamp as their favorite thing in the room. They add that they love their WALLS pieces, but because they were far back in line on Pickup Day, most of their first choices were already taken. The roommates both chose black-and-white photos to complement each other in a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Second Place: Abigail Wallach ’26, Carter House

Second place was clinched by junior Abigail Wallach ’26. Her room in Greylock’s Carter House is decorated with bright colors in an effort to “warm up the room in the winter,” she says. She singles out her chair as her favorite aspect of the room, and she says she enjoys reading in the “comfiest place” in her room. She adds that she tried to curate her art along a common theme: LGBTQ+ representation. Wallach even sourced some of the pieces from the San Francisco Pride Parade, close to her native Orinda, Calif. She says that in her first year, she did not put effort into decorating her room, and now encourages other Ephs to make the space truly their own, as “it really can improve your mood if you feel like you have a little nook on campus that’s all yours.”

First Place: Clarissa Louis ’27 & Jordan Liss-Riordan ’27, Sewall House

The contest’s victors were sophomores Clarissa Louis ’27 and Jordan Liss-Riordan ’27. Louis says that her main inspiration for their room in Sewall House was her love for “sticking things to my walls that are happy reminders.” Liss-Riordan’s collection of music posters, along with her “scrapbook-y” wall, made the room stand out among the other entries. One of her personal traditions is to cut out a quote from a song she loves from the pages of a magazine and paste it to the wall—something she hopes to continue doing in her future Williams rooms. The roommates feel lucky that their styles mesh well, as they did not plan out their decor over the summer. Liss-Riordan notes that her decor is more dark, whereas Louis’ is more light. A 1691 cosmological map from WALLS, contrasted with the faux vines and fairy lights, creates an alluring atmosphere. Louis’ tip to her fellow Ephs: “Hold on to things,” a philosophy exemplified by her high school graduation cap on the wall surrounded by pictures of friends and family. Liss-Riordan adds that she rearranged her decorations more than a few times, and reminds people to have patience.

Photographs by Eileen Bellamy

Bryan DiFebo-Byrne is a student worker in the Office of Communications at Williams College.