School of swank: See the $20k dorm rooms of elite Southern coeds

Gone are the days of simply shelling out for a commoner’s college tuition. Luxury-loving college students — and their well-funded parents — are flocking to interior decorators like Mississippi’s Shelly Gates, who charge up to $20,000 to transform a cinderblock dorm space into a TikTok-worthy study sanctuary. Gates is a former elementary school teacher who named her business, Mary Margaret Designs, after her two daughters. And if she looks familiar, it’s because you might have seen her on social media, where Gates’s “dream dorm” designs have racked up over 26 million views. “She charges $20,000 for this and does 15 — 20 dorm rooms each year,” entrepreneur Joe Pompliano wrote on X, in response to a post by influencer Will Tjernlund about Gates’s designs. “Pretty good business for a few month