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Story summary
- Families are spending thousands on custom dorm rooms, spawning a new dorm-design industry.
- The National Retail Federation projects $14 billion will be spent on dorm and apartment furnishings this year.
- Designer Shelly Gates of Mississippi is handling about 35 dorm projects, some costing up to $20,000.
- Sara Harberson says the trend is common at large public Southern universities where merit scholarships free décor funds.
