Linens and towels aren’t the only items students buy for their stay in the residence halls.

For some, pineapples, coconuts and palm trees are added to their shopping lists.

No matter what the decor, on-campus residents had the opportunity to enter their rooms into the Homestyling 2005 contest hosted by Kent Interhall Council last week.

Traci Sanders, KIC’s director of community development, said the purpose of this program is to encourage community development and involvement while helping students feel at home.

“We want students to have a home away from home,” said Sanders, a junior integrated science education major.

Homestyling 2005 is a program KIC has run during the past few years and features different categories of competition, she said. This year’s program features three categories, including best use of space, most creative and best theme.

Sanders said the competition is helpful to residents for many reasons.

“I like the idea of the best use of space because you hear so many students complaining about lack of space,” she said. “This shows them that living on campus isn’t bad.”

Homestyling 2005 also is a way to encourage roommates to work together on creating a mutual living space, Sanders said. She explained that roommates must work together to arrange their rooms and coordinate their belongings to compete for the best theme.

KIC has already judged about half of the competing rooms and hopes to finish judging Friday.

Two interesting themes Sanders has seen in the rooms include tropical and rain forest decor.

She said she is glad so many residents competed this year.

“The (residence) halls have a really good community,” she said. “I wanted to make this a great experience for the people on campus.”

The top winners in each category will be announced 7 p.m. Tuesday during KIC’s weekly meeting in the Kiva. The winners in each category will receive a $75 gift certificate to Kmart.

Contact room and board reporter Stephanie Park at [email protected].