Howdy,
I will be living in Mary Markley this year and in most of the pictures and videos I have seen the beds are always facing the door. I was wondering if it was possible to put the beds perpendicular to the door? I have never been in Markley so I have no idea how small the dorms really are or if you are allowed to change the room layout. If you have any advice or tidbits to share about Markley that would be awesome, thank you.
Hey @aabarker welcome to Michigan!
I lived in Markley two years ago, and am happy to give you some information about the dorm. I remember feeling pretty in the dark about Michigan dorm life before I got on campus, so hopefully I can give you some advice that gives you a better understanding of what your room will be like. I’ll start by answering your main question, then try and give some general tidbits.
Yes, you can rearrange your beds. The furniture in Markley is designed so that the pieces fit together. You have your desk, bed frame, and drawer. You can choose to not loft, half loft, or fully loft your bed using these peices.
The most popular room layout is the full loft, where each student gets a side of the room and fully lofts their bed above their desk and drawer. To answer your question, you can put your beds perpendicular to the door. However, I have never seen a room in Markley where BOTH beds were perpendicular to the door. Instead, a somewhat popular strategy is to arrange the two beds in an L shape across the side and back wall, and half loft the bed on the back wall. This can sometimes be unfair to the person who is fully lofted, but this layout will give you the largest open space near the front of the room.
Just a heads up, when you walk into your room on move-in day, you might get a bit discouraged. The Markley rooms look quite small when you first see them. Once you get moved in, however, you get comfortable and used to the size. It was never an issue for me after the first week or so.
In general, Markley is an awesome experience. It is the most fun and social dorm, and you really get to know people there. I wouldn’t change my freshman dorm experience at Michigan even if I could go back time.
Hope this helped, congrats on your decision to come to UM, and Go Blue.