AXIOS (Josephine Walker) - Dorm rooms are tiny. The dorm decor economy is not.
Dorm rooms are tiny. The dorm decor economy is not. The big picture: College dorms are becoming customized, social-media-ready micro-apartments, but the market looks wildly different depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon line your campus sits. Zoom out: The multi-thousand-dollar "designer dorm" industry has grown alongside viral TikTok dorm tours and hauls, and parents hoping to make their child's transition to college easier. - Shelly Gates, founder of Mary Margaret Designs, an interior design company that decorates dorm rooms alongside other projects, remembers her Louisiana State University dorm as "essentially a prison cell." - This year, Gates is handling about 35 dorm rooms. Some of her previous build-outs have reached…