In This Story
The start of the new academic year invariably means that teachers are stocking up on new classroom supplies – but for some educators, the cost of preparing their classrooms is decidedly more expensive than normal.
Scrolling through the right parts of TikTok, YouTube (GOOGL+1.44%), or Instagram (META+0.85%) reels reveals a world of schoolteachers – particularly female Gen Z-ers, who grew up immersed in influencer culture – that are shelling out hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars on customizing their rooms.
“I have been in a boring classroom where you can’t wait to leave,” Kayleigh Sloan, 27, told the Wall Street Journal. “But a decorated classroom that’s outside the norm is fun and inspiring,” she explained, adding that, “it can affect the way [students] learn.”
Sloan, who spent more than $1,000 decorating her second-grade classroom to resemble a 1970s coffee shop, might be on the extreme end of things. But social media reveals that more and more teachers are putting up stick-and-peel wallpaper, buying special rugs, and covering furniture with fancy throw pillows.
In one TikTok video, that received more than 650,000 likes, a teacher covered her classroom’s quintessentially irritating fluorescent lights with a pastel cover meant to evoke the Taylor Swift album “Lover.” In another video, a teacher who previously worked at Anthropologie (URBN+9.40%) repurposed the store’s erstwhile stationary display as a storage area for classroom supplies.
Schoolgirl Style – a classroom decor company with more than 150,000 TikTok followers and more than 335,000 Instagram followers – posts videos of emotional teachers seeing their newly customized classrooms for the first time. The company’s collections include the brightly preppy Saved by Pastel, the cowgirl-inspired Sparkly Spur, and the 90s-themed Shimmer Pop.
“Our biggest following are young teachers coming out of college,” Schoolgirl Style co-founder and creative director, Melanie Ralbusky, told the Wall Street Journal. “And they all love pastel.”
It’s clear after watching classroom setup videos that the target audience is likely other Gen Z-ers, scrolling through TikTok, rather than the young children who will occupy the classrooms. Some of the videos feature pop hits like Charli xcx’s “Apple” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “All American Bitch,” playing in the background. Others include friends or significant others helping set up the classrooms – while voiceovers describe how the teachers spent their summers.
And while commenters praise the rooms for their beauty and design, some older teachers are skeptical of the trend.
“If your room’s walls are filled on day one, it doesn’t allow the student to claim the room as their own,” Ellen Moskowitz, a 43-year-old New York school administrator, told the Wall Street Journal. “This doesn’t allow students to have their voices be the center.”
Moskowitz also points to other practical concerns – like when teachers bring in floor cushions, “that our fire marshal won’t really like but lice will really love.”