Residence halls become students’ homes when they come to college, and hall painting is one way new residents can personalize their floors.

“We want to allow the students to make the hall their home so they feel comfortable here,” said Anna Hammerschmidt, hall director for lower Friley Hall. “Painting murals in the halls is one way to do that.”

She said the residents propose the design idea, get it approved and do the painting themselves.

Brad Knapp, hall director for Larch Hall, said the process of hall painting is fairly simple. He said the resident assistant, floor president or cabinet members first propose the idea to the floor members at their house meeting.

The floor members then vote on whether they want to undertake the task. Hall members propose designs and vote on a design to present to the hall director.

Suzanne Harley, resident assistant of Lowe House in Friley, currently is involved in the painting process. Her floor chose to paint flowers and ivy for its mural. She said the new mural design is similar to the current design but with an updated look.

Harley said they are going to work on the mural more next semester since finals are fast approaching.

“It’s really not a complex process,” Harley said. “The actual approval doesn’t take long depending on the hall director.”

When deciding to approve a design, she said the hall director makes sure it will promote a positive image of the floor. Once the hall director approves it, the design must then be approved by Linda Young, office coordinator in the residence hall service center.

Young said she has a list of guidelines she looks at when considering a design. The walls must be checked for lead content, and she also checks the age of the paint on the floor before giving approval.

If elevators, hallways or house signs have been painted within the last four years, the house will be charged for the paint and materials. Otherwise, the materials are provided free of charge.

Harley said she has painted hall designs before, and it only took two days.

“The artist put designs up by each door and then over the next couple of days, everyone grabbed some paint and helped out,” she said.

Knapp said the university repaints the hallways every few years.

“I advise [floor members] not to [paint new designs] if their hall is going to be painted soon,” he said. “We want it to be there for a couple of years if they go through all that work.”