It all starts with a bed, a desk, a chair, and a bookcase. In September, every room looks alike. But once the amateur interior decorators get to work, their dorm rooms adopt characteristics as individualistic as the residents themselves.

Unique though some rooms may be, many students say that they can tell what gender lives in a room just by the stereotypes which accompany that particular sample of dorm room chic.

Often such differences are written on the walls--on posters, that is.

Bruce E. Roberts '86, whose own walls feature windsurfers, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne and prints of Edward Munch nudes, says that the color scheme and posters give away the gender living in the room. He adds that women favor pastel colors in their posters and furniture.

"Girls have more posters of places and pretty pictures. Their posters aren't as harsh," says Elizabeth A. Mark '89.

"Guys have more abstract art up and girls have more impressionism and realistic stuff," says Andra L. Gordon '89, whose walls feature prints by Degas, Renoir, and Van Gogh.

Others say that male students don't even bother with art, relying instead on photographic posters. "Movie stars and beer posters are certainly more likely in guys' rooms," says Allison Townley '87.

"Lots of my male friends do have those Budweiser posters in their rooms," says a first-year male law student who wished to remain anonymous.

According to some room connoisseurs, even beer posters and Marilyn Monroe--another male favorite--do not appeal to some students' aesthetic tastes. "I know a lot of guys who don't even bother to put up posters," says Sarah C. Penniston '86.

"Guys don't really decorate their rooms-just a stereo, refrigerator and beer posters, if they even get around to that," says Kirkland resident Risa J. Barrett '86.

On the other hand, women's rooms can often be worthy of Dormroom Beautiful, according to some visitors. "I don't know any guys who have curtains, but I've seen girls with not only curtains, but bedspreads to match," says Joshua M. Thurman '88.

"I know a lot of girls who are very careful and spend much time decorating their rooms," says Andrew R. Mann '86.

A. Jay Nugent '87 adds, "Girls try for a softer type of image. They're more conservative."

Some students say they feel that such conservatism prevented imagination and creativity from running rampant in girls' rooms. "Guys tend to get more creative with their rooms," says Kimberly R. Mar '89.

In one now-infamous. Wigglesworth freshman suite, the five male residents have stacked nearly 400 Budweiser cans on their mantel, according to one of the co-artists, Vernon C. McDermott Jr. '89.

Who's The Fairest of Them All?

Cosmetic interests are more often reflected in women's rooms than in men's. Jennifer Mathis '87 says, "Girls have more mirrors."

Women also tend to decorate their rooms with plants, students say. When men do have plants, they rarely choose flowery ferns, relying on more hearty specimens. "My roommate bought a cactus. It's the only plant that could survive in our room," says a male Lowell House sophomore.

But if not botanical gardens, men's rooms are often interesting alone. "Usually the girls have put more thought into the decoration, but for the same reason, guys' rooms can be more interesting," says Gordon. "It's less what they think would look good in the room and more what they just like."

"We really don't have any posters in the room," says Paddy L. Spence '89, "the walls and ceiling are covered with tie-dye tapestries and Dead banners. I don't know any girls' rooms that look like that."

Mann also says that his rooms have been centered on a theme. Two years ago he achieved notoriety when he and his roommates decorated with a Garden Party theme, complete with astroturf. "We're working on something new now--a Jackson Pollock motif," he says. In addition to six Pollock-like paint dribble canvases, Mann says that his Claverly suite will soon contain an imitation Pollock rug.

As easy as it is to draw these stereotypes, many students say that often they are not true.

"I don't think you can get away with any statement about men's and women's rooms without being completely sexist," says Betty Achinstein '87.

"People underestimate guys' interior decorating skills and domestic talents," says Jody D. Friedman '87 of Eliot House.

Echoing the old adage that girls are neater than boys, Gordon says, "Guys go for weeks on end without putting sheets on their beds and girls have all their fuzzy comforters and pillows."

But as one male Lowell House sophomore says, "Ladies are slobs, too."