I took #2 and made it look a hell of a lot more like #1 than #2. I had a bar (3 person mdf with faux leather front, buttons a bar top with a rail and one pathetic shelf behind it mind you). I had a sectional. I had 3/4th inch padding under my fitted luxury carpet remnant. I had a coffee table which could flip over to a game table. I put a 200 watt bulb in the light and with live wires installed a dimmer. I painted the room beige adding a dark brown accent trim. I had wall hangings, not posters. It was a good time. Bar $20 from a garage sale. Sectional $50 from a garage sale. Remnant and underlayment free from a friend. Coffee table $30 bucks also from a garage sale. Gay friend over one room (Brings in hot chicks). Weed dealer across the hall. Campus cop up three rooms (Loved me and was a good buddy). Used to study with the door open. Big TV on one side of the bar. Small but good component stereo.
Those were the days... Poker games half the week and poke her games the other half. Girls would walk through our hall an stop and stare. I would invite them in. I am sitting here grinning and reminiscing. Good good times.
I was if you build it they will come before the movie.
The bottom picture is what I had and it was in the fancy dorm with A/C... in Texas. You don’t want to know what the old dorms looked like where a coat of paint was the only improvement since my mother attended. I had FUN and knew nearly everyone on campus. Our daughter insisted on living off campus in a shared apt that cost more than triple our house mortgage. Her rent dollars, not mine. Sadly, she never experienced “college life”.