Ashley Hocking

An empty cereal box won’t necessarily be discarded in the Hocking household.

In fact, it might grace the wall of 9-year-old Ashley Hocking’s neon-colored bedroom.

The Deerfield School third-grader is the elementary-division winner of the Journal-World’s annual Rooms that Rock contest, and the cereal boxes are one factor that stood out.

“I got to pick the color of paper we’d use,” Ashley Hocking said. “We saw the idea in a magazine of just the cereal boxes, and my mom said, ‘What if we covered them with tissue paper?'”

The boxes were a starting point for Ashley’s room redecoration when she tired of her traditional pink surroundings and wanted something funkier.

“My mom thought the colors I liked were crazy, and she thought they would be fun for a bedroom,” she said.

Ashley’s room isn’t just colorful and fun. It has some easy cleanup features for a busy young girl.

“I have a bunch of movies and tapes under my TV stand, so we covered it up,” she said.

Behind the TV is a poster of preteen favorite Hilary Duff in her “Lizzie McGuire” role. But the Disney show isn’t Ashley’s favorite program to watch in her room.

“I like ‘Seventh Heaven’ and ‘Full House,'” Ashley said, though she added, “but I don’t get to watch much TV.”

Ashley Hocking, 9, a Deerfield School third-grader, has covered her walls in bright colors from top to bottom. Her bed -- an antique from the 1800s -- originally belonged to her grandmother. Hocking won the elementary division of the Journal-World's annual Rooms that Rock contest.

Instead, she said, she likes to curl up on her bed and read. Right now she and her classmates are reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

Then there are the brightly colored creatures that adorn Ashley’s room. She has a butterfly creation on the ceiling and a butterfly plate on her dresser, and a large fish on a stand adorned with ribbons.

But the other creatures that match her decor are real ones: Three of the family pets, which are parakeets named Skye, who’s light blue, Paintball, who’s dark blue, and Scott, who’s green, live in Ashley’s room. Skye belongs to Ashley; the other two belong to her brothers, Blake, 10, and Nicholas, 7.

Ashley throws a spread over their cages so they know to sleep at night in the hot pink, green and orange room.

“But if I dim my lights,” she said, “It’s dark enough that they know it’s time for bed.”

Jessica Schwartz

Thirteen-year-old Jessica Schwartz loves the Discovery Channel television redecorating show “While You Were Out.” But she never thought her family would throw a similar makeover for her own bedroom.

The Southwest Junior High School student left for a two-day trip, and when she returned — Voila! Jayhawk heaven!

“I felt pretty happy,” Jessica said. “I really like the Jayhawks, so I wanted a Jayhawks room.”

The Kansas University fan is the winner of the junior high division of the Journal-World’s annual “Rooms that Rock” contest.

Jessica started the intrigue with her own sort of “Mission Impossible” wish list.

Jessica Schwartz, 13, displays her Jayhawk pride in her bedroom with red and blue decorations. The Jayhawk hanging over her bed was made by her father. Schwartz won the junior high division of the Rooms that Rock contest.

“I started asking about basketball tickets for Christmas,” she said. “Basketball tickets were the No. 1 thing on my Christmas list, so my parents actually talked to me about doing my room.”

Jessica was amenable to the idea “I wanted to change it,” she said, “because it was lavender.”

The new room has a TV on the wall, a red-and-blue ceiling fan, and “a 4-foot Jayhawk on the wall,” she said.

Jennifer and Joe Schwartz, Jessica’s parents, ensured that the room had its practical aspects, too. Jessica’s computer and desk have been equipped so she can slide her wheelchair closer. Other parts of her room are wheelchair-friendly, too.

Even better news: The family has delivered on Jessica’s top Christmas wish, too. She had tickets to attend Monday’s KU game against the University of Missouri.

Jessica’s favorite player is “probably Christian Moody,” she said.

But will she ever meet the athlete?

Don’t underestimate what the Schwartzes might do next. Here’s a tip, Jessica: Put it on your Christmas list.

Kristin Strom

Free State High School sophomore Kristin Strom rocks, and her room rocks, too, but she’s quick to point out what it doesn’t have: a TV.

“I don’t let MTV or other music from the TV distract me and influence my lyrics,” Kristin said in her contest entry. She’s the winner of the high school division of the Journal-World’s annual Rooms that Rock contest.

Kristin Strom, 16, a Free State High School sophomore, has decorated her room with bright colors and a sheer canopy over her bed. Strom won the high school division of the Rooms that Rock contest.

To clarify, Kristin rocks to punk. She and her friends have formed a Christian punk rock band, Anxious for Nothing, and she says her bright room is a great place to gather and be creative.

“My colors in my room are so fun — orange and many other colors,” she said.

Its centerpiece includes a corner for Kristin’s guitars — she began lessons a year ago — and the white, sheer canopy over her bed is lit in part by the yellow, pink and blue lamp next to it. A billowing green-and-yellow tie-dye cloth covers her blinds, and all of the bright colors complement Kristin’s other passion: Disney movies. Posters for “Sleeping Beauty” and “Aladdin” are among the decor on her walls.

“I love Jasmine. She’s great,” Kristin said. “And I’ve got a poster of Cinderella by my bed, too.”

She performed “A Whole New World” for Southwest Junior High School’s variety show last year, and the dried roses hanging from her windowsill are congratulations for her performances and for Valentine’s Day, too, compliments of her dad, she said.

Kristin began the guitar lessons so she could improve her songwriting, and she was willing to share some of her lyrics:

“In my world it’s not a perfect place

But God’s with me

Looking at all mistakes I made

and what I’ve become from what He’s done.”

Fortunately for Kristin, she can say that her room is a perfect place.