By Alex IlyashovPLAY Writer

Barbie has her dream house, replete with nauseating quantities of hot pink and tackiness galore. So does Bree of “Desperate Housewives,” with everything compulsively neat and coordinated to Martha Stewart-esque splendor. Stuck in the fun, yet notoriously ugly confines of dorms, Northwestern students can only envision their fantasy abodes. But they can check out the desired digs of nine premiere local arbiters of interior style. Chicago has its very own “ultimate house” of impeccably tasteful proportions, in the form of the Merchandise Mart’s “DreamHome” exhibit in downtown Chicago.

If anyone can appreciate a brief respite from the day-to-day reality of cramped quarters, it’s college students. Factor in world-class designers and a cool industry locale and you’ve got a fun day trip, maybe with a little on-location studying. As part of a special collaboration between Merchandise Mart – dubbed the largest design center in the world, it’s a decadent fantasyland of the nicest home accoutrements – and “Traditional Home” magazine, “DreamHome” is a three-month event running from Sept. 22 to Dec. 22 that showcases the fine design work of nine prominent Chicago-area interior decorators.

Each room was designed with the distinct signature touches of a single designer, and some feature whimsical names such as “the not so white dining room” with the aesthetic wit and flair to match. The designers were selected by Traditional Home, and they “accepted the challenge” of working on “DreamHome” in May. Actual construction lasted from late July until Labor Day, allowing five and a half weeks to “outfit the house with interior components,” says Jeanine Fisher, managing marketing director for Merchandise Mart’s design division.

Every detail of the spread is pretty magnificent, from the bedroom’s luxuriously hefty cr