When it is finally time to decorate the Perry Hall Mansion, there should be plenty of ideas to choose from.

The 1775 landmark, which gave the community its name, will be a final exam for nine students of interior design.

The students are taking History of Ornament, Textiles and Color under Laura Kimball, a Perry Hall interior decorator and board member of Friends of the Perry Hall Mansion.

New mechanical systems for the county-owned mansion are expected to be installed this spring and summer. When they are done, designing the interior can begin.

The entire renovation is expected to cost about $900,000.

Kimball said that each student will be asked to plan two rooms of the 14-room mansion, located near Meetinghouse and Perry Hall roads, as their final project.

One room will be a bedroom, and the other a functional room like parlor or dining room.

Asked how the idea originated, she said, "It solved two problems at once -- giving them an assignment with real-world application and supplying a host of possible ideas to the Friends."

Kimball is teaching the course in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold. She is also president of the Maryland chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers and heads her own firm.

All Kimball's students are nearing the end of their studies, and will probably come up with some good designs, she said.

The project also will give them a chance to design decor from four historical periods.

"The mansion had a major fire in the 1840s and part was rebuilt. That was well into the Victorian era, so that style belongs in the mansion," Kimball said.

Other desired styles are late Colonial, Georgian and Federal, according to the designer.

"Just as today, people did not throw everything out and completely redecorate at once. They usually added furnishings one at a time," she said.

Thus it is suitable for the mansion to contain a range of styles.

One approach could be to use a particular style for specific rooms, Kimball said.

The Friends hope antique furniture will be donated to the mansion, she said. So, students will not concentrate on choosing furniture.

Their final presentation boards will show paint colors, window treatments, fabrics and lighting they recommend for the rooms.

Board members of the Friends have been invited to the May 11 class to see the formal presentations.

Due to insurance issues and the mansion's 40-mile distance from Arnold, students may have to work chiefly from Kimball's photos of the mansion, she said.

For two students in a recent class, however, the prospect remained appealing.

Tara Healy, of Pasadena, said, "It's very exciting that we will be doing work that has a chance of being seen in real life -- before we even get out of school."

Rebecca Ways, of Severn, said she didn't feel ready yet to tackle the job.

"But after the next few months, I'll be prepared," she said.

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