Decoration station: how to furnish your uni room
Charlie Carter gives some handy hints on how to make student accommodation feel like a homely space to live and learn in.
Now that Fresher’s week is over, it’s time to start treating your room like a home-away-from-home instead of just a crash pad. Decorating allows you to personalise your environment and is surprisingly easy to do. No matter how small, messy, or even mouldy, every room has the potential to become a great living space.
Here are the two key things to remember when decorating your room:
Prioritising space
Be smart about your space – prioritise it according to your personal needs. What do you mostly use your bedroom for and how can you alter the current layout to facilitate that? For example, if you’re a home-workout fanatic, you might value floor space more than an extra set of IKEA drawers. For me, having separate sleeping and chilling spaces are really important in a bedroom so I created an area for my beanbag. Work with your space, not against it, especially if you have an attic room like me!
Personalising space
The best ways to personalise a space are with colour schemes and furnishings. Having a vague idea of the kind of vibe you want your room to give off can really help guide you in creating a space that reflects you as a person. Colour schemes are an excellent first step. Adding a pop of the same colour to different places in your room gives it personality and consistency. Bedding and decorations are a great (cheap!) way to do this. Posters, pictures and plants are great ways of bringing a room to life, even if the plants are fake! IKEA, Wilko and ALDI are the shops to raid for room decor to avoid spending what’s left of the student loan on furnishings – you can thank me later.
