How To Make Halls A Home: Student Life

Many of you are arriving at university for the first time and walking into a cold, bare room can seem uninviting. Don’t fear! Here are a few ways you can make your university room feel more like home, as you are going to be living there for at least 30 weeks of the year.

A Splash of Colour

First of all let’s start with the walls, have any posters from home you want to bring, a pin board, chalk board or any pictures you want to put up? Go for it, the more the merrier! Photos are a great ice-breaker for a conversation with your new neighbours, especially if you’ve been travelling or had some crazy adventures with your pals back home. These memories of childhood and old friends will serve as encouragement to keep in touch with your friends back home.

Secondly we should try to transform your lighting, it’s often the case with university accommodation that due to lack of funding and budget it’s not often a wonder as to why they look so uninviting and dreary is because of the dreadful cheap lights in the ceiling. Why not spice up your room with some fairy lights around the wardrobe or desk, and you could even try a lave lamp – how retro! Candles may not be permitted in most university halls, but for private student residences they offer the ideal fast-track to a warm and cosy room.  You could also try some diffusers, they are normally a bit more expensive but with no light needed they are a perfect alternative to candles and a great way to get rid of the pizza smell that will be undoubtedly be lurking around.

Soften the Room

Once you’ve made it feel a bit more homely you can then move onto the soft furnishing in your room, why not pick a luxurious bed spread with some fluffy cushions to make the room feel more homely. If you aren’t a fluffy person then why not go for some eye catching colours – bright and bold will liven up and dark and dreary student room. Normally you get given some cheap, light weight furniture that you might want to cover up, go for a cheerful coloured table cloth for your desk to spice its up, however, if you are lucky enough to have solid and rustic oak furniture in your room then don’t hesitate to bare all and show off that glorious wood finish.

Rugs are the perfect cure for unsightly carpet stains and bare floorboards, and let’s be honest if they aren’t already stained they probably will be by the end of your year living there. Welcome mats and fluffy shag rugs or runners add instant warmth and provide the room with a more homely feel, which when you are often left alone in your room and are starting to feel quite home sick and lonely, the homely features will be important.

As long as you remember to water them, flowers are a lovely, easy way to bring life and colour to your room.  If you’re simply not the gardener type and they’re likely to die within days, invest in a cactus instead- zero care required! Plenty of artificial flowers look unbelievably realistic and can be bought on the cheap – as we all know that student budget is tight.