Regardless of where you spend your first semester – halls, student housing, or at home – you’ll be surprised how much time you spend in your own room. School is an all-day affair; at university, the days are more fractured, so the onus to study (or whatever you came to university to do) is on you.
Expect a lot of down time in your room. Your bedroom is your sanctuary, but unless you’re in shared housing or staying at home, it’s also your only personal space, so treat it like a mini home.
Here’s how I made mine feel like home.
Work at a desk
Most rooms in halls come with a desk, but private options won’t necessarily. So check. Even if you don’t study here (and I recommend utilising the library to mark the division between work and play), imagine this table is multipurpose – good for applying makeup, FaceTime, or cramming. If you have space, try a leaning desk. It’s like a ladder, with shelves, one of which will fit your laptop, and you can get them at Habitat or Ikea or, like me, from Gumtree. You can move it around, too, which is good if you plan to change rooms.
Somewhere to sit
You might want to change your chair, too. Go for something light (search for anything inspired by Robin Day) or cheap, that folds up. Failing that, a storage bench seat (inside which you can store jumpers) does the job.
Shelves for storing
It’s worth trying to divide your room into different areas. If you can, get hold of any portable shelving units (Vinted and Gumtree and Ikea’s infamous Kallax range are great), that are good for storing clothes and making your bedroom seem much bigger than it is.
Put your books on show
Books can be very comforting, even if your degree is centred around spending half your loan on them. It’s unusual to find a room with bookshelves, though, so I made my own temporary ones. It’s a bit weird, but bear with me: you need some planks of wood and some bricks. Stack six or seven bricks on the floor the width of the plank of wood. Place the plank on top. Repeat. Temporary bookshelves! Failing that, just stack them in piles on the floor (something I also did).
And your clothes
Hanging your clothes on an extendable clothing rail can liven up your room. John Lewis does good stainless steel ones which come in different sizes, and sometimes have wheels (and they help divide up the space in your room). Don’t scrimp on hangers, you’ll ruin your clothesl. If space is an issue, try a clothes ladder – basically with one or two rails over which you toss your stuff, keeping it off the floor and less creased.
Make it feel lived in
Most halls tend to be modern, and if there’s one thing that improves a new build it’s old stuff. I had some old suitcases I’d stack up as a sort of nightstand. It’s also a good way to turn your suitcases into a feature rather than trying to store them. Vinted does lovely knick-knacks (candlesticks, coloured glass storage pots for incense, old pots for pens and makeup brushes) and it’s worth scattering these around surfaces, to make the space feel more loved. Consider swapping around lampshades to add personality to identikit rooms.
Cover your walls
I really wouldn’t bother hanging frames on walls – when you leave, you’ll have to plaster them over and not all universities allow this. I had a bunch of old posters framed for my birthday and simply leant them on walls and surfaces. Alternatively, use command strips. Get some plants – new or artificial, it doesn’t matter. Put them within eye line and it will lift the place. If your halls are really strict, use pegs to attach pictures to a string or ribbon and suspend this across the room.
Put away your shoes
Get a shoe bench. I know it sounds mad, especially if your room is small, but it’s not unusual to return from a tutorial, go straight to your room, and flop onto your bed. So you want to keep your floor clean and uncluttered. I’m not sure I hoovered my room once in my first year, so let me just say I learned the hard way.
